Upon the announcement that she was named the vice provost of academic affairs in March 2006, Cordelia Chavez Candelaria said the position at the Downtown campus would be one of her "grand projects."
Candelaria said she felt excited about her position and the role it would take as her next "grand project;" she said her life has been made up of several projects, including work on the Chicano Civil Rights Movement.
Ronald Beveridge, Candelaria's husband, said he was elated to hear that his wife got the vice provost position, but that the demands of the job have increased over the last year.
"I felt like she should have had it [the position] earlier in her career," Beveridge said.
Candelaria's first year in the position has been one of the "fastest" years of her life, as well as a completely new experience, she said.
She spent most of her time in one department since she began teaching at ASU in 1992, which didn't offer her experience with the other departments she's currently coordinating and working with, she said.
To compensate, she said she did a lot of short, heavy training on different departments such as nursing, with which she'd only had brief communications since her induction as a teacher in 1992.
Alma Alvarez-Smith, who has collaborated with Candelaria, said Candelaria has an aptitude and strong desire to communicate.
"She's open and she encourages everyone to communicate," Alvarez-Smith said. "She always brings a group together, and I think it's because of her communication style."
Candelaria's career has grown from blue-collar roots - she points to her beginnings as a source of significant life events.
Her family traveled around New Mexico, following construction work wherever it might go.
"[It] meant that we also learned to work hard, study hard, adapt to change, love and protect each other in the many different neighborhoods where we were usually the new kids on the block," she said.
Beveridge said Candelaria still has a reserved lifestyle because, as she grew up, her family had to make due with what they had.
Her eldest brother and mentor, Edward Chavez, told her to see a high school counselor after receiving high scores on her SAT and ACT standardized tests.
The counselor told her that despite her high test scores, he couldn't help her with a scholarship. He told her to find work at a particular bank because they were hiring "Spanish."
Candelaria said this experience angered her. She points to it as a pivotal event in her life that led to her decision to devote her life to breaking down communal racism that acts as barriers for students of color.
Her career spans over the course of several years and includes several publications and a teaching opportunity.
In one of her latest publications, Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture, she collaborated with other researchers. Activism through literature has been a part of her work.
In addition to working across different departments, Candelaria helps entry-level students find their footing and resolve problems.
School and academics underscore much of Candelaria's life, and even though people might not view it as such, Candelaria said achieving a bachelor's degree is an accomplishment of which one should be proud.
"You're still in such a tiny sliver of the world's population," Candelaria said. "I always like to remind people of what an accomplishment it is."
Reach the reporter at: marc.young@asu.edu.
