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By Arleen Williams
A little boy dreams of flying a plane. Not just any plane, anywhere; a plane in the Alaskan wilderness. This boy’s military family resided in that frigid state for a season. Even now, more than 35 years later, if he could do anything else in the world and be successful at it, he’d be a bush pilot. Attracted by the solitude, the open spaces and the sheer beauty of it all, the thought still compels his heart.
Now, in his mid-forties, he has surrounded himself with social contact. He meets with people constantly: students, staff and prominent figures of society on a regular basis. His life is crunched with appointments, conferences, deadlines, speeches to write and give, lunch and dinner engagements, time with his family and time for leisure activities.
He is PPCC President Joseph Garcia.
Garcia is a humble man, embodying the meaning of the term public servant. Serving is what he truly seeks to do. After graduation from the University of Colorado with a degree in business and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School, Garcia's accomplishments have not been few. He practiced law as a partner in the Colorado firm of Holme, Roberts & Owen for 10 years and has served within several state agencies before becoming president of the three campus college that educates almost 10,000 students a year.
In spite of all these achievements, Joseph Garcia is far from boastful. He approaches life with a sense of respect for others and understands the value and potential of men and women from any racial or economic background.
Garcia is Hispanic. His ancestors go back to early Spanish explorers and settlers of New Mexico; among them were farmers and railroad workers. Growing up in a non-Hispanic community, mostly military bases, Garcia didn’t see himself as racially different from others. He noticed that others saw him differently.
One particular instance stands out in his mind. While in business school at CU Boulder, he teamed up with another Hispanic student to write a paper as one of his class projects.
After turning in their paper, his professor called them both into his office and proceeded to question them about the assignment. He refused to believe that they had written such a thorough, academic piece. Prejudice had reared its ugly head. Garcia and his co-writer challenged the professor to ask them anything pertaining to the subject to verify their complete knowledge of the project theme.
Garcia explains a law term called “Refutable Presumption.” For example if you happen to drive a car while using a cell phone and have an accident, you are presumed to have been the cause of such accident. You must then prove that you were not the cause (refute it). That is what it felt like to be Hispanic 25 years ago. You were presumed unqualified until proven otherwise. Being Hispanic, or any minority, meant you had to work harder than others, but “everyone needs to work harder” says Garcia.
He is a man of gratitude. He is grateful for the opportunities he has had, many of them provided by his parents. They have been among the greatest influences in his life. His father was a strong, silent, working, military officer. “If something was broken, he’d fix it,” says Garcia. “He wouldn’t have any one else do it.”
His mother was always involved with helping people. From low-income Hispanics to native Alaskan woman to native women in Peru, she tried to improve their lives by providing opportunities for them to thrive. She had not acquired a college education, but she was a well-read woman. At the age of 56, she enrolled in college and graduated in her early 60s.
Garcia’s personal friend, Ken Salazar, former Colorado Attorney General and now U.S. Senator, has also been a great influence in his life. He doesn’t share all of Salazar’s political views, but has always been supported and encouraged by him. In his third year of law school, Garcia was job searching when he met Salazar, then a recruiter.
Salazar has always kept in touch and has been a good role model. When presented with the opportunity to become president at PPCC, Salazar saw Garcia’s potential and encouraged him to "go for it."
Garcia sees education as a way to improve one’s opportunities. He noticed while growing up that many minorities were in dead-end jobs, and when they received an education, they worked themselves up to middle class status or better. This is one of the things that drive him to do what he does. His interest in education is not for prestige or even for retaliation regarding past prejudices, but because it makes a difference in people's lives.
Helping people means a lot to him, and for this reason, Garcia enjoys his job at PPCC. From Harvard to PPCC is a long jump. He observed that students at Harvard were not just affluent, but they were able to dedicate their academic year to study without other obligations taking their time.
At PPCC, most students go to school, have a job, and maintain family obligations. “School was hard for me,” says Garcia. He can’t imagine what it must be like for students today to acquire an education with all the pressures and responsibilities they face. Unlike Harvard, at PPCC, students have a greater lack of basic skills that must be brought up to standard in order to advance their education.
