Welcome to 100% Humboldt — a locally produced podcast hosted by Scott Hammond, who interviews the movers and shakers on the North Coast.
On this episode Dr. Richard Carvajal, the new president of Cal Poly Humboldt, sits down with Scott Hammond for a conversation about growing up in Humboldt, the mentors who changed his life, and what it means to come home to lead the university. They talk about commencement, the Cal Poly transformation, new degrees and facilities, athletics, community partnerships, internships, and the role Humboldt can play in keeping graduates on the North Coast. Along the way, Richard shares the personal story behind his work in education - from hardship and help to a career build around changing lives.
The audio version (above) has been edited for radio air. You can view the unedited interview from100% Humboldt's YouTube page at the bottom of this post.
Transcription:
Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbours and all those out to sea. It’s Scott Hammond and the one hundred percent Humboldt Podcast with my new very best friend, Doctor Richard Carvajal. Hey, Richard.
Richard Carvajal: It's great to be here.
Hammond: Good to be with you. What is it you do? You got a Humboldt thing there?
Carvajal: Yeah. You know, I don't know. I got I got a job that keeps me busy during the day. Uh, I get to be the new president of Cal Poly Humboldt.
Hammond: Cool. So, uh, tell us the Richard story. Where are you from? Who are you, anyway? You're from here?
Carvajal: Yeah.
Hammond: Hundred percent Humboldt, you might say.
Carvajal: I am. So I grew up in Humboldt. I lived for just a little bit in Eureka. But then we moved out to the little places called Hydesville and Carlotta. That you got to be from Humboldt to know where those are.
Hammond: I'm going to show you on the map real quick so everybody knows where they're at, but. So this is my chance where I really use my prop. So okay, here's the prop that doesn't work. There it is, there it is. So Hydesville and Carlotta right out there by Fortuna. Is that how you say it?
Carvajal: Yeah. Fortuna. We, uh, we grew up as Fortuna Husky fans. Don't hate me if you're if you're for somebody else. But that's what we did on Friday nights. And, uh, so yeah, we, uh, we lived up on the hilltop in Hydesville and then we moved out. Uh, literally the Van Dusen was my backyard and that's in Carlotta. I loved it. Um, and, and truly, I mean, when the, when your yard is the redwood forest, you you're you're pretty lucky. And and I thought it was a great place to live. I thought I always wanted to be here, but looking back, there were four kids and my mom and dad and a one bedroom cabin out in Carlotta. We were struggling. I didn't know it, you know?
Hammond: Yeah. Kids never do.
Carvajal: You don't know. And, uh. But, you know, in retrospect, it really shouldn't be that surprising that I was here through middle school and my dad got what appeared to be a much better financial offer if we would relocate the family to rural Oklahoma, which I don't know how much your listeners know about Oklahoma, but let's just say it doesn't look like Humboldt County. Not at all. It's a little hotter, too.
Hammond: Where'd you go in Oklahoma?
Carvajal: So we went to a little place. No one's heard of it here. It's called Crowder. Uh, again, another one stop sign town. Uh, and Texas has those, too. They sure do. They sure do. Crowder was so small, for instance, that, uh, there was the garage. It was a K through twelve school, public school, all in the same building. And there were twenty eight in my graduating class.
Hammond: How small was it?
Carvajal: Twenty eight. So we, uh, we go out there and unfortunately , the better offer that we thought was going to be there did not materialize. And, uh, so things got harder. My parents, I think the stress of the financial situation we were in played a role, certainly in them splitting and divorcing. My mom then tried to keep a roof over the heads of my three siblings and I by cleaning houses, until that didn't work. And ultimately when I was in high school, I lived by myself and I called the back seat of a 1973 Ford Thunderbird, my home.
Hammond: All the way to the presidency. I love it. Wow.
Carvajal: And then people wonder, how in the heck did that happen? How do you go from spending your nights sleeping in that car to the seat I occupy now? And, uh, you got to get really, really lucky.
Hammond: I'll take a shot. Grit, grit and God and faith. And you just keep moving and making good decisions.
Carvajal: And a lot of help and community. You have to want it, for sure, but you also have to get a lot of help. It takes both. And I did, for whatever reason, I always had a belief that it could get better. Um, I remember I tell folks, I don't really know, I think your mind kind of removes from your memory things that are hard. Uh, there's been a lot studied about that over the years, but I don't truly know how long I was there. I just, I, I've never forgotten the first night, um, there was a county park. They wouldn't let you stay there anymore. They would clean it out at the end of the night. But back then there was one street light in the park and I could stay under it. And there was a little bathroom right there, and that was home. And I sat underneath that street light and bawled like a baby about wondering how the heck that had happened. But I know the next morning I was like, there'll be it'll get better. I don't know how, but it's going to get better. And the way it got better was ultimately a friend I had made at school. He went home and told his family about this friend he'd made who was living down at the park, and they reached out and asked if I wanted to stay with him for a while. How about that? And they became kind of another family to me. And because of them, I stayed in high school. I was the valedictorian, uh, which you were going to think was impressive, but you already found out there were only twenty eight in the class and four of us tied. So it really wasn't that impressive.
Hammond: Big fish, super small pond.
Carvajal: Super small pond. You know, I'm not a mathematician, but even I know that's one of seven, you know, that's not that great. But with the title came a scholarship. And so I got to go to South Oklahoma's version of Humboldt State, which is the school that I had dreamed of going to as a kid. I guess I still sometimes call it HSU.
Hammond: What's it called?
Carvajal: East Central University.
Hammond: Oh, sure. East central. Yeah.
Carvajal: Oh you know it. Think about it all the time. Of course. Right.
But, uh, I went there, and I always say that place didn't just change my life. It saved my life. And, uh. And I got there and, um, there was a, I was terrified, I thought for sure, actually, the two valedictorians for the two prior years of my high school had both flunked out of college their freshman year. Wow. And so I was sure I would be the next. Um, so I worked crazy hard. And then one day I got a message out in the hallway that the vice president of student services wanted to see me, and I thought they had found me and that they were going to send me home.
Hammond: Busted.
Carvajal: Yep. Got to go. And, uh, instead of that happening, I had. He had identified me and put me and decided to put me up for some kind of national program. I woke up and had to talk me into going for it. But then, for whatever reason, he stayed in my life. He would check on me all through that program and then afterward kept checking on me, became like my second father. Wow. Still is to this day.
