Angel Arriaga


















Interview with: ANGEL ARRIAGA
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Lola-Dillon Cahill
For the Marist College Archives and Special Collections





















Angel Arriaga

Transcript – Angel Arriaga

Interviewee:
Angel Arriaga
Interviewer:
Gus Nolan and Jan Stivers
Interview Date:
30 January 2023
Location:
James A. Cannavino Library

Topic:
Marist College History

Subject Headings:
Marist College Staff
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York)

Summary:
In this interview, Gus Nolan and Jan Stivers had the opportunity to speak with
Angel Arriaga, a Marist College employee of 22+ years. They discussed his childhood,
education, and work experience.

































Angel Arriaga

Gus Nolan (
00:00:00
):
C plus Gus, the students called me <laugh>. We want to interview you because you have unique history
and your contribution to Marist is just overwhelming as we are looking through 22 plus years with us.
And you're still here, and, they haven't fired you and you haven't walked away. So there's really like four
parts to this. Okay. The first is kind of the early years where you were born, growing up in grade school,
and then we go to, high school and college. <affirmative> and the activities. And then the third, how did
you hear about Marist and why did you come here? What was the job you had and how were your days
here? And then the fourth kind of, evaluation of Marist. Why do people stay? Or why do people leave if
they're unhappy? Your recommendations. What would you tell the board if you were invited to the
board? What does Marist need for, its growth and development, plus what should it maintain so it stays
in business. So that's the overview of it. That's what I say now. Now we get into a <laugh>. Yeah. So from
the beginning, just say a few, kind of a snapshot where you were born and grew up, and, family, you
talk.
Angel Arriaga (
00:01:34
):
Yeah. So, my family's from Puerto Rico. I was born in Willimantic, Connecticut. Around the age of five,
my sisters moved to Beacon, two of my sisters. So my entire family relocated to Beacon. So I grew up in
Beacon, New York. And went to Beacon High School at a time where Beacon was a very different place
than it is now.
Gus Nolan (
00:01:57
):
Okay. What happened to grade school?
Angel Arriaga (
00:01:59
):
So grade school, I was back and forth. I spent some of my grade school years in Connecticut and the
others in Puerto Rico. So around, I think around third grade we moved to Puerto Rico. I was there until
fifth grade. Came back, and then was here for sixth and seventh, and then back to Puerto Rico.
Gus Nolan (
00:02:24
):
Give me the decades. Was this in the sixties? The seventies? The eighties?
Angel Arriaga (
00:02:29
):
Okay. So,
Gus Nolan (
00:02:31
):
Not the exact age
Angel Arriaga (
00:02:32
):
<laugh> I was in- in grade school, I was in the eighties. It was in the eighties. Okay. And then high school
was the nineties.
Gus Nolan (
00:02:38
):
Okay. Alright. That's a good picture of it. Now grade school, big classes, small classes, private, public?
What kind of school?


Angel Arriaga

Angel Arriaga (
00:02:50
):
So I went to public school. You did? In low income, spaces. So there were big classes. I was placed in
bilingual classes at first because of, I would assume was my last name, and the fact that I spoke Spanish.
So I had a interesting experience in grade school. And then because I sort of moved between Puerto Rico
and the U.S. I think I got in Puerto Rico classes, where still are schools are very underfunded, um, Uh huh
<affirmative>. So I had that experience just growing up.
Gus Nolan (
00:03:35
):
I see.
Jan Stivers (
00:03:36
):
Angel, we share something in that my father was in the Army, so I moved every two or three years. Two
years. And I hated that change. How did you feel about the changes you were making?
Angel Arriaga (
00:03:47
):
You know, when I was in elementary school, I think I enjoyed it because I was able to sort of learn to
navigate two different worlds. So I mean, maybe I didn't make as many friends and long-term friends in
elementary school, and I think I missed a little bit of that. But I did, learn how to code switch and move
between cultural spaces. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. But, when I was in ninth grade though, my
mom, we were in Beacon. My mom, we've always had a house there, and she wanted to go back, to be
in Puerto Rico and I went and spent a month and then came back and lived with my sister to finish my
high school education. So I think it was definitely harder when I was already in high school to try to
navigate those two spaces.
Gus Nolan (
00:04:44
):
Yeah, okay. Let's move on to high school, and then we do something in between. <affirmative> What
kind of classes did you take? You had literature, English I guess we called it, you know, and mathematics
and history. Did you like that? Did you do well in school, or so-so?
Angel Arriaga (
00:05:08
):
I loved high school, but it wasn't until high school that I began to, that I started loving education. I think
because I think I was, trying to find myself and, and find my way through what it meant to be, you know,
a Latino in a space like Beacon High School. Beacon at that point was, Beacon High School was very
diverse. But it was also very, very problematic. I was very sort of introverted in the school. There was
always fights and things happening in school. So I had some really great teachers that made me love
history and English. So I loved my classes. I think at that point, Beacon was very underfunded, so a lot of
electives weren't available. I wasn't able to take, you know, I think I was able to take two AP courses
while I was there. That was about it.
Gus Nolan (
00:06:08
):
In high school. Did you participate in various activities, the theater, choir, sports, any of these things?
Angel Arriaga (
00:06:19
):
Well, so I was voted most school spirit, but I don't know. So I was always <laugh>.


Angel Arriaga

Jan Stivers (
00:06:25
):
That's wonderful.
Gus Nolan (
00:06:27
):
<laugh>.
Angel Arriaga (
00:06:28
):
I was like, I was in the key club and I participated, in all of, like, you know, Teachers of America or future
teachers. I was involved in a lot of clubs, not a lot of extracurricular requirements, or definitely not
sports. I wasn't a sports guy. But in the yearbook committee and student government. That was the kind
of student that I was. But yeah, no.
Gus Nolan (
00:07:00
):
That would, you would have a number of friends then if you were in those groups. Yeah, so that would
be part of it. And so, were they happy years?
Angel Arriaga (
00:07:11
):
They were confusing years. I was, you know, I was going through a,
Gus Nolan (
00:07:17
):
Growing up.
Angel Arriaga (
00:07:18
):
Yeah. <laugh> So, my identity questions and trying to figure out my space, whether or not I would go to
college what college I would go to, I had great friends and actually, two of my friends really sort of
follow me through my college years. We went to college together.
Gus Nolan (
00:07:40
):
Okay, let's get into college. Where'd you go to college?
Angel Arriaga (
00:07:42
):
So, I went to, I started actually at Dutchess Community College. Did my associate's there in biology, then
transferred to the State University of New York at New Paltz, and did both my undergrad and grad work
at New Paltz. My undergrad was in bio-psychology. Psychology with a concentration of bio-psychology.
And then my master's in counseling.
Gus Nolan (
00:08:07
):
Ah, I see how they mixed. Yeah. But, interesting. Any other, did you have any work experiences after
school, during school, summers? Can you talk a little bit about that?
Angel Arriaga (
00:08:23
):
Sure, I started working very young. As soon as I could get my working papers. I think I was 13, 14,
whatever that was. And I remember it was, I was just gotten my working papers and my sister-in-Law,
used to work at an insurance agency in Beacon. And they had just gotten computers and <laugh>. So


