Retiring CSUSM leader an immigrant success story who paid forward her gift of higher education

Thirty years ago, Lorena Checa landed a temporary office job registering transfer students for the newly opened Cal State San Marcos, which started out in a strip mall in 1990.

Checa loved the experience of working with the students, so after her 60-day assignment ended, she decided to apply for another job at the fast-growing university. But after working a while as an administrative assistant she hit a roadblock when she discovered she couldn’t advance to a professional position at CSUSM because she didn’t have a college degree. At the time, a university education wasn’t something Checa had ever dreamed of.

Checa was 8 years old in 1975 when she immigrated from Mexico to California with her parents, who never advanced beyond a third-grade education. Their modest wish for their daughters was to finish high school, marry, move out and start their own families, which Lorena accomplished, beginning with marriage at age 16.

She said cultural expectations, financial and language hurdles and family challenges can make attending college difficult for students who are immigrants or from marginalized communities. But sometimes all these students need to begin climbing the educational ladder is a hand up. Checa got one early in her own college journey through an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) for low-income, first-generation students. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a doctorate, and she has devoted much of her adult life to paying that gift forward by helping other college students succeed.

For the past eight years, Checa has served as vice president of student affairs at Cal State San Marcos, a position of leadership that encompasses more than 30 departments. Among the programs that she has helped create in her many years at CSUSM are ACE Scholars Services for former foster youth, the Latin@ Center, the Black Student Center, the current Veterans Center and the DREAMer Resource Office.

After a combined 27 years working at CSUSM, Checa will retire on Dec. 15 to focus on caring for her 80-year-old father and spending more time with her three granddaughters. An Escondido resident, Checa said she will miss the students, her colleagues and the faculty — some of whom were her own teachers years ago. But she’s proud of the work she has accomplished to help pave the way for students like herself, who persevered to become the first college graduate in their family.

Today, 48 percent of students at CSUSM are Latinx and at least 52 percent of graduates are first-generation college students.

“Every graduation is my favorite time of the year,” she said. “When I was a counselor, I got to see their struggles. So to see them walk across that stage is very fulfilling. When I hear people say don’t invest in those students I get upset because I was one of those kids. If (the university) hadn’t wrapped its arms around me, I don’t think I would be here. It gave me the tools to succeed.”

CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt said Checa has been an important part of the university’s role in expanding opportunities to students with unique needs.

“Lorena has been a key figure along CSUSM’s evolution — from its founding to the university it is today,” Neufeldt said. “ She truly understands the journey and unique needs of our first-generation, non-traditional college students; translating that into her care for each individual student and their success. We have been so lucky to have her transformational leadership, counsel and friendship. Her impact at CSUSM these last 30 years cannot be overstated.”

Portrait of Lorena Checa at Cal Stat State San Marcos standing with the school’s statue of Cesar Chavez that was unveiled there in 1997. She will soon retire from her position as vice president of student affairs.

(Charlie Neuman/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

‘Do better than me’

Checa was born in Urapah, a large city in the Southern Mexico state of Michoacán. In search of a better life for their six daughters, Checa’s parents moved in 1975 to the L.A.-area city of Pomona where two more children, both sons, were born. While her parents worked in an embroidery factory, young Lorena and her siblings attended school in Ontario.

“My dad had always said ‘do better than me’ and the expectation was that — especially as a female — as soon as you were of age, you would marry and start your own life,” she said. “When I got married to someone I had a crush on at 16 and we had two kids, I felt that I had fulfilled my destiny because I finished high school.”

In 1985, Checa moved to Vista with her first husband and their toddler son. After taking some classes at Palomar College to become a phlebotomist she got a job doing blood draws at a local hospital, where she was exposed to a virus. Because Checa was pregnant at the time, she decided to find a safer line of work until her second child, a daughter, was born. With help from a friend, she found a job as a receptionist and buyer for a high-tech firm in Murrieta. Not long after that, the same friend told her about the temporary job at CSUSM. When she stalled out at the university for lack of a college degree, she decided it was time to rethink her future.

“I made that turn in my life where I realized I could learn. I decided I was going back to Palomar College and would start from ground zero in the lowest math and English classes and do the best I could, and that’s what turned my life around,” she said.

After earning her associate degree at Palomar, she transferred to CSUSM and earned her bachelor’s degree in literature and writing. Then she applied for the job in student services that she’d been denied years earlier and was hired.

In the years that followed, Checa continued to apply for jobs at CSUSM and, when a new degree was needed, she went back to school. She earned her master’s degree in counseling to work in the counselor’s office, and when she wanted to move into management, she earned a master’s in business administration.

“I learned that the tools you can get by pursuing education give you a broader understanding about life,” she said. “It’s not just about social mobility but about lifetime learning and understanding and contributing to society.”

Checa, who went through a divorce while studying for her master’s degree, said that juggling motherhood, a full-time job and her studies was challenging, but her children understood the sacrifices she was making to give them a better life. Whenever she had a paper to write for school, she would post a note to her kids on the door of her closet/office and they knew not to disturb her.

Back in those days, Checa said some of her aunts and cousins looked down on her career, saying she should be at home taking care of her husband. But in the years since, she has became a role model for the younger generation of her family, many of whom have attended college, earned master’s degrees and work in professional fields, including her son, who now works for a cancer research company.

“I can’t take all the credit for that, but I do know that living that modeling can be an amazing thing and it can transform your immediate family,” she said.

Lorena Checa at Cal Stat State San Marcos near Craven Hall, where she works as the university’s vice president of student affairs. She’s retiring Dec. 15.

(Charlie Neuman/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Rising to the top

In 2001, Checa saw an opportunity to work at a higher administrative level at the University of San Diego, where she was hired to serve as an assistant dean in the college of education. But she missed her friends and colleagues at CSUSM so in 2004 she returned to serve as the director of EOP and student services. After earning her doctorate in leadership studies, she advanced once again to one of the top tiers of management as vice president of student affairs.

Checa said her greatest pride has been helping create learning and support centers at CSUSM that have contributed to student success, particularly for first-generation college students.

“The people I work with here have been terrific in supporting that mission,” she said. “They know it’s about the students, never about us. We’re providing them that support and guiding them. Developing those programs was a joy.”

Seven years ago, Checa remarried and now has two stepchildren, ages 19 and 20, in addition to her son, 39, and daughter, 36, who has three daughters, Analiyah, 15, Gabriella, 12, and Amerie, 10. Although her decision to retire has been bittersweet, she said she’s looking forward to spending more time with her family and having the opportunity to volunteer her time and expertise to local organizations as a board member.

Before Checa retires next month, the university will be hosting a celebration in her honor on Dec. 8. But Checa already has an established legacy in her name at CSUSM. In 2016, the campus EOP department established the Lorena Checa Award, which honors students whose academic road mirrors Checa’s in terms of perseverance, academic excellence and inspiration.

Checa donates $1,000 each year to the award program’s scholarship fund and she’s had the opportunity to read the winning students’ essays. One of the most moving essays was written by 2018 award winner Francisco Fernandez, who is now a biology and biomedical grad student at Harvard University. Although born in the U.S., Fernandez moved to Mexico with his parents as an infant, then returned at age 18 to get an education. While living in his uncle’s Escondido garage and working at a car wash to support himself, Fernandez learned English, earned his AA degree at Palomar and transferred to CSUSM, where he excelled in the sciences.

Fernandez told Checa that reading about her life journey inspired him to shoot for the stars.

“I have had the opportunity to read these essays and all I do is cry,” she said. “I think about how they’ve said that they have framed my story to say that if somebody else can do it, they can do it, too. It’s very humbling and I’m very grateful.”