President Vanya Quiñones reflects on the experiences that shaped her leadership, from her grandmother's pursuit of a college degree in the 1930s to growing up on her grandparents' dairy farm in Puerto Rico to her college education and academic career. “I would like to create the same opportunities to our students to achieve their dreams or their grandmother’s dreams to ensure that they have what it takes to move their family forward,” Quiñones says. “Anybody that comes to university or to a college, they have a dream of a better life and I think what we need to do is to facilitate that.”

This article was originally published by Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on August 3, 2026.