Angel Arriaga

they were beginning to automate their records or put their records, you know, all the paper records and
files into their computer program. So I was hired to work for the summer to help do that because I, you
know, had, I was, you know, had played around with computers, knew a little bit about computers at
that point, um, and then kept that job. I was, after that summer, the person who ran the agency kept
me a few hours a week throughout my junior and then senior year in high school. Then when I went to
college, I left that job and I worked at the movie theater in the Poughkeepsie Galleria, <laugh> part time.
And, but also worked, did my college work study job at Duchess, at Duchess South, in Wappingers. And
then when I graduated from Duchess and went to New Paltz, they kept me twice a week as a temp.
Doing everything from registration to advising students, and so I, that's where I learned my college, my
love for college work.
Gus Nolan (
00:09:53
):
But you pretty much focused, you were not so much a salesman as you were computerized, technician
moving stuff into files and stuff.
Angel Arriaga (
00:10:03
):
Yeah, mostly that's what I did. Towards the end, I was learning to be a customer service rep and, learned
how to, you know, figure out what premiums were for auto insurance. And it was interesting. It was an
interesting job.
Gus Nolan (
00:10:18
):
Yeah. I've talked enough, Jan
Jan Stivers (
00:10:21
):
I'm interested in following up on the experience that you had in, at Duchess. Were you doing some
college counseling at that point?
Angel Arriaga (
00:10:30
):
Yeah. Towards the end, right. So, I, when I was doing my work study, I was simply helping cover the
office. But Dutchess South was, you know, an extension campus. <affirmative>. So pretty much the
people in the office did a lot of everything, right? <affirmative> So when I graduated and was offered a
temp position, then I was doing registrations, and I was, so, I was helping students register for classes.
Sometimes they would have questions about particular courses or their degree plan. So this, that's
where I got my intro to advising in the college space. And I really loved it. I really, really did love it. Mm-
Hmm. <affirmative>.
Jan Stivers (
00:11:09
):
And did that influence your decision to pursue counseling, pursue psychology at SUNY?
Angel Arriaga (
00:11:14
):
Yeah, that was definitely one of, one factor. I think also, you know, when you go into psychology and
counseling, there's sort of this desire to reflect on one's own personal experience and try to figure
yourself out. And I think I was going through a lot of that. I also had an amazing psychology professor at
Duchess who really inspired me and really sort of made me think of, initially I was going into research


Angel Arriaga

and biology and the sciences. That was my desire. But then I fell in love with psychology as a field and
yeah. And then pursued that at New Paltz.
Gus Nolan (
00:11:56
):
How does that happen that a teacher influences you? Is it because of the lectures that he gives? Is it
because of the assignments he gives, or do you have conferences with him, what's the key to that? Is
there one?
Angel Arriaga (
00:12:11
):
<laugh>? Yeah. You know, it's, I would say for me, it was a professor that was very inspirational. I think
his passion for the field was evident. I think he allowed and encouraged as much as you can in a gateway
course, you know, sort of first year courses. But he allowed students to be sort of their genuine self and,
allowed this, you know, these opportunities to think critically about, things and, one's own experience.
So I wouldn't say there was one real thing. I think he was inspirational and really made me feel, seen as a
student. And I think, I think that made a difference.
Gus Nolan (
00:13:04
):
It's a person thing rather than a book to the person that you know.
Angel Arriaga (
00:13:07
):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>
Gus Nolan (
00:13:08
):
It's the person that influenced you as such. Yeah. Yes. Mm-Hmm.
Angel Arriaga (
00:13:11
):
Absolutely.
Jan Stivers (
00:13:12
):
Absolutely. Tell us a little bit more about your time at SUNY New Paltz.
Angel Arriaga (
00:13:17
):
So, New Paltz, I had always, you know, my mom, my family was in Beacon, so I wanted to always stay
with them.
Jan Stivers (
00:13:27
):
So your mom was back from Puerto Rico then?
Angel Arriaga (
00:13:28
):
Yes. At that point, yes. By the time I was in college, my mom was back in Puerto Rico, and I am, I must
say I'm the youngest of eight. So all my brothers and sisters, you know, are married and they had their
own kids. I grew up mostly with my nephews and nieces as equals, and my sisters and my brothers. But I
wanted to stay close. So I went to New Paltz, and New Paltz was a good school. I also wanted a bit of
more, you know, coming from, although coming from a traditional Hispanic family who is also very


Angel Arriaga

Catholic and very conservative, I wanted to go to a space a little bit more progressive, I would say.
<affirmative>. That would allow me the opportunity to sort of figure out who I was, but also experience
people from different places. And New Paltz allowed me to do that. I loved this school. I had some great
friends there and, sort of discovered who I was Mm-Hmm.<affirmative> ,while I was there.
Gus Nolan (
00:14:35
):
Very good.
Jan Stivers (
00:14:37
):
How did you come to Marist?
Angel Arriaga (
00:14:40
):
How did I come to Marist? <laugh>
Jan Stivers (
00:14:43
):
Do you want to, do you want to tell us first what you did after graduating with your master's?
Angel Arriaga (
00:14:47
):
So, actually while I was completing my graduate degree, I was working at the case management
department at Vassar Brothers Hospital. So I had gotten initially an AmeriCorps placement and then was
working with Mia, who was the chair or the department manager there. And I really liked it, but I
realized I was doing my graduate work, and I also realized that I did not want to work in a space that
was, you know, when you're in a hospital and you're working, I was working in the ER and, and their
prenatal clinic. But it wasn't always good news that you were giving people, and it just was very draining
on my psyche. And while I wanted to be part of the helping professions, I realized very quickly that that
was a bit too much for me. I had been an RA at New Paltz, so I started looking for jobs that were similar
in student affairs. I wanted to get back into higher ed. I always knew about Marist. I had, some of the
people I worked with when I was working at the movie theater while going to college, were students at
Marist. So I knew about Marist, and Upward Bound had a position for the summer in 2000 at that point.
And I was like, well, I did RA, I was an RA, let me apply to this position. And so I was hired for the
summer. Gladys, and, oh my God, what is his name?
Jan Stivers (
00:16:27
):
Joe.
Angel Arriaga (
00:16:28
):
Joe Parker, hired me. And I was the resident coordinator. I really enjoyed it, working with, you know,
upper bound is high school students, but I really enjoyed that. And so towards the end of the summer, I
am walking around and an RA that was, that had worked with me at New Paltz, had become an RD here.
And she's like, oh my God, what are you doing? We're looking for all these, you know, RDs, you'd be
perfect for it. And I was, at that point, I was very different than what I expected the Marist student to
look like. And for a person to work here, I, you know, I had blonde bleached, blonde hair, <laugh>. I had
a tongue ring. I, was, at that point had discovered, not discovered, but had come out, as part of the L-G-
B-T-Q-I community. So I was like, they're never going to hire me at Marist. But I applied and was
interviewed and Jerry-