Hammond: Still living .Beautiful story, I love that.
Carvajal: Still living. And, uh, and it's why I do what I do is I wanted to do what he did and see if Doctor Gerald Williamson. I'll tell you. Still teaching. He retired years ago. He stinks at retirement. I've told him he's great at everything, except that he just keeps coming back. He's still at that university. Works in advancement there in their development operation. Uh, he was just put up earlier this spring for the latest of big honors. He was put into a hall of fame. And I had the tremendous pleasure, I was asked to go back and present him for that. And, uh, and I'm one of several, quite a few actually, that he has played that kind of role for.
Hammond: He's a real mentor.
Carvajal: Truly. I've always said everything I ever have been or ever will be, certainly professionally, in many ways you could say, personally, I owe to him. It's pretty cool. It's cool to have a mentor. Uh, if my story is anything. I've been told this and everyone who has said it is right. If my story is anything, it is truly a story of how you can take somebody with kind of okay ability, and if mentors just decide for whatever reason to pour into that person, then some pretty neat things can happen. And in ways that I will never understand for reasons I will never understand, throughout my life, mentors have poured into me, um, and saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. He was the, the, maybe I'd say the next of many. And, uh, and here I am because of it,
Hammond: I like it. And now Humboldt.
Carvajal: And now Humboldt
Hammond: And now you can mentor.
Carvajal: Yeah, you know it. My career evolved the way it did. I was very fortunate. I got to, I was asked to be a president and did that for fifteen years in Georgia's university system. I was their longest serving president.
Hammond: Was that at Valdosta?
Carvajal: The last nine years was at Valdosta State University.
Hammond: Which is in Georgia
Carvajal: is in Georgia, right on the Georgia Florida border. It's basically the University of South Georgia doctoral granting school of over ten thousand. Quite frankly, I thought I would just stay there and maybe finish my career there. I had turned down overtures to look at other spots because I was happy.
Hammond: Nice community there.
Carvajal: Yeah. Great people, phenomenal people that so welcomed me in great ways that I'll always appreciate. But then last June, I got a phone call and got it. A person who was charged with running this search, I'd gotten those calls in the past, I'd always said, hey, I'm flattered, thanks, but no thanks. Sure. But he led with Richard. Do you want to come home?. And I held the phone away from me for a while, and I. I'm sorry. And starts telling me about Cal Poly Humboldt, and I said. I finally cut him off. I said, I'm sorry. I don't know that school. I know Humboldt State. Of course, he then told me the full story, and while I'd been back several times over the years to visit, I hadn't been here in a few years and so I didn't know what had happened. I could not believe the story he was telling me. That kind of investment just doesn't happen in higher education. And to know that it was happening in this place that had made me me was incredible. And I went home that night and sat on the back porch with my wife, who loves Humboldt, maybe even more than I do. She's not from here, but she hates the sun. She hates the heat. She loves rain. South Georgia's not great for her.
Hammond: She’s been here?
Carvajal: Yeah, she's been here many times.We've been married. It'll be thirty three years in two weeks. I think it was thirty one years ago, the first time I brought her here. And she has, I'd say probably ever since that trip, if you would have asked her, hey, there's anywhere in the world you could live, where would it be? She'd have told youHumboldt County. Um, and so that night on the back porch, she said, okay, set aside how much, you know, I want to be in Humboldt. She goes, ‘Richard, how many people get an opportunity to go back to the place that made them them at this kind of historic time and be a part of that? You have to do this.’
And here I am.
Hammond: So she's your other mentor?
Carvajal: Oh, absolutely.
Hammond: What's her name?
Carvajal: Cheryl.
Hammond: Hey, Cheryl.
Carvajal: Doctor Cheryl Carvajal. Yeah, she's the smarter one. She was the first doctor in the family. In fact, she made it very clear that I had to finish mine, or the next time we printed checks, it would be Mister and Doctor Carvajal.
Hammond: Pressure's on.
Carvajal: The pressure was on, babe.
Hammond: I love it. That's a great story. I love that – coming back. So you're the very first president of Cal Poly Humboldt, correct? Uh, was there a president for a minute before?
Carvajal: So President Jackson was the president when the name was changed and they went through that mission change. Of course, Mike Spagna, many know, got to know Mike in the time that he was here as an interim for eighteen months. He's been a great mentor to me and a great friend. We've gotten to know each other really well. He loves this place. He's doing great things, obviously in his new spot.
Hammond: Where's he at?
Carvajal: At Sonoma State as their new president. Doing great. He loves that community. He's fitting in well. They've got family there, etc. but I think a piece of him will always be in Humboldt. And he did great work here and and now we're trying to build upon it.
Hammond: Nice. And you guys have some kids too, right?
Carvajal: Yeah. Got a twenty five year old daughter. And, uh, I was on the phone with her one night. She's in Valdosta, and she was standing next to her mom. She had walked into the house and Cheryl said, you want to talk to your dad? And she said, sure. And, uh, she gets on and she says, ‘ so yeah, I've decided when mom moves, I'm going to go ahead and move to I think I'm coming to Humboldt.’ And I asked Cheryl when she left, I said, did you know about that? She said, nope, just found out. And so everyone whose parents will understand how it can't be your idea. It's got to be theirs. But we're thrilled that it became her idea. So she'll be joining as well. And then we have a twenty-two-year-old son who's a student back where I was president before.
Hammond: Is he coming?
Carvajal: Not yet. He hasn't yet, although we are getting him to visit this summer. But again, can't be our idea. Gotta make sure it's his.
Hammond: I love that. So, going back real quick to Cal Poly's transition. How did that all happen from Humboldt State? So one of the threads and the jokes on the show here is, hey, uh, Humboldt State, it'll always be Humboldt State, Cal Poly. And while it's Humboldt State and so blah, blah. How did that transition happen? How did that funding happen? The vision, who was behind that? How did that all, uh, snowball down the hill to become today's Cal Poly Humboldt.
Carvajal: So again, I'll say I've said it once, I'll keep saying it. I will still occasionally call it Humboldt State too. And oh, by the way, if you know those that are watching or listening to this podcast they attended HSC or HSU, you're part of the family. It's still Humboldt.
Hammond: It's all Humboldt, right?
