Joe Gutierrez | CSUSB Office of Strategic Communication | (951) 236-4522 | joeg@csusb.edu
Eloy Garcia, a first-generation college student and TEDxCSUSB 2021 speaker, is on a mission to leave his pawprint at Cal State San Bernardino. While working toward his bachelor’s degree, Garcia has participated in many of the opportunities CSUSB offers to learn new skills, practice talents he already enjoyed, utilize campus resources and engage with the campus community. Garcia is the creator and host of LPDcast, a podcast that provides skills, habits, and resources for the leadership, personal, and professional development of first-generation students, People of Color and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Not only is he a well-rounded student and community activist, he is also currently writing his first book, “Perseverance Pays Off: Skills and Habits for First-Generation Students to be Successful in Life and Higher Education,” which is inspired by the work he does on LPDcast. The book validates diversity-lived experiences and also motivates people to show up to their lives daily regardless of what they go through. Garcia is the president and co-founder of the LGBTQIA+ student organization at CSUSB called The Pride Pack and is currently studying organizational communication, gender and sexuality studies, and Native American studies, and plans to pursue graduate school with the goal of becoming a professor.
CSUSB is celebrating National LGBTQ+ History Month from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31 with a variety of events taking place on both the San Bernardino and Palm Desert campuses. The goal of LGBTQ+ History Month is to enhance public awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) individuals, their history, lives, and experiences, as well as their contributions to society. Additionally, the month-long celebration will honor and educate the campus community about issues of social justice and the LGBTQ+ community and raise awareness of these issues among the general public. Moreover, it is concerned with ensuring that educational and other institutions are safe spaces for members of all LGBTQ+ populations. CSUSB will celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month by highlighting student leaders, faculty, and staff in various activities and special events throughout the month. In this year's annual celebration, the theme is "Connecting at the Intersections."