Angel Arriaga

Jan Stivers (
00:17:33
):
With the tongue ring?
Angel Arriaga (
00:17:34
):
With the tongue ring <laugh>.
Jan Stivers (
00:17:37
):
Good for you.
Gus Nolan (
00:17:38
):
Wait, who?
Angel Arriaga (
00:17:39
):
Oh, no, no. I had a tongue ring.
Jan Stivers (
00:17:42
):
I was wondering if he took out his tongue ring for the interview but he didn't!
Angel Arriaga (
00:17:46
):
No. I think because I was,
Jan Stivers (
00:17:48
):
It's authentic.
Angel Arriaga (
00:17:49
):
<laugh>. I was here, and they basically, I was living in Marian, and they called me and said, you know,
when can you come interview down at the housing office? And I interviewed with Steve Sansola and
Patty Houmiel-Petacchi at that point. And then they asked me to meet with Jerry Cox, who was the Vice
President of Student Affairs. And he spoke to me about the history of the Marist Brothers, the value of
the institution. But I still was thinking, I am too radically different <laugh>. They're never going to hire
me. But he took a chance and they hired me. And I did res life for five years before then moving on to
HEOP and Multicultural Affairs.
Gus Nolan (
00:18:37
):
So that was the beginning?
Angel Arriaga (
00:18:38
):
That was the beginning.
Gus Nolan (
00:18:40
):
Coming here, I don't know exactly where we go with here. We talk about, your experiences here. Mm-
Hmm. <affirmative>, you know, what did you do as a hiree? Did you do any teaching? Did you meet,
what was your job?


Angel Arriaga

Angel Arriaga (
00:19:08
):
So I worked in Residence life. So I was a resident director supervising, actually, I was in Marian Hall. So at
that point, it was upper class students. And I had a staff of RAs and they did all the programming, the co-
curricular sort of programming within the residence halls.
Jan Stivers (
00:19:29
):
The discipline,
Angel Arriaga (
00:19:31
):
Also the discipline, All the student conduct.
Gus Nolan (
00:19:33
):
It's a discipline for the job.
Angel Arriaga (
00:19:34
):
Oh, there was, and at that point, we didn't have an office of student conduct. So, it wasn't until years
later that we established an office of student conduct. So the resident directors and, and the residence
life staff dealt with all, levels of discipline. So I really loved that job. It's very fast moving. But I also
wanted to get back into the academic side of the house, and really learn advising and learn how to
support students, who would not otherwise have those support systems. The first gen, the black
student, the brown student.
Gus Nolan (
00:20:12
):
Okay. I always, I have a really similar experience in as much as when I first came to Marist in 68, I was a
proctor in Leo on the fourth floor.
Angel Arriaga (
00:20:25
):
Okay. Yeah. <laugh>.
Gus Nolan (
00:20:28
):
And I was the first one to bring television in sixty-eight to the floor, because you just had charge of that
one floor. Okay. Of course, the rec room, as it was, was right next to my bedroom. So I was buying my
own death key, as it were, because they watched television all night, you know, World War II, my father
was on that ship! You know, so I listened to that through the night. I said, what was I doing on the tv?
You know, and then it's very hard to put a lock on it, you know, once it's open, you know. So I don't want
to become an enemy of the floor, you know. So, I persevered through that year, but then I was quickly
removed, and they found another job for me where I didn't have to work. The community took me in
<laugh>. I was a Marist brother at the time.
Angel Arriaga (
00:21:22
):
Okay.
Gus Nolan (
00:21:22
):
Yeah. So


Angel Arriaga

Jan Stivers (
00:21:24
):
Tell us about what you do in your job today. Because, you said you wanted to make a transition to the
academic side of the house, to supporting students academically. And I imagine also social emotionally,
but. So tell us about what you do. Tell us your job.
Angel Arriaga (
00:21:39
):
It, you know, it has evolved since it began since I started in 2005, because we were just HEOP at that
moment. And HEOP had been at Marist, you know, since the inception of HEOP. But, at that point, we
were, you know, we had a small cohort of students, all of which, most of which were black and brown
students from inner city spaces, all of which were first gen students. So I was directly putting all my
counseling, you know, what work I had learned in the school, I was putting that into action with these
students. Not that I wasn't in res life, because I was dealing with crisis management, and, but I could
relate to the HEOP student. I was that student. I just didn't happen, I wasn't part of the program, but
their experience, their lived experience was very much, very much mirrored mine.
Jan Stivers (
00:22:43
):
Do I have a place here? Do I fit? Am I accepted?
Angel Arriaga (
00:22:46
):
Am I accepted right? Do I have the support systems in place that will allow me to succeed? You know, do
I have the security to feel safe in this space? So that's what I do now, you know, in 2010, we became the
Center for Multicultural Affairs, so that mission just grew and expanded. In res life, I had done, you
know, I've always been interested in diversity and equity issues, and, specifically, you know, giving voice
to those people who feel invisible within, you know, systems and structures. And, I began to, you know,
there were moments myself at Marist from that, I felt invisible, that I felt-
Gus Nolan (
00:23:38
):
Yeah. I want to get back to that.
Jan Stivers (
00:23:40
):
Yeah. I'm writing the same down.
Gus Nolan (
00:23:41
):
Hold that one. Yeah. But because, I want to get to that, percentage of the students, see, we do this, well
this is like, we have almost 200 of these that we've done, and many of them are nice, flowery things. Oh,
I love Marist and so on. A lot of people would say, not a lot, a number of students would not say that we
believe. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But we haven't found them. I mean, well, we've not looked, we're
trying to get, a view of our people who have been disappointed in Marist, and why? What do we not do
correctly? And you're like, touching that point and saying, you know, they were discouraged because
they were not accepted. They were not considered for, a office of a job or whatever, you know? Is that
true? Would you say there was a percentage of those?
Angel Arriaga (
00:24:37
):
Well, I think so, I think even in the, I think when you look different and when you, or when you are,
when you come into the space and all, and you're the only person that, or you feel like the only person


Angel Arriaga

of that ethnicity or that, I think a lot of times what, I know for me, what I try to do when I, because
although I was out, I was still reserved when I started at Marist in terms of talking about my culture or
my experiences. And it wasn't until I, began to connect with people that had similar identities, I think.
Jan Stivers (
00:25:21
):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> critical mass.
Angel Arriaga (
00:25:22
):
Yeah. And yeah because, see Marist to me has always been, I mean, a very loving, friendly place, right?
Gus Nolan (
00:25:34
):
Yes.
New Speaker (
00:25:35
):
But I think when I first started, I was like, okay, very conservative, Catholic, keep, even though I was
trying to be out of the box, I tried to sort of stay within the, you know, the lanes or the lines.
New Speaker (
00:25:49
):
Very loving and friendly, as long as I don't push the boundaries too much.
Angel Arriaga (
00:25:53
):
Push the boundaries, that's it. And, things have changed a little bit over the years. But that, that was my
initial feeling. Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:26:03
):
Who is invisible today, do you think?
Angel Arriaga (
00:26:07
):
Oh,
Jan Stivers (
00:26:09
):
Among your, your client load among the students?
Angel Arriaga (
00:26:11
):
Yeah. I think sometimes, and this is true for faculty and administration, I think people default to what
they expect, or what resources they expect the Marist students to have. Without sort of thinking, so like,
these low income students, these students that are, that may be foster youth, students that are here at
Marist that may be experiencing housing insecurities or, food insecurities. Those are invisible students,
because we don't, you know, I think a professor may say, oh, I expect that you'll do this, or go on this
field trip and or spend all this money on whatever it is a project, or, and the students who are low
income students, who are those students that, are here, don't have the resources to be able to go to
that field trip, you know, in New York City very easily. Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:27:21
):