Carvajal: But one of the things that had so identified Humboldt for years was this connection to this one of a kind place that we get to call home. Um, the world comes here for the specialness of what we have to visit. And sometimes they come here for the specialness of what we have to study. And we have been doing that and bringing people from everywhere for years. And when they come here, they dive into this place. And so the experiential aspect of the education that has been offered by our faculty at Humboldt, I can tell you, having worked at colleges and universities across the country, is just next level. Um, you don't tend to walk into an undergraduate program in most places and get the kind of experiential exposure that we get here, whether it be in the ocean or in the redwoods or in any of the things we do.
And that whole idea of learning by doing is frankly core to what is a polytechnic. And so of course, we had two Cal Poly's at the time that brand, and there's polytechnics scattered across the country. They are, uh, from an enrollment perspective, from a demand perspective, uh, they are the pinnacle right now in higher education. It's what everybody often is looking for. I would tell you, schools across America would love to be polytechnics. And yet there's some expectations that come with that. The group that was in leadership here at, if you go back to kind of the, well, entering Covid before a little bit before Covid and then early, early days of the pandemic. There was an understanding here that what was happening with experiential learning was different. And it really, in many ways fit the Cal Poly model. And there was an opportunity potentially for California to invest in this region and to think of doing so in a way that would spur on further economic growth. And so, uh, a group came together and they started, they put together an idea of, could Humboldt become the third Cal Poly in the system? And in so doing, again, maybe over time, the thought was, hey, we could do it over the course of a decade – We'd become an institution that would train up the work and leadership force for that next generation of economic investment that would, frankly, economic, um, businesses today in economic development kind of in that world. Businesses today go to where workforce and leadership are. That is the commodity that in today's economic world, folks are most looking for.
Hammond: So we might have ancillary business come to us.
Carvajal: That’s right. Used to be you build a spec building in industry showed up and they compared different spec buildings and tax abatement opportunities, etc. and that's where they decided to put their next operation. Really, for the last probably decade, it's been ‘where can I find a workforce? Where can I find a leadership force?’ And so the idea of injecting folks in high demand fields into this area, coming out of Humboldt was thought to have the potential to be a game changer. Again, they thought it probably would take a decade to complete that kind of conversion.
And so folks here worked with folks from the California State University system and kind of pitched the idea, and in the middle of COVID started saying, what might we be post-pandemic? What might it look like in the future? And there was some buy in that, you know, that could make some sense. Ultimately, the idea got pitched to the governor's office, and I'm sure most folks thought that the best they would hear is, ‘hey, that's cool. It's kind of a neat idea. Why don't you think about that for a while?’ Instead, what happened was, how could you put together some kind of list of what it would cost to do that? And they did, thinking again that probably nothing would come out of it. And lo and behold, the governor said, you know what that investment would be perfect. And Gavin Newsom made a nearly half billion dollar investment with, along with, uh, with our state legislature to, um, make this happen. And so we dived the group, dived in at that time, and, uh, has had over four hundred million dollars of capital construction projects that have been happening.
We needed housing in order to house the influx of students that likely would come with the Cal Poly brand. Right. Uh, I can tell you usually that has to be funded across the country, through significant debt service that you'll then pay off over time with those that you're going to hope are going to live in housing. Here, at least with the initial project that was funded by the state. And hat just doesn't happen. But it happened here. And what that's allowing us to do is use the revenue from what we get in housing to now improve all of our housing inventory. That's really that's special. We're in the final stages of building a new engineering building that's accompanying other, uh, multiple new engineering degrees. Uh, we're doing some renovation to our science spaces, etc. and that will continue. And then there was an investment of ongoing funding as part oof that initial commitment that has allowed us as of this fall, we'll have started since the poly conversion was announced, seventeen new degrees at Cal Poly. I can tell you, in that short period of time nationally, that does not happen.
Hammond: It's beautiful. Good job.
Carvajal: It's happening here. And we're not done. So there's been a lot in the STEM fields. But now it's really kind of the last phase of that is going to be largely focused on health care. Because we know that's another big piece that if you're going to try to attract industry in, what do you need? We need great education and you need access to health care. And we know the challenges that we have in terms of access to health care physicians, nurses, and the like. We can be a part of that answer working with CR and others. And we're going to do that.
Hammond: That's cool. I like the collaboration with CR too.
Carvajal: Oh, God. As a kid, I snuck into their pool all the time.
Hammond: What a great idea.
Carvajal: And I have become good friends with Keith Flamer. And what a great leader he's been for his community. I joke with Keith that I snuck into the pool. Quite frankly, it was y best friend across the street in Hydesville was a teacher at CR, and we would go over with him in the summer and he got us access. And so, you know, some of my earliest memories were spent tromping around that campus, just like some of my earliest memories of living here were quite literally the times that I came here to Cal Poly, either to watch a football game or, I was that student in middle school that they put on a bus and they, they took to the campus and said, you know what, someday you could come here. And, crazy story, I started in January on a Tuesday. I happened to say in one of my introductions that I had gone to Cuddeback Middle School in little Carlotta that you pointed to on the map over there. And, uh, in middle school, they put me on a bus for that kind of trip that the students were coming to, and I got that opportunity my first week to go welcome them and say, I know a story of a guy who was at your place. And oh, by the way, it's me.
Hammond: That's a great story. Yeah, No, I love it. So I came up from San Diego as a hippie feral child. My mom raised me in the hood in a little town called National City. And, uh, my dad had the chutzpah to bring me up. He lived in Oceanside. She lived in National City, but we went to the dorms and stayed and did the orientation program. And, uh, drank all that Kool-Aid. Came back, uh, six weeks later and got a home in, um, at the Colony Inn and, uh, and did the first year there and second year met Joanie, met Jesus, met sobriety and met a degree at Humboldt Liberal Arts.
Carvajal: Been here ever since. Go Jacks.
Hammond: It was great. Eighty two class of ‘82 baby. And yeah, yeah. What a great education. And what a great still a great place. And that alumni buy in, you know, when they were destroying the campus a couple years ago. Um, and I'm sure you may or may not want to comment on that. I just, you know, is in my back yard at my university. And here's the yahoos from, you know, jerk weeds from wherever and local, uh, doing two million dollars plus in damage. And I'm going, shit, that's not cool. How is that even okay to do that? So, um, uh, there's my big protest.
