THE RISE
Alumni stories of support
BY DEBRA BASS
UC San Diego ’ s first-ever Giving Day is right around the corner — May 16 , 2019 . We ’ ll have 32 hours ( roughly 1,960 minutes — for our founding year !) to show and share our support for the university we came from . Triton magazine is sparking the spirit early by asking alumni about why they choose to give back , the difference they want to make for current UC San Diego students and the future of our university .
LaWana Richmond , EdD ’ 15
Graduate student , Education Studies
Why do you give to UC San Diego ? I support the mission , of course , but on the larger scale , it ’ s the time I ’ ve spent understanding just what goes on behind the scenes at UC San Diego that has had the greatest impact . It ’ s not just the pretty stuff ( buildings , research , and graduation ceremonies ), but the time and effort put into how the cake is made . And , particularly , how the political and socioeconomic climate is affecting funding for UC San Diego . Whether or not the state or federal government wants to support the university , I believe that students deserve access and that ’ s my biggest priority — access . And I deeply support professional development for staff .
What are you most proud of from your time here ? This is my 14th year on staff — I started in a relatively small role that I was only planning to stay in for a couple of months while finishing my master ’ s degree . I ’ ve gone on to complete my doctorate here while working full time . Now I work in central administration , and I ’ ve come to know how much the faculty and staff care about what they do . Every day , I ’ m able to go home and feel good about what I ’ m doing to support the future . I ’ m most proud of helping students and staff connect with their confidence and strength , and helping them move forward with mentoring and professional development .
What impact do you want to make at UC San Diego ? I would like to influence ways to support experiential learning for students and professional development for staff . I do a lot of events where I bring people together . I ’ m really interested in intergenerational sharing and exploring the best way to have a heterogeneous community . We need to invite everyone to the table in a genuine way because getting diverse perspectives should influence everything that we are doing . It ’ s really the only way to uncover and test the best solutions .
8 TRITON | SPRING 2019