Angel Arriaga

I'm just realizing I taught at 3:30 on a Friday for a long time. It was kind of a service to the department to
take this slot that was not so favorite.
Gus Nolan (
00:27:31
):
Not a very popular area. Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:27:33
):
So one of the ways we got through it was, it was a Tuesday, Friday class, and on Fridays only, we brought
snacks and we signed up. Everybody took a week to bring snacks for the class. Never occurred to me.
That might be asking a lot that that might be a hardship for someone. Never occurred to me. Invisible.
Angel Arriaga (
00:27:51
):
Invisible. Yeah.
Gus Nolan (
00:27:53
):
Well, when students apply to Marist, do they do it with some kind of glow that I'll get to Marist and it
will be all lovely? I mean, is that why they make the effort to come here? I mean, they know they don't
have the wealth and so on. They don't have the cars, they don't have these things. But if I get to Marist,
I'll be able to get through and get a degree and I'll get a good job or something. Is that, is that the lure?
Angel Arriaga (
00:28:27
):
I think for my students, right, for the students that are coming in through the HEOP program or, the
ACEs program that had that profile of first generation of low income, they love, they will visit Marist and
they'll love the space. Oh, they love the students. I think that their initial interactions, I mean, Marist is a
warm, welcoming space, and they meet very caring administrators and faculty while they're here and
visiting or interviewing for our program for admissions. But so many, I would assume, Marist students,
you know, they, come to college and that's an expectation of their families, you know, or their parents
did it before them and their parents', parents before them. For these students, they, this is their first
sort of introduction to college life, right? And they are carrying not only the weight of, yeah, I'm going to
get a career, get a college degree so I can support myself, so I can enrich myself, but now I have to carry
and pull with me so many of my family, right. So even while they're in college, they may be working a
second job, to send home money for their parents, or they may be going home to translate, for their
parents and are missing class. So these are things that, you know,
Gus Nolan (
00:30:04
):
They're invisible again. Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. The, I was just wondering about, you know, the
number of, I don't know what the percentage is now of traditional students versus the non-traditional,
you know, it's, you know, is it 10% of the college?
Angel Arriaga (
00:30:31
):
I mean, because it's more than we think, you know, I think sometimes we think, oh, you know, there's
maybe one or two students, right. That, that are foster youth students or that, are experiencing
homelessness. And they're just not telling you.
Jan Stivers (
00:30:49
):


Angel Arriaga

They're not telling you, It's a source of shame.
New Speaker (
00:30:50
):
Right. They're living out of their cars, yes. They're, yeah. So they're not telling you. I think because our
programs are so specific, and we've developed these really strong relationships with the students that
are in HEOP or the ACEs, right? So, the HEOP, we have a headcount of fifty-seven, but we could take
three hundred of the college letters, you know. So those are fifty-seven students, and then probably
another ten or fifteen that are ACEs or some of the other program students.
Jan Stivers (
00:31:21
):
Remind me what ACEs is?
Angel Arriaga (
00:31:22
):
ACEs is mostly students from California and Hawaii that are general admit, but they, their profile, they
may be first gen. They also come from spaces similar to the HEOP student, which is the HEOP students
are just from New York.
Gus Nolan (
00:31:40
):
What's just a little bit more, you were talking about students in the interaction. How about faculty?
Have you seen the same kind of, silent neglect as it were? Benign neglect, you know, in other words,
they don't mean to be necessarily mean, except they are, you know?
Angel Arriaga (
00:32:05
):
Yeah.
Gus Nolan (
00:32:07
):
Wrong word.
Angel Arriaga (
00:32:08
):
<laugh>. Yeah. I'm trying to, I think, you know, I'm sure,
Jan Stivers (
00:32:14
):
You know, we've lost a lot of faculty of color.
Angel Arriaga (
00:32:17
):
Yeah
Jan Stivers (
00:32:17
):
We seem not to be able to retain,
Angel Arriaga (
00:32:20
):
To retain them. Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:32:21
):


Angel Arriaga

And we would like to tell ourselves it's because other places can offer them more money. I don't think
that that's the whole.
Angel Arriaga (
00:32:29
):
Yeah. My conversations with faculty, I think they feel, I don't think we just have, we don't have that
critical mass, that representation. I think sometimes, especially faculty of color may feel exhausted by
the fact, I mean, it happens in institutions everywhere, right? Because you have so few of them that
whenever you're looking for representation of that particular culture, you know, culture, ethnic identity,
you're calling on them. And so I think there's that exhaustion that, and the connections aren't there. But
I think that happens in all predominantly white spaces, right? But I, and I think they may feel similar to, I
mean, I still feel it, you know, even to this day, that sense of imposter syndrome, that sense of like, do I
belong here? And I've been here twenty, twenty-two, twenty-three years now, and I still feel it in
spaces.
Gus Nolan (
00:33:35
):
Right you do, well to tell you the truth, when you came in here Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, I didn't like
you.
Angel Arriaga (
00:33:41
):
You what?
Gus Nolan (
00:33:41
):
I didn't like you.
Angel Arriaga (
00:33:42
):
No? <Laugh>
Gus Nolan (
00:33:43
):
Yeah. Ten minutes later, I see how wrong I am, you know, it takes time to break through to find the
genuine person that is, I mean, just, I know. Just a visual kind of, you know, you didn't strike me like the
quarterback of Notre Dame <laugh>.
New Speaker (
00:34:02
):
<laugh> Nope. That is not, that is not, me.
Jan Stivers (
00:34:04
):
Aren't you glad <laugh>?
Gus Nolan (
00:34:06
):
Yeah, so, but you know, I never met a person I didn't like. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But you have to
meet them. I mean, you just can't just, you know, go on a certain image and certain, you know,
Jan Stivers (
00:34:20
):


Angel Arriaga

So I think also people who are from underrepresented groups, they know this and therefore they have
to get themselves out there, which is even more exhausting. Coming back to the same thing you were
just talking about.
Gus Nolan (
00:34:32
):
Yeah, yeah. So pardon my honesty, <laugh>.
Angel Arriaga (
00:34:35
):
Oh, no, I appreciate it.
Jan Stivers (
00:34:39
):
Well, what just happened there is something that you try to get to happen over and over again,
including in workshops. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So, can you tell us about how you do that? How, my
question was, I had written this out. You have, you lead workshops designed to change people's
perspectives and to challenge their assumptions. And I've seen you do it, and I've seen you do it in this
sort of gentle and non-defensive, well, not non-defensive way, in a gentle way that doesn't let other
people become defensive about it. How do you do that <laugh>?
Angel Arriaga (
00:35:17
):
Yeah. I think, I find that, if you approach people with your genuine, authentic self, that's the first thing I
think sometimes we talk about things but are not vulnerable enough to share our own lived experience.
I think you begin there, right? This is who I am, this is my true self. This has been my experience. And
then make it okay for people to be themselves, to be vulnerable, and to maybe sometimes ask the
questions that aren't, you know? So perfect, and well,
Jan Stivers (
00:36:08
):
Flattering to yourself?
Angel Arriaga (
00:36:08
):
Right? But to say, look, these were my views, you know, before I got to meet you. Right? Yeah. And let's
confront that. Let's have a moment where we're talking about an issue, but then also allowing people to
reflect on how their experiences really shape the way that they perceive and the assumptions they have
of other groups. And so yeah, I mean I just, I've loved the topic. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But it really
begins with realizing that narrative matters. Yeah. And we can default to all these assumptions, but it
isn't until, like you said, we say, hey, tell me about you. Let's, that we then say, oh, you know, I had all
these assumptions about you. Those assumptions are now different because I got to know you and your
lived experience and your challenges in life.
Gus Nolan (
00:37:06
):
You could have been very at fault. You could have come in here carrying a football and say, did you see
the game last night? What do you think about that foul off, you know, which would not be you! You
know, which is the whole game here of saying, you know, you have to reveal, the life, you know, what is,
is, you know? And that's kind of where we are. So, alright.
Jan Stivers (
00:37:31
):