So, uh, you said go Jacks. Are we going to get Lumberjack football back? Is that ever going to happen? And you said, hey, you never get asked that.
Carvajal: t's funny when I, when I got the position, um, I knew that Lumberjack football had gone away.And to be totally honest, I just assumed that maybe people had just quit going to games and it just didn't matter to anybody. And I thought I would never hear about it.
Hammond: It never faded quickly at all.
Carvajal: And then I, so I got hired in September, and my wife and I made a trip in October to look for a place to live and to, you know, meet a bunch of people. And, uh, I was blown away that by far the question I got asked the mostwas I bringing football back.
Hammond: Followed by KHSU.
Carvajal: It was down the list by a good bit, but it was probably the second most frequently asked question I got. But with football, yeah, I'm a big sports fan. I love football and, uh, probably one of my earliest, it might even be my first, my earliest football memory, was it wasn't actually a Humboldt State game. I went to a Fortuna versus Arcata playoff game at Humboldt State in the Redwood Bowl. Folks that go to the Redwood Bowl will know this, but there's a kind of a concrete ramp that goes from the side of the stadium down, you know, down into the stadium. And we were walking down that ramp and they had held us because the Arcata team, and of course, they were the evil empire back then to me as a, as a young Fortuna fan. Uh, but here they come all dressed in black and they're right in front of us getting ready to run on. And whoever was the coach that day. I guess to get them all pumped up, he had them, had them shouting to each other, kill, kill, kill. I thought, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. I am now a football fan. So there you go. Uh, I love football.
Hammond: I love football. Football.
Carvajal: Um, and but again, I thought it had just, you know, that the interest had gone away. And when I got here realized that's not at all the case. And unfortunately, as we've looked into it. And we have, we actually looked into it – Would that make sense as something for our, you know, our future at some point to come back? And folks may not know this, but I don't know if this is what existed when the decision was made. But I can tell you today when I was at Valdosta State, that is, if there is such a thing as a Division two in NCAA blue blood, they're one and, uh, regularly compete for and win national championships in football. And, uh, and so, you know, that landscape. And when I got here, I thought this might be the case, but we studied it. There are only two Division two football programs really west of Colorado. It just it has dried up. And the two – ones in Oregon, one's in Washington – I'm just going to let you guess what athletic conference do you think those two schools play in?
Hammond: It's not the it's not the Pac ten. We know that. But um, probably some like Mountain State, Montana
Carvajal: I'll get even crazier. The Lone Star Conference with Texas. They go to Texas to play conference games.
Hammond: Who are the two teams?
Carvajal: It's Western Washington and central Oregon I'm sorry, Western Oregon and central Washington. I thinkI said that wrong. Central Washington, Western Oregon, are the two schools over on the coast. And, and central Washington is just on the east side of the mountains.
Hammond: Yeah. Because Sac state's gone. Davis is gone, Chico's gone.
Carvajal: They've all quit playing football.
Hammond: There's nothing in Southern California?
Carvajal: Nope. There is nobody. So we'd have to figure out who we're going to play, obviously. But that doesn't mean we can't have a tremendous athletic program. And I'm competitive. My friends would say I'm extremely competitive. And so I will say go jacks a lot. And frankly, I say that and I encourage folks, everybody to say that, not just if you're a sports fan, if you love the university, heck, if you love Humboldt, then I want you to love all parts of it. And I've told folks that our rallying cry together, if we love this place, should be Go Jacks, no matter what part of the university or community you love. And so I'll say it a lot. I'll say it everywhere I go.
Hammond: Great basketball program.
Carvajal: It is, it is. And DJs back as the men's coach it's been great to bring a lumberjack home. He loves this place and is building something pretty special. Honestly, we had a really good year in athletics this year and it is a place that, and I didn't know this, I wasn't sure about this until I came, but I now know that we are a place that is positioned on the higher end of the conference we play in. We can compete here for championships every year, and once you win a conference championship, guess what? You're in the national dance and you've got a chance to bring big trophies home. That's what we're going to try to do.
Hammond: Women's softball.
Carvajal: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's indicative of what I hope. And I know I'm not alone in this. It's what I hope for the entire university, I want us to be really good in all things that we do. This is a special place. You know, you were talking earlier about your love affair and the quality of education that you had. Where I was at in Valdosta, there's one university system there. It's pretty much the combination of what in California would be the UC system and the CSU system that we're a part of. But Austin State, for all intents and purposes, if they were equivalent, it would be a UC institution. You kind of therefore assume in the kind of natural totem pole of higher ed that that the research output there is a larger place, etc., that the kind of things that were happening as a doctoral granting larger institution would be maybe a step a notch ahead of what's happening here. I love that institution, and I'm sorry if there are any Valdosta listeners learning, but it is not what I have found. I have been blown away by what our faculty do here. That kind of experience, it is absolutely next level. And, uh, and it's special and they come here because of the specialness of this place. And they know they're lucky to get to live here and do the kind of research that we're doing. And, and the extent to which we involve our students in that is incredible. So I say that to say I want us to be that level of great and that level. I want us to pursue excellence at that level in all things we do. And I don't think we should be apologetic about that.
Hammond: Love it. And I think that's kind of segue into the community connection, which I think sports is quintessential.
Carvajal: Sure. Um, it's the front front porch, front door, if you will, to the campus. The magic will always happen at the kitchen table in any home. Right? That's where the family lives. For us that's the classroom. That's the chemistry lecture. You know, that's what's happening in our arts programs. That's what's happening in engineering and the like. But in many ways, the community gets to see what they see from the street. And what they see from the street, for many, it's our athletic program. So it is a representation of the quality of the institution, and we want it to represent it well.
Hammond: I love it, and I think I'm going to go trifecta here. KHSU is a piece of that. So that the radio signal. Is there signals? Is there a smaller station too?
Carvajal: There is. Yeah
Hammond: They come off campus, uh, a little bit of the Lumberjack, of course. And then, Center Arts. Center activities. So, uh, you know, historically, you know, Bonnie Raitt and James Brown and all the music. I mean, everybody played at Humboldt in the day. And now, I'm very pleased to say, for Lumberjack Days, you got Durand Jones, who is quintessential like they had the Beach Boys last year.. So that's great. But, you know, in some of the other shows have shifted a little bit. But Center Arts has been a I think they call it something different now, but, uh, key, uh, art and culture. Uh, stop. I don't have to go to Oregon or the wine country or Redding or heaven forbid, the city to go to a show.
