Pullias Center 25th Anniversary Reflections: Carlos A. Galan

Carlos A. Galan, Academic Advisor at Yours in Soccer Foundation, PhD student in Higher Administration and Policy at UC Riverside, and a former colleague of the Pullias Center of Higher Education, reflects on the Center’s 25th Anniversary in this eight of a series of essays marking the occasion.

It is not easy to put into words what the Pullias Center for Higher Education means to me. While the Pullias Center has been in existence for 25 years, it has had a lifetime impact in the world of higher education as well as in my personal life. The former needs no explanation. The Pullias Center is a renowned research hub filled with faculty, students (both undergraduate and graduate), and staff committed to addressing and advancing access and equity in higher education. The Pullias Center’s impact on my personal life, however, bears some explanation. 

I was introduced to the Pullias Center in 2009, at the time still known as the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA). I was 17 years old—a timid high school student with little or no knowledge about the college application process or the world of higher education in general. My college counselor had summoned me to the college center where someone aw. I was told, was waiting for me. I showed my hall pass to Mr. Kim, my high school counselor, who introduced me to Dr. Tierney, the Pullias Center’s Director at that time. Wearing a yellow rain jacket, Dr. Tierney was sitting near one of the five computers available at my high school’s college center. In a soft and calm voice, he invited me to have a seat. I was shaking, not because of the cold rain we had gotten earlier in the day, but because I was nervous. I thought that I had gotten in trouble. 

Luckily, I was not in trouble. I had been selected to be part of the Pullias Center’s  I AM Mentoring Program – one of the earliest college access programs in the Greater Los Angeles area. In this program, USC faculty, graduate students, and staff mentored high school students in their college application process. I did not remember applying to the program–Dr. Tierney introduced himself as my mentor. I did not even know what the word meant. Understanding that my English was limited, in a broken Spanish, Dr. Tierney uttered the word “confianza,” which in Spanish means trust. I trusted him with the idea of me going to college. Since our first introduction, Dr. Tierney came to my high school regularly, and together, we worked on my college and financial aid applications. 

I enrolled at UCLA, but Dr. Tierney’s mentorship did not stop with helping me apply to college. Anyone who knows Dr. Tierney and the Pullias Center’s work can testify that mentorship for people at Pullias is a lifetime commitment. My mentorship relationship with Dr. Tierney was not the exception. He helped me navigate my undergraduate career by doing things that ranged from providing me with feedback on my written assignments to helping me secure my first work-study jobs. Dr. Tierney’s help was one of the main reasons why I applied and graduated from college. When I graduated from UCLA, I returned to the Pullias Center where I worked full time as the I AM Mentor coordinator. This position allowed me to give back to my community by mentoring students from working-class families as they applied and transitioned to college. Throughout the years, the I AM Mentoring Program has served a model for emerging college access programs.

Almost a decade has passed since I came to the Pullias Center as a high school student. Now, as a Ph.D. student in higher education, I understand how lucky I was to be part of the Pullias Center’s I AM Mentoring program. Everyone at the Pullias Center is extraordinary and dear to my heart. I am forever thankful to Dr. Tierney, Dr. Keazar (who co-directed the center before becoming the current Director upon Dr. Tierney’s retirement), Dr. Corwin, Dr. Venegas, Dr. Huerta, Dr. Garcia, Dr. Slaughter, Dr. Rall, Dr. Mathis, Dr. Tichavakunda, Diane Yoon, Victor Garcia, Diane Flores, Monica Raad, and everyone who has ever been involved with the Pullias Center over the years. Their efforts have not only produced cutting-edge research, but most importantly, they have facilitated the conditions for working-class students to succeed in higher education. Because of these reasons, the Pullias Center and its people will always feel like home. 

Congratulations on your 25 years! Thank you for producing research that influences programs, practice and policy. Thank you for bringing so many good people together!