Angel Arriaga

We were talking, as we were walking here about the challenges of continuing to do that work when day
after day, the newspapers confront us with such evidence that it's not taking, at least in the broader
society.
Angel Arriaga (
00:37:50
):
Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:37:51
):
That prejudice and out now hatred. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> is, is rampant. So, how, well, first of all,
what do you see on the campus? Do you see growth? Do you see change?
Angel Arriaga (
00:38:07
):
So, you know, it's an ongoing process, right? So I see a lot of efforts and a lot of, you know,
conversations about issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. But, you know, our new, Vice President of
diversity speaks to that. You know, in, I, I think, you and I were at the last, the strategic plan, you know, I
don't know. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> 10 years ago, whatever that was. And a lot of that conversation
that we were having in the fundamental subcommittee of that group was about, well, how do we, you
know, create spaces and opportunities for Marist to be a little bit, you know, more diverse and, and for
students to feel welcome and for faculty and staff to feel welcome. And I think there's been
improvement there, but I think, you know, the political climate of the country has allowed for those few
people that have very strong views on, you know, Black Lives Matter or Jewish students or Muslim
students, to really express those things in ways that I don't think they would've done even five years
ago. Right? So, I think those few students who are loud can be very loud and very disruptive to
communities.
Gus Nolan (
00:39:30
):
I mean, you go back to the first graduating class with girls in it in the seventies Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>,
you know, color was not an issue. There was no color. There was only, you know, I mean, and I had, I
was the first one to have a migrant student in class here on a scholarship from Highland, you know?
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And this was a whole new area for Marist to open up. You know, we had been
such a closed box for all those years before. And so by contrast today, it's miles ahead from where it
was, but it has miles to go. You know, to be where it should be, where it might be, I don't know whether
we should be there yet. I mean, it takes a while for you, it does. To transfer this overall attitude, the
willingness to change.
Jan Stivers (
00:40:21
):
Well we have it at the top. So we have President Weinman making this, a centerpiece,
Gus Nolan (
00:40:29
):
Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:40:29
):
Of his administration. And exemplifying that by naming a new vice president. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
So tell me, what challenges will they face, and what do you hope they will do?


Angel Arriaga

Angel Arriaga (
00:40:41
):
I think so. I mean, cultural shifts are, you have to be in it for the long run, right? It's not something that
happens. I think you can, there are some times, and I'm not saying this is what happens here, but there
are times when institutions and organizations sort of create this appearance, but there has to be the
follow through, right? The resources allocated the staff that you need to be able to do this work, and to
do it well. I think, and I think there is really effort, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So, president
Weinman did the equity fund, which really is helping students with, you know, who may need
transportation to an internship or who can't afford to pay for their tutors in the learning center.
Gus Nolan (
00:41:37
):
Yeah.
Angel Arriaga (
00:41:38
):
So that's helping those students. And I think that's, you know, a huge step forward. And I think, you
know, if we put in the effort to engage those faculty and staff of color, of different groups, and to bring
them, truly bring them to the table, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> by having a, diverse cabinet Mm-
Hmm. <affirmative> a diverse, you know, board, that represents the students and the people that we
want here. I think that's going to come a long way too. But we have to be in it for the long run, right?
You know. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, what is one target group today, may not be tomorrow, but there's
always a target group. There's always somewhere something going on where people of different
identities can feel targeted.
Jan Stivers (
00:42:30
):
We're going to marginalize somebody.
Angel Arriaga (
00:42:30
):
Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:42:31
):
Yeah. So what do you hope they do? What do you hope they, so it's not going to be, they, it's going to
be you, <laugh> <laugh>. What do you want to see happen?
Angel Arriaga (
00:42:39
):
You know, and I've reflected on this a lot. I hope that they recognize that the college demographic is
shifting, right? And that there are, the students that are coming to our campus with greater need. So I
hope that we focus on our student support services and our ability to really deal with these first gen
students that are coming from inner city schools that may, that don't have this, you know, they don't
know the college space. And very often when I lose a student, it's because they don't feel, that they
don't feel welcome in the spaces they're in in the residence hall. Or their responsibility external to the
college space is so great that they have to leave. So I hope we put more or rethink, some of our student
services so that they're more holistic in nature, that they're also addressing and being able to address
some of the external factors, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> for that student that is food insecure, do
we have a pantry in the college? Right? And I think they're, the conversations are starting, right? The
vice president of DEI just announced a food insecurity committee and,


Angel Arriaga

Jan Stivers (
00:44:12
):
You're on it. <Laugh> He sent out an email. You're there <laugh>.
Angel Arriaga (
00:44:16
):
So, it's things like this yeah. And I hope that we end up with a, when we recognize that we'll end up with
a more diverse student body, and that's happening. I'm walking into classrooms now where I'm seeing
three or four students of color and not just that one student.
Gus Nolan (
00:44:36
):
Yeah. But we have to be careful of a bind here. And as much as the college is tuition driven,
Angel Arriaga (
00:44:44
):
Yes, that's true.
Gus Nolan (
00:44:45
):
Where's the money? And they come from, we can't open the doors and say, come on folks, come on
board. I mean, the white population will then leave, you know, and say, well give it over to the
minorities, you know, we'll go someplace. We have to do both things. You know, we have to bring them
together. And I think the process, you have the biggest job <laugh> is, you know, to be able to change
us, you know, to be able to say, you know, open up the door, you'll be better off for it. It's like, you
know, the immigrants coming in, we need people in this country to keep the country going. You know,
we'll need people in the college to keep the college going, you know, on both levels. You know, the
ingenuity of the new culture, as well as the tradition, you know, who will pay their share financially.
Angel Arriaga (
00:45:45
):
Right.
Jan Stivers (
00:45:45
):
Plus you said that Angel's got the biggest part of making that change, but the other part has to come
from advancement. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, for a college of our size and our age, our endowment is
not impressive.
Gus Nolan (
00:45:59
):
I know.
Jan Stivers (
00:46:00
):
So, and maybe now we are getting to a maturity of the alumni population so that that can expand. But
when, I mean, I know we're not Harvard, but when Harvard has 47 billion, did I make 47 billion? Right.
You know,
Gus Nolan (
00:46:19
):
And Vassar not far behind <laugh>.
Jan Stivers (
00:46:21
):