Carvajal: One of the things that I got so interested in, beyond just the fact I knew I loved Humboldt County, I knew this was home to me. I knew I had dreamed of going to Humboldt State, but I hadn't. And so I had a lot to learn about the university, to fall in love with it at the same level that I already loved this place. And, uh, one of the things that as I was exploring and learning about the Cal Poly transformation that I found most intriguing was that the folks that were involved in that effort at that time of trying to bring it forward. And then ultimately, the early implementation was they came up with a concept that I don't know if it exists anywhere else in the country, but it's a comprehensive polytechnic, often across the country. If you look at a polytechnic, if they have programs and they often do outside of the STEM disciplines, they'renot what that institution is going to tout. They have them also, but they really do STEM. They really do engineer.
Hammond: Define Stem real quick
Carvajal: Science, technology, engineering, and math.
Hammond: Gotcha. Okay.
Carvajal: And, and so Georgia Tech in the state that I most recently came from is an example of that. They have a college of business. You can go get an education degree, you can do other things besides science, technology, engineering and math. But what isn't tech known for, it's known for those things.
Hammond: So name some other polytechnic schools that we would know across the nation?
Carvajal: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, here, Georgia Tech, M.I.T., etc. These are premier institutions across the country where, um, cutting edge, uh, education and research is occurring.
Hammond: Texas Tech? No?
Carvajal: Texas Tech is actually an agricultural and mechanical institution.
Hammond: A&M?
Carvajal: A&M, same thing, same idea. And so although frankly, a lot of those institutions are trying to mirror polytechnics. Because they are what is, what is popular now and what is in demand. And we very much in higher education have to pay attention, or at least I think we have to. I think we should pay attention to, is what are the demands of those who would employ our graduates?
And so, um, so yeah, so the group here had come up with this idea of a comprehensive, comprehensive, and it was, uh, we might not do everything that historically this institution has done. We might not offer every degree, but we should be more than just science, technology, engineering and math. And the arts is a big piece of that. There is a tremendous history at Humboldt State of an amazing arts program. You know, a bunch of the folks that have come through that program. I know a bunch of the folks who have come through that program. So it's really for us now, we understand if we don't do that, we are the regional deliverer of the arts. And you're not going to hop in your car here and drive to San Francisco to go see something, right? You're not going to drive to Portland to go see something. You're going to expose yourself to the arts if we bring them here.
Hammond: And the county's known for arts. More artists per capita than anywhere in the world.
Carvajal: Absolutely. One of the members of my search committee, I remember asking him, and he is an artist, and I remember asking him, what do you love about Humboldt? He says, I've lived all across the country. In fact, he had gotten his doctorate at the University of Georgia, where I was coming from. And, uh, he said, I love being in a place where I don't have to apologize for what my passion is.
Hammond: Nice. I told my dad. He said, okay, whatever.
Carvajal: Yeah. So we, yes, it will continue to be a special part of what we do because frankly, our community needs that from us.
Hammond: So he asked me how I got started in podcasting. My daughter Kalea, an arts major from Humboldt State and Music. Hey Kalea/ What's up? Good to see you. I think you're gonna like the show.
Carvajal: Well, for those that don't know this about me. So I was a communication major. I thought I was going to be a sportscaster. I was going to do this. I was going to be behind this microphone all the time. But, uh, at some point I went to my freshman composition instructor, comp two, gave extra credit if you would go to a play from the Campus Theatre production group and you had to stay till the end, that was the catch. And you had to have a member of the cast sign, sign the program and you get extra credit. And I was terrified that I was going to go, you know, somebody was going to find out again that I wasn't supposed to be there. So I would do any extra credit. They would even remotely give us the opportunity for. And so I went to the play and, uh, it was Importance of Being Earnest. Some folks will recognize that show. And at the beginning of the second act, Cecily, one of the main characters, walks on and I thought, who is that? How do I get to meet her? And, uh, and so I figured out the way to meet her was to try out for the next play and theater. While I was not a theater major, I never took theater classes. It became my social outlet. It became my thing. And oh, by the way, Cecily is, uh, is Cheryl, who we've talked about earlier. Hi, Cheryl. Uh, and, uh, she walked on stage and the rest is history.
Hammond: That's a great story, I like that.
Hammond: Hey, question number one. You and Cheryl get the day off to go anywhere in Humboldt to anything. Nine to nine pm. Uh, what's your day looking like? What are you going to do? What's on the agenda?
Carvajal: Well, you're picking from so many things, but I'm going to go ahead and pick one because I've seen it and she hasn't yet. She's heard all about it. As a kid I went to the Eureka Zoo and on school trips, okay. And I had not been there in forty years. And about two weeks ago, I went back and the great people there got me up in the Skywalk. They took me all through the place, I fell in love, and I came home and said, I cannot wait to take you here when she's got her next visit already planned. And, uh, if I hadn't said it, she'll be here at Christmas full time. She's being mom. We're getting our kids across the stage at graduation. And then she'll be here. She can't wait. But we're going to pick that since it's the one that's top of mind and she hasn't done it yet. And I'll tell you what, we have so many things that I just had a long time friend of mine, him and his wife came and visited. They had never been to the redwoods. They were here for a week. It was so fun putting that itinerary and that menu of options together for them of things. And every day it was ‘wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.’ And, and I remember this was somebody that I'd worked with back in Valdosta. And I said, now you're going to go home and everyone's going to be asking you, Is Richard okay? Is he doing fine there? And he just started chuckling. He said, yeah, I think I'm going to be able to tell him you're just fine. You're doing okay.
Hammond: Yeah. Our curator. That sounds like a good day.
So by the way, that, skywalk at Christmas in the dark when it's lit – magic.
Carvajal: The fact that we have an old growth redwood forest in the middle of Eureka.
Hammond: It's trippy, huh?
Carvajal: That's incredible. Yeah.
And what vision folks had for putting that together. And, you know, our leaders from the zoo told me it has tripled their intake numbers of folks coming to visit. And obviously what that means is great for tourism for the entire region. That's heads in beds in hotels and folks sleeping in, i you know, sleeping in hotels, going to restaurants and the like. We all play a role in that, right? We're all part of trying to make this a better place and, and job creation, economic development are a piece of it.