Angel Arriaga

Right. It's not just bringing in enough students who could pay the tuition. We have to realize that never
was a Marist education funded by Marist tuition completely. It was subsidized by everybody else.
Gus Nolan (
00:46:39
):
Oh, yeah. This is true. Yeah. And, you know, the idea that, the minority students, teachers are leaving for
more money, I don't think it's true. I think that, I think that's pretty much equality. Faculty buy and large
doesn't get a lot of money. Even at Vassar with all their money, they get more money over here than
teaching at Vassar So, I mean, this,
Jan Stivers (
00:47:07
):
I don't think that's true across the board. I know that,
Gus Nolan (
00:47:10
):
Not across the board, but, people who have, are, yeah. I don't talk the same evidence.
Jan Stivers (
00:47:17
):
Yeah. I think that, yeah, faculty are not well compensated, but in other institutions, you know, faculty,
we still start faculty at 57,000. I shouldn't say that. Maybe, sorry. <laugh>, you can bleep that. Ann!
Angel Arriaga (
00:47:35
):
Delete delete! <Laugh>. Yeah and I don't think I mean, I don't know, you know, do we have like the
mentorship, those programs in place that provide the faculty and staff, you know, like I would like to
see, or to bring back, because we used to have a Marist minority group that, you know of professional
staff, the professional organization, and it sort of, I don't know, you know, it died down like 2010, 2009.
But to bring back those opportunities for faculty and staff of color or different identities, whatever it is,
right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, similar to how we had, you know, the Women's Mentorship program.
Jan Stivers (
00:48:23
):
Right. The women, I was thinking the same thing that also kind of faded. Yeah.
Angel Arriaga (
00:48:26
):
Yeah. Right. And I think those programs are important.
Gus Nolan (
00:48:29
):
The whole faculty is separated now. I mean, there's a lack of that commonality in terms of even reading
it and socializing. So science is over here, is over here, is over here, you know, so there needs to be a
more common place for this all to go and to develop, you know? Which it kind of moves into the next
thing.
Jan Stivers (
00:48:53
):
Yes.
Gus Nolan (
00:48:54
):
Why did you stay here for 22 years?


Angel Arriaga

Angel Arriaga (
00:48:56
):
Why do I, you know, when I started, I said, two years, I'll do two years and then I'll move on to my next,
whatever it was. I think the Marist brothers and the brothers that were here were instrumental in
helping me feel actually very welcome, even though I was an outsider.
Jan Stivers (
00:49:19
):
Who? Who was it?
Angel Arriaga (
00:49:21
):
I didn't meet Joe Belanger. Brother Michael, not this Michael that's here, but the old Michael.
Gus Nolan (
00:49:28
):
Kelly?
Jan Stivers (
00:49:28
):
No, that's Frank Kelly.
Angel Arriaga (
00:49:29
):
That's Frank. Oh my God. What was his name? He was a mentor. You know, he was great.
Jan Stivers (
00:49:37
):
Oh white, tall Michael. Yeah. Tall, white haired Michael.
Angel Arriaga (
00:49:40
):
Michael, yes. Michael. Oh my God. I cannot, why am I,
Jan Stivers (
00:49:42
):
I know he was in Leo.
Angel Arriaga (
00:49:43
):
Yes. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But he was great. And so Dean Cox was, you know, so I had these people
along the way that were here, or I was having this assumption of, you know, Marist Brothers Catholics.
Yeah. They're not going to be very welcoming to me. They're not going to, yeah. So I already had those
assumptions anyways, and I was very quickly surprised of how, the kind of conversations, and
throughout the years, I think that's been pivotal. You know, we had Marist universities here probably
three years ago, and I, because a lot of them are from Latin American countries. You know, I spent two
weeks I think, talking to Marist Brothers from Portugal and everywhere. And it was the same spirit,
right? So I think that the values were important to me. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But then I also saw an
opportunity to contribute to Marist becoming a more inclusive and welcoming space for students. Like, I
felt like I had a mission to help Marist and help those Marist students that felt unseen to be seen and to
be able to complete their education here. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So that's what's kept me, I think the
students are amazing. I think the faculty, I'm a little anxious lately because so many people are retiring,
and have retired and are leaving the institution that I'm walking into spaces now and I'm like, oh my
God, I may be the oldest person here, or I don't know anybody.


Angel Arriaga

Gus Nolan (
00:51:31
):
Welcome aboard <laugh>. Yeah
Angel Arriaga (
00:51:34
):
But, so that makes me a little anxious. But it, it really is that the value, the institutional values and the
fact that, I mean, so many people have been here for so long that, I mean, it speaks to,
Jan Stivers (
00:51:47
):
Yeah. It does
Gus Nolan (
00:51:48
):
There's some kind of glue that keeps them all here, which is,
Jan Stivers (
00:51:52
):
That is it. You may have implied the response to this, but I want for the record. So you said that one of
the reasons you stayed was this welcome, especially from the Marist Brothers, and that of course comes
from the Marist Brothers mission. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and creating a sense of community. Mm-
Hmm. <affirmative> is central. Do you still see evidence of that at Marist today?
Angel Arriaga (
00:52:20
):
I, yes, but less, I think, as we grow things, this, you know, part of what I loved was we were, even though
we were growing, we were still, we acted like a small institution. I can still pick up the phone and call
whoever I need something from and speak to them in person and get something done pretty quickly.
But I think as we're growing in our priorities, we have multiple priorities, right? We're internationalizing
the campus and we're building programs. I think you lose some of that community feel. I think it
becomes watered down a little bit. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.And I don't know, for those people
that are just starting, if they're getting that sense, you see, I still have it because I know the people that I
care for, and they're either still here or I can connect with them, and say, hey, yeah, I know you're
retired, but what do you think about this? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So I
wonder if the new staff is, is getting that feeling. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, I don't think they're getting,
you know, for a vice president to really interview a person in my position and to have that conversation
that Dean Cox had with me as I was being hired is a lot. I'm not quite sure that happens now. You know,
where you get introduced to the Marist, the sort of the foundation.
Jan Stivers (
00:53:52
):
The ethos.
Angel Arriaga (
00:53:53
):
Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
00:53:55
):
What advice would you have for someone who is applying to Marist today, especially someone from an
underrepresented group?
Angel Arriaga (
00:54:03
):


Angel Arriaga

What advice? I think, know what you're getting into, right? Realize that you are in a predominantly
white space. Marist is at a certain inflection point and things are shifting, but it may take time. And to be
kind with yourself, I think this type of work is exhausting. If you're still being asked to represent your
community, even in conference rooms and in spaces, you may be the only black or brown person in your
department, and you, so you'll have these feelings. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Jan Stivers (
00:54:48
):
And you'll be the only one that the black and brown students come to.
Angel Arriaga (
00:54:52
):
Exactly.
Jan Stivers (
00:54:53
):
So that's exhausting too.
Angel Arriaga (
00:54:55
):
That is.
Gus Nolan (
00:54:56
):
Well, do you feel that people would apply to come here as a stepping stone? In other words, I'll get to
Marist for two years, you know? And then, like you had in your youth, you know, <laugh>, you know,
that they may not be so interested in a lifelong commitment they'll put up for whatever they have to put
up with, you know? But, if they were at Marist for two or three years, they can't be that bad. And maybe
somebody else will take them, you know, a more honorable place, you know?
Jan Stivers (
00:55:32
):
Well, more prestigious.
Gus Nolan (
00:55:34
):
Well, yeah.
Angel Arriaga (
00:55:36
):
I think there's been a generational shift in general. I think this, these students, the Gen Z's, the
millennials tend to, don't tend to stick around too long. So I think their perspective is that, yes, I'm going
to come here for a year or two, get some experience, and then they'll hop around. And I think I've seen
that at least in, well, I've seen that with faculty too, <laugh>. So I would, I've just seen that happen a lot.
I think even so, like my generation, even at that point, I was like, if I like a job and I like what I'm doing,
I'm going to stick around. Right? Yeah. There's a sense of security. And so after those two years, I'm like,
I, like, I love Marist, I have things to contribute. I can build, you know, programs and do things, and
always find the support, right? Yeah. So, you know, I lasted five years and then I was like, okay, I'm going
to HEOP, but I'll be there for like four or five years. But then we proposed the Center for Multicultural
Affairs and expanded our mission. So I'm like, well, then I'll stay another 10 years. And this is how I
ended up, you know, staying so long because I always saw something, you know, else to do.
Gus Nolan (
00:56:52
):


Angel Arriaga

And interesting. You know? Are you in any way communicated to other similar positions at Siena, or
Villanova, St. Michaels, and I mean, are there other colleges going through what we're going through?
Angel Arriaga (
00:57:09
):
Yeah, so HEOP has a professional organization. So we often have conversations with people,
Gus Nolan (
00:57:18
):
Didn't we lose this here though? Do we still have HEOP?
Angel Arriaga (
00:57:21
):
Oh, no. HEOP we still have. Upward Bound is what lost its funding. Yes. No, but HEOP is here. It's been
53 years, hopefully another. But we do have, and many of the staff, like the staff in what originally was
our HEOP department did evolve into, you know, multicultural affairs or diversity programs. So we have
conversations with our, you know, our colleagues at Bard, or Mount St. Mary or, Cornell.
Gus Nolan (
00:57:54
):
Even Cornell?
Angel Arriaga (
00:57:55
):
Yeah, Cornell Columbia. I mean, you know, NYU, they all have HEOP programs. And the challenges are a
lot of, so schools, like, for example, some of my conversations with my Bard colleagues, that you would
think students may sometimes have a different experience because some of the resources that we don't
have are there. They're still having those issues and, and they're still having those same experiences. I
think programmatically some of the other schools have done a better job of creating multiple touch
points for those students. So it isn't just one person Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But that they have people
in, you know, in financial aid and in the registrar and within the departments and that they can, that
really can sort of, that they can go to. So I think creating these multiple touchpoints so that it's not all on
one department, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And creating those, that mission, and that campus
culture where we, everyone believes it's their job, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> not just one
department.
Gus Nolan (
00:59:08
):
It takes a little initiative though, for a student to be able to step forward to financial aid, well, not even
financial aid, but to, all these departments say, you know, and say, I have this problem, registration,
right? I want to get into another class. You know, I can't come to eight o'clock in the morning because I
have the job in the cafeteria. You know, this, there are these conflicts that work out that so many people
like you to kind of encourage them and say, this is the first to see. Because they're in the same office.
There might be three different people, right. But if you get to A rather than to B yeah. You are better off,
you know?
Angel Arriaga (
00:59:49
):
Yeah. It's just, it's not just telling the student, oh, go see them, but having that compassion, that
realization that the student is, for them, campus structures may be pretty hostile and they may just feel
like, you know, they're embarrassed or they're ashamed or there's a lot of feelings.


Angel Arriaga

Jan Stivers (
01:00:13
):
I think sometimes they don't even know that we make exceptions to the rules all the time. So they don't
ask for the exception because they think the rule is the rule without realizing that more privileged kids
expect you to make exceptions for them.
Gus Nolan (
01:00:29
):
Yeah. Have students changed much themselves in 20 years?
Angel Arriaga (
01:00:37
):
I, yes. <laugh>
Gus Nolan (
01:00:39
):
Yeah, okay.
Angel Arriaga (
01:00:40
):
I think, you know, it was, when I started here, it was the turn of the century. I think a lot of the students,
I was closer to them in age, you know, I was only four year, five years older than, you know, our seniors.
So I think, you know, I was very different than the millennials and the Gen Z's. It, computers were just
becoming a thing, you know? I had just gotten my first cell phone because I could afford it, instead of a
pager. There, there was that shift into technology happened while I was here, right? Yeah. 2005, the
iPhone comes out and, and your world changes. But think the students in the early two thousands,
adapted to change, very differently than, these students. I think they were more social and because they
had, they, you know, they had to talk, and, their sense of commitment I think was different. And I notice
that in the students that I bring now, you know, during those years, my first years in HEOP, we barely
lost students, right? Because they were, they had grit and resilience that I think some of our students
now, and especially after the pandemic, have lost that sense of asking for help or being able to connect
with other people. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> other students. But yeah. I mean, so much has happened
since the turn of the millennium that I can't, I just, I can't even, but there it is a very different student.
Gus Nolan (
01:02:28
):
So much just happened. Let me tell you this little, little story. <laugh>. I came here to the college in
'46.That's, it was just a brother's college. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> Brother Paul Ambrose was the
president. Okay. He had a little office in Graystone. Okay. He had a typewriter manual, not an electric.
He typed with two fingers. Okay. He had no secretary. He had no legal advice. He had carbon paper in
the thing for multiple things.
Jan Stivers (
01:03:00
):
Do you know what carbon paper is Angel <laugh>?
Gus Nolan (
01:03:02
):
So you really had,
Angel Arriaga (
01:03:04
):
I do <laugh>


Angel Arriaga

Gus Nolan (
01:03:04
):
Yeah. Right. Well, he typed the application for Marist to become a four year independent college.
Angel Arriaga (
01:03:12
):
Right on that,
Gus Nolan (
01:03:13
):
And that, you know, and I was here when the word came through the mail. That's how it came. Mm-
Hmm. <affirmative>, you've been accepted to give your four year degree. And he went bananas,
<laugh>, you know, that day we finally had it, you know, and so, that, and I think of, I have a student,
well, Roger Norton wasn't really a student, but the guy <laugh>
Angel Arriaga (
01:03:37
):
<laugh> Yeah not anymore.
Gus Nolan (
01:03:40
):
He's a racquetball player for free. You know, I mean, that's when I was here and young and so on. And
then he was just beginning, you know? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And now he talks about the system
634, where the 635. Yeah. His daughter is in Japan, and they talk together, they zoom together or
whatever the new method is, by which they talk and watch TV or watch films together. You know, the
world has changed. Yes. Every day it changes so much. It changes, you know, so much. So that, you
know, I'm surprised how you let me talk so much because I don't know any of this, you know, really, it's
just, yeah. I had experience that life is that kind of thing. Maybe Jan has a few following words.
Jan Stivers (
01:04:26
):
I had a, I've written down a question that you had asked earlier. I want to make sure we give you a
chance to answer it.
Angel Arriaga (
01:04:33
):
Okay.
Jan Stivers (
01:04:33
):
And that was, if you were invited to speak to the board, what would you tell them you really want to
make sure is preserved at Marist? And what would you tell them you'd like to see change?
Angel Arriaga (
01:04:47
):
Hmm.
Gus Nolan (
01:04:47
):
Tell your truth, <laugh>.
Angel Arriaga (
01:04:49
):
Yeah. No, if I was able to talk to the board, I think, certainly the core values of the Marist Brothers and
the, that sort of the community service and the excellence, education, all of those things that we always