Hammond: Yeah. It's a national, international destination now, in the park. Did you meet Jim Campbell Spickler?
Carvajal: I did, that's who was taking me around.
Hammond: Cool guy. Have you seen his podcast with me? Your host, Scott Hammond?
Carvajal: I have not. So we had him on a podcast that we do, and he did a great job. He actually had a member of his team with him as well. She was awesome. When we were walking around, and we got to the bear enclosure, and just as we turned the corner, the male of the two of the pair decided to jump out of the water, make a dead sprint toward us and immediately scaled up a redwood tree right in front of us that hung out over it. My mouth was on the ground. You don't get to see that every day. I couldn't believe it. You get to do that right here.
Hammond: So, you get a whole day and you're just going to go to the zoo. Is that the story?
Carvajal: Well, we're going to start there.
Hammond: Ok. You're getting to your answer.
Carvajal: Come on, Scott. You know as well as I do, you can go all the way from Orick and north and do incredible things. And so my wife, I will tell you, she has fallen in love with Lady Bird Johnson Grove. She calls it going to church. You know, for her, that’s just an incredibly special place. And then obviously, the time I spent down in the Eel River Valley growing up, there's so many. This place is dripping with memories for me. Everywhere I go. I want the drive-in movie theater back. Can I just go ahead and say that? Because as a kid, you know, that's, oh my God, I went there all the time. Uh, it is so special for me. There's so many things here. I sometimes feel for my wife because everywhere I go, I'm telling a story from my childhood. My dad and I did this, or my mom and I did this, or my brother and I did this. And now we're going to get to build those memories.
Hammond: So she starts making a face going, ah, yeah. She just, she's like, okay, I'll let you keep going, but I'm going to go ahead and think about something else. I'm checking Facebook.
Carvajal: Right. Exactly. That's good. You keep talking though.
Hammond: So question number two – what's life giving for you and what's, uh, what guts your soul?
Carvajal: Hmm. So again, we went through my story at the beginning, uh, and we talked about my mentor and what he did for me and what he's done forothers. Uh, I consider myself, I tell our, our faculty and staffat Cal Poly Humboldt, and they've already heard me say it a bunch of times in the semester I've been here. I try to remind myself and them just how lucky we are to get to go to work every day, knowing that our mission that day is to go change somebody's life.
Hammond: Huge
Carvajal: My life, my story happened because of education. I am the living embodiment of the transformative power of what we do. But I don't tell my story because I think it's that special, I tell it because it gets other people to tell me theirs, and sometimes I'm blown away by theirs. That is just so much more incredible than mine. But it happens over and over and over again. And so, do I get emotional and do I feel something special on Commencement Day? You better believe it. Because those thousand students are walking across the stage and yeah, we got a thousand. But it is for them, their one. And I don't always know their story, sometimes I do, I got some, I had some really fun hugs the other day and I took some people wanted selfies on stage and all sorts of stuff. The whole family is graduating. We are changing family dimensions forever. And so to get to do that, to know that I get to be a cog in the wheel on a small part of that, and everyone who's involved at our university, and no matter what role they have, I can't tell you the number of times over the years in working in education that I've heard students talk about the custodian that cleaned their building every day, who always checked on them, and and that's why they made it.
Hammond: Mr. Barker. He's a totally cool guy.
Carvajal: There you go. And so, no matter the role they play, whether you know, whether they're an administrator trying to make sure it's all working, whether they're a faculty member where the real magic happens, whether the staff who, you know, the work they do goes right up to the threshold of the classroom, to all those people who support the physical plant and the operation of making it happen. We are that blessed and fortunate to get to do what we do. And I try to never forget it.
Hammond: That's cool. That's life giving. Real quick comment on that. I, um, I'm inspired to, ask and ponder about how we can become better mentors and reach out to mentoring and, you know, to, to establish relationships and connections with people who, um, who are that? Both, both giving as a mentor and, and receiving and being and being coachable. I mean, coach approach, man, you got to be coachable to be a mentee.
Carvajal: I would hope, and I'm going to say this to everyone who is listening to this who has an opportunity to have an influence in it, I would hope that they would think of how can they dive into what we do?
I've talked to a lot of people over the years. And when I, when I talk about the incredible gift that we have of doing what we do, and then I say, hey, do you want to be a part of that? It's very rare that somebody says, nah. Right. And so it is now thinking about what can be the part. And some people will do that with donations of time and treasure. But, but many times what we need because again, we're going to dive in even more to learn by doing and to the experiential aspect of every degree that we have. We need folks to step forward and say, I will take interns in my business. I will put them to work while they are here. And what we understand is, yeah, we had a thousand people walk across the stage on Saturday and that's a success. I will truly feel like we are being the most successful when many of them, if not most of them, want to stay on the North Coast post-graduation and build their life here. And we know the data could not be more clear that if we get them involved out in the community, in internships, in those types of relationships, they build those relationships, they will want to stay.
And so whether it's attending one of our events, whether, again, gifts of time and treasure, creating an internship opportunity, saying, hey, just I'm willing to be a volunteer. What do you need? Whatever the case may be, we are Northern California's university. We are the North Coast university. We are most certainly Humboldt County’s university. And so let's live that out and do this together. I am such a big believer in my career and my life have taught me this, that if you have a group of people who love a place and you get them moving in the same common direction and they're doing it together, there's almost nothing they cannot accomplish.
Hammond: Like it. And I think the elephant in the community is this giant community heart that is here. Yeah, it's in the room. It's in the room here. Hey, Nick. What's up?
Carvajal: People love this place. They know how special it is.
Hammond: Yeah, yeah. No, it's great to know you. And that's been a theme in the podcast for three years. It's like, oh, what do I love about this place? Natural beauty. Yes. But the folks, the people, the connection, the communication, the community that I'm part of that I bought into. Nobody's ever said mentoring that much. But I think that's a key component.
So, what sucks the breath out of you and your soul?