Angel Arriaga

talk about. I think that's sort of the bedrock. That's our, that's what we maintain. Yeah. What I would like
to see change, whew. It's big. I think giving, I mean, I think they're already working on sort of diversifying
the, sort of the top tier. And I think that needs to continue, right? For the longest time there were, there
was very, it was just very white and male, right. <laugh>, that's what the board was. So bringing people,
truly bringing people to the table and giving them a voice in the process and the governance, I think
that's really, really important. And then allowing those people as it sort of trickles down to the faculty
and the administrators, allowing the space to innovate and, not to be so sometimes we get stuck in our
older ways. Right? And it's hard for us, especially those of us who've been here for a long time to shift
and change. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> it. And you have this conflicting, so you, and then you get all this
new staff who just wants to change everything right away. Right. So we may have this like, wait a
minute, <laugh> feeling. So, but I think we can, we need to be able to learn how to sort of navigate that
somewhere in the middle, right? There's traditions and,
Gus Nolan (
01:07:01
):
Change <Laugh>.
Angel Arriaga (
01:07:01
):
Change is hard for people, right?
Gus Nolan (
01:07:02
):
Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
01:07:03
):
And, I think what often the younger people or the group pushing change, what they don't understand is
that things were being done that way because they worked.
Angel Arriaga (
01:07:14
):
Right.
Jan Stivers (
01:07:14
):
So maybe the situation has changed and they don't work as well anymore. But to simply dismiss them as
ineffective seems very disrespectful. Because the reason we did them was that they were working for
us. We invested in them for that reason. Yeah. I wish you could have the ear of the board. I really do.
Angel Arriaga (
01:07:38
):
<laugh> I you know, and I think we're creating, I mean, I just, I noticed for the longest time everything
that was L-G-B-T-Q-I or dealt with, you know, Hispanic students, people were coming to me. And now
that I'm sharing a little bit of that, there are other people within the institution that are sort of doing
that. And I'm happy to see that.
Jan Stivers (
01:08:06
):
That's nice.
Angel Arriaga (
01:08:07
):


Angel Arriaga

Yeah. Because for the longest time, it just felt, especially when it came to L-G-B-T-Q-I issues, you know,
it just felt like it was me.
Jan Stivers (
01:08:17
):
Because you were more candid about it.
Angel Arriaga (
01:08:18
):
<laugh>. I was. Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
01:08:20
):
Yeah. So there were others who could do it, but they hadn't stepped up.
Angel Arriaga (
01:08:23
):
Right.
Jan Stivers (
01:08:24
):
Because it didn't feel safe to.
Angel Arriaga (
01:08:25
):
Right, it didn't. Right? But now with the Ally network you know, it has created this conversation and
these spaces, you know, we do the social hours for faculty and staff and the allies go. And just seeing
that, the visibility of it Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> creates a more welcoming space for students, and you
know, we've seen policy begin to catch up to those changes because, you know, while we're rooted in all
of these values, we also have to realize that the student has changed. Right. And that it is important to
allow the, sometimes the sort of Catholic roots, the brothers. You hear those words and automatically,
for those of us that are from otherness, you feel like this is not the space. It's too conservative for me.
They are going to hate me. They're going to because I came in here with that sense, right? Mm-Hmm.
<affirmative>. And I think if we just allow students to be their genuine self and tell their own stories, you
know, I think that's what creates a welcoming space. And it's, you know, yeah. You know, it's a Catholic
rooted institution, it has all those beginnings.
Gus Nolan (
01:09:48
):
Even that is changing. The Catholic I the homosexuality is not a crime. Right. You know, people are born
with certain, you know, everything is so, developing, you know, and, I think you can't be frigid, you
know? No. And holding onto Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> those traditions that, you know. Mm-Hmm.
<affirmative>. Well, good. None be on Friday or only mass on Sunday hour if they,
Jan Stivers (
01:10:17
):
There are the timeless values that kept you here.
Angel Arriaga (
01:10:21
):
Right.
Jan Stivers (
01:10:21
):


Angel Arriaga

And that we think are worth passing on
Gus Nolan (
01:10:24
):
Yeah.
Jan Stivers (
01:10:24
):
Sense of community, excellence and education, service to others.
Angel Arriaga (
01:10:27
):
Right.
Gus Nolan (
01:10:29
):
Hit the nail so much, the Marist tradition, you know, you kept saying that, you know, why, were you a
Marist brother or something?
Angel Arriaga (
01:10:37
):
<laugh> No, but I
Jan Stivers (
01:10:39
):
He's in the closet, <laugh> Marist brother.
Angel Arriaga (
01:10:41
):
Yeah. I mean, you know, it's, for me, as a Catholic person, right. I became more, I had a lot of hesitation
with the Catholic church before I got here. And, but then, you know, I realized that it wasn't so, I could
relate to people in the Catholic church and that compassion, that sense of that's what comes through,
right. It's the feeling behind and not the sort of policy and the history. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>,
although that exists Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Right. And that carries a lot of weight.
Jan Stivers (
01:11:17
):
It does, yeah.
Angel Arriaga (
01:11:18
):
For some people.
Gus Nolan (
01:11:22
):
Well, someone has to say thank you very much for coming, and I will, I'll start saying it now.
Angel Arriaga (
01:11:25
):
Oh, thank you and I hope I, I'm sorry I was nervous!
Jan Stivers (
01:11:29
):
Is there anything else, like, as you were thinking about this, anything you wanted to say?
Angel Arriaga (
01:11:37
):


Angel Arriaga

Yeah, no, I think, I just hope I just rambled on and sort of like <laugh>,
Jan Stivers (
01:11:44
):
You covered everything that I wanted to hear about. And in such a disarming way, thank you.
Gus Nolan (
01:11:51
):
And you made a unique contribution to what we think we are doing. You know, which is actually
preserving, Marist College in the voice of the people who are here. It's not somebody writing history
who read about it. This is the voice being recorded that will be there.
Angel Arriaga (
01:12:14
):
And it would,
Gus Nolan (
01:12:14
):
And then transcribed into a, you know, I don't know if it's a, how they'll put this down on paper. I don't
know what they do there.
Jan Stivers (
01:12:20
):
But at least it's unfiltered. You know, it's a direct,
Gus Nolan (
01:12:24
):
The recording is unfiltered. Yeah.
Angel Arriaga (
01:12:26
):
Right. And yeah. So I appreciate for, you know, I'm sure my perspective is different than some people
and including that is, thank you.
Jan Stivers (
01:12:34
):
Is really important. Yeah. Thank you.