Carvajal: Um, honestly, it's from a professional standpoint,you know, every one of us has issues in life we deal with, etc., that we all do that. Right? Uh, I'm blessed to do this work. I'm blessed to have this role and I feel very fortunate to have it. And I know we exist to change lives. And I get to see it all the time. I have in my career worked with enough that didn't make it. They didn't take advantage of the opportunity. That's rough. Those stay with you. We had a years ago, I was working at a place and I was, uh, I was, I was overseeing student affairs there, which included housing, etc. and we had a, we had a young man that I knew his heart was good, or at least I thought it was. And, and he'd made a mistake, and it was the kind of mistake that was going to require that he couldn't live in our housing operation anymore. But, but I knew if I just suspended him and sent him home, he'd probably be in prison or dead within a couple of years. That's where that's where home was for him. And we gave him an opportunity to live in our garage. We said, okay, here's a whole set of rules that you're going to have to follow. Um, we're going to make it hard on you, but we care about you and we're going to try to give you a chance to earn your way back in. Um, my wife's a special person. She didn't balk when I came home and said, hey, I did something today. I hope you're okay with it. He didn't live up to that.
Hammond: Wow. That's hard
Carvajal: Um, I don't know what happened to him, and yet I do. If that makes sense? And I would tell you that every one of us who does this work, I bet that you could interview any one of my faculty members, and they could give you a similar story.
Hammond: Yeah. Those that made it, those that didn’t.
Carvajal: We do what we do for the ones that make it. And we want everybody to get there and we'll work like crazy to try to make that happen. And yet you never forget about the ones that it didn't work with.
Hammond: You said it earlier. Their choice, their journey. Yeah. It's tough.
Okay. Question number three – this is the hard one.
Carvajal: That's quite the lead in, just those few words. You got me scared now.
Hammond: Yeah, this'll be easy, actually. Okay. Because you're probably. So, uh, you get to take Cheryl out the first night she's back. Where are you guys gonna go to eat?
Carvajal: It's not going to be the answer you expect.
Hammond: You can't say to Jolly Giant, okay. You can't say the dorms.
Carvajal: No, I'm going to tell you two things. And they're going to be as opposite ends of the spectrum. Okay. I'm going to give you two. I'm gonna cheat. I'm gonna give you two answers. All right? The first answer is going to be special for us in a lot of ways because of our history. Again, growing up here with not a lot, I can't tell you the number of times as a kid I stood outside the Carson Mansion and I thought, oh, I couldn't even fathom who gets to go there. And and what is, you know, it just seemed un seemed like Mars. It seemed untouchable. And the number of times over the years that my wife and I have stood outside the building and marveled at it and shot photos and hung out so many photos. In fact, um, my wife does crown or cross stitch and probably twenty five years ago she counter cross-stitched the Carson Mansion.
Hammond: Oh that's cool.
Carvajal: And we've had it all these years. And she did the Pink Lady as well. And so they're in my office now. Yeah. I probably should hang those up now. And so, yeah, she's going to come here. We're going to go in the mansion and, uh, and get to experience something that is just a truly special place to so many that love this area and region.
She'll love that, but she'll love the second night that I'll put together even more, which…
Hammond: You thought about this already.
Carvajal: Well…We're gonna grab some, you know, smoked fish somewhere and some local cheese and maybe some local bread, and we're going to go down and find some spot where, uh, the TV out our front car window is,the ocean. And, uh, and we're going to feel very fortunate to be in a very special place.
Hammond: Got just the spot for you.
Carvajal: We have, we actually already have a couple, but I'm open to other suggestions.
Hammond: Yeah. Houda Point and Scenic Drive is our, uh, COVID date night. We have the van spot. Throw the doors open. Dick Taylor, little picnic, maybe a little red wine. And the sun is setting and off comes my shirt. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. Can't unsee that.
No, it's just a magic spot. It looks over the Trinidad Bay and it's, uh. Why would we think about leaving this place ever? It's like. Oh, and a cheap date. Yeah. And great date. Yeah. So there's two very different, uh, those are good different spots, but I like them both. I think, uh, I think the folks that love Humboldt, they'll understand why those are the two.
Well, Cheryl, he got lucky on the last question. You are the new owner of a proud new owner of a seventy two percent dark Dick Taylor craft chocolate from Tanzania with black fig. Congrats.
Carvajal: Thank you so much for you, friend. I've, uh, I've received several, you know, special gifts since I've been here. This is now right at the top of the list.
Hammond: Okay, good. Don't eat it on the way home.
Carvajal: Oh, it's not even making it back. It might not make it out of the parking lot. Thank you. It's fine. Chocolate. You gotta go.
Hammond: Remember, small pieces. It’s fine chocolate. You gotta go slow.
So I'll kind of wrap with your legacy thus far. You're a pretty young guy. How old are you?
Carvajal: I am, I'll be fifty-five in a couple of weeks.
Hammond: Attaboy. You're not that much gray. A little bit.
Carvajal: Yeah, it’s there. Trust me, my body feels fifty-five every morning.
Hammond: Yeah. Uh, try sixty-six, bro. It's painful, dude.
Carvajal: My mother keeps reminding me it doesn't get better with time.
No, no, my dad said getting old is not for sissies.
Carvajal: Yeah, but I did have a friend of mine who used to say. And I'll let I'll let you think about this for a second. He said, it's far better to be seen than viewed. I'm still getting seen. So there you go.
Hammond: Ooh, I like that. I'm going to requote that.
So when we talk about you at the end of your life, uh, uh, your, uh, your funeral, your, your, um, celebration of life, what, what would you like to think that folks might say? Um, and then the tombstone inscription, of course.
Carvajal: Well, uh, like everybody, the first and foremost thing you hope for is that they say you were a good dad. You were a good husband. And so, uh, of all the jobs I have, those are the most important. And, uh, and they're the ones maybe I'm most critical of myself on.
Hammond: Sure. And, grandpa, coming up your way.
Carvajal: Uh. We'll see. Yeah, yeah.
Hammond: Now you sound like your dad. We'll see, we'll see. I don't know. Might happen. It might.
Carvajal: Well, yeah. Exactly. And we'll be thrilled. Cheryl has a niece that is like a daughter to us, and she has two children. And so we kind of get to play grand grandparents with them. And, uh, and so yeah,, we're excited about those next phases.
Hammond: Are they coming to Humboldt too?
Carvajal: They're coming to visit. So we've already been, we've already been plotting that visit out. But, um, they've never seen the redwoods. So they live in Texas. There's no redwoods in Texas.
Hammond: Not a one. What part of TexasG
Carvajal: They're McKinney, Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas. So we're excited to get them out here and have that experience. But yeah, that's, that's the first thing I hope folks would, I hope my family, frankly, would would think I did okay. Good work on that. Um, and then quite frankly, on the professional side, I've always had really only one goal with every job I've ever had, and I've actually encouraged every leader with whom I've worked to have the same goal. And that's to leave it better than you found it. Like that leadership is finite. I am a big believer of that. It didn't start with me. It won't end with me. There were great, great people. You've mentioned a couple in our time here today who, you know, who had this role over time and the role that I'm fortunate enough to occupy and others who had all kinds of roles at HSC, HSU and ultimately Cal Poly and, and now it's just my turn. And we're going to try to build. I always tell folks, we're not building the house. The house is fantastic. We are going to try to add a room or two. And, uh, and then at some point it will be time for me to turn it over to the next one. And I hope that I've left it better than I found it. And I hope that they can take it and make it even better than that.
Hammond: I think of stewardship, the word the steward. I'm just here for a time. I'm here for a time. We're going to make it better than we found it.
Carvajal: And I feel oh so fortunate to be here for a time
Hammond: I like that. What's it going to say on your tombstone, then? Maybe you left it better than I found it.
Carvajal: I'll let somebody else write that. Hopefully it's somebody else's job. Hopefully it says beloved father, dad. And then we'll figure out the rest.
Hammond: Okay. Good word. Well, thanks for coming. Appreciate you being here.
Carvajal: It's been an honor. I love that this is a podcast that just loves this community that dives into this community and highlights it. You've had all the episodes that you've had because there's a whole lot to highlight.
Hammond: There is. There's more to come. There's way more to come. Okay. Hey, I'm just going to fill some time. Let's keep going. Let's talk about Melissa. Hey, Melissa. Melissa's here.
Carvajal: So I got, I got, I got amazing members of my team. I say all the time, I just do what they tell me to do. And it seems to work out the shout out.
Hammond: Let's talk about Dronkers for a minute. So so so Dronkers is one of them.
Hammond: Hi, Mike.
Carvajal: Hi Mike. So your listeners, I'm sure, often have dived into his podcast as well. We've had a great time in much the same way, going around and talking about the great stories of Humboldt County and this region, and in giving people a taste of what it's like to do all of these different jobs. I have learned so much. Keith Flamer and I, again, we mentioned Doc Flamer before, President Flamer, and he's become a great friend. He’s taught me so much.
Hammond: A great guy.
Carvajal: Oh he's phenomenal. He's such a difference maker for this community. We've had a ball diving into various aspects that we've seen. And, uh, you know, we were out with an oyster farmer the other day. We talked about folks that are, are studying birds and how they impact highway projects. The list just goes on and on. I went to Humboldt County's favorite bagel shop and, uh, and got to witness that. Oh, come on. You know, and I got, I got, I got there today. And I got challenged for why I hadn't been in more. And you know what? That's okay. I should get challenged for why I haven't been in more. We all should make sure we take advantage of the things that make this place special. I love that I'm getting to play a role with Mike and with Doctor Flamer and telling those stories just like you're doing.
Hammond: That's cool. Let's tell the story real quick. The Learning Institute for older folks like me. Okay. I think that's such a great, um, ancillary, not everybody has an online program. So it's, there's that, that's amazing. And then, uh, the arts and the music thing and, um, and then you got all the chamber music and all the people from the music department that do concerts at Fulkerson Recital Hall. Hi, Julie.
And in so many ways it fits into, whether it's Holly or any of the pieces, it fits into this idea of we are the community’s, the region’s university. That what does Humboldt County, what does the North Coast, what does Northern California need from us? That's why we have the arts. It's why we're comprehensive. It's why we're doing a whole series of opportunities with our seniors. It's why we're doing research. Our research that we engage is, is to answer questions from here that impact here. Right? Um, it's why I want our graduates to stay here and build their careers, etc. It all ties into are we making this place better? I go back to that sitting, you know, the night that I got the phone call that Rich, would you like to come home and and sitting out there on the back porch with, with my wife and and, and the things that she said it was Richard, you have this just unheard of opportunity potentially to go back to the place that you have always said made you, you and to work with other people at this historic time to transform it for the better, to transform something that has always been great and turned it into something that's truly exceptional. Wow. That's what we're getting to do right now. And it will impact everybody who is getting to watch or listen to this because we're your institution. Love it. And and so let's keep it going. Let's get people involved. Let's let's hear. I want to be very clear, when I, when I came in, I said from day one, I am not the kind of person that says, even though have I done this other places have I been experienced. I feel truly fortunate for the career I've had. I have never in any of those jobs walked in and said, I have all the answers. Get on my back and I'll get you there, right. It's not how I lead. It is much more for me about asking people who already know and love this place, what do they think that they want us to be, need us to be going forward? And when I hear the same answers repeatedly, multiple times..
Hammond: Maybe that's the path
Carvajal:: That might be the path, and that's the one we dig into. And if we can get everybody moving, we can't do everything. We can't do a thousand different things. But if we pick a few and we put all of our collective energies around those things and say, we're going to get better at this, this, and this, then guess what? We will. Because historically, again, when I've seen that there's really just not much you can't get accomplished when youhave everyone going in that same direction.
Hammond: Amen. Man. I love it. Hey, sounds like you're the right guy for the right job at the right place.
I’m just the luckiest person most people have ever met.
Hammond: I love your attitude. It’s awesome, dude.
Well, hey, thanks for being here.
Carvajal: It's a pleasure. Real honor.
Hammond: I think we'll be seeing you again.
Carvajal: I hope your folks here see me all over the place. I've tried to get out and about. I've tried to be at everything. If I haven't seen you yet, that's on me. I'm sorry. I'm going to keep going out. I want to go where people are. And when you see me, come tell me hi and give me your ideas for how we can get better and do it together.
Hammond: Nice. Yeah. Approachable, I love it.
Well, folks, that's me. That's a wrap. Scott Hammond one hundred percent Humboldt Podcast with my new best friend, Doctor Richard. And Melissa is here too. And Nick, thank you for all you do.
Carvajal: Go Jacks.
Hammond: And go Jacks. Again, thanks for coming. See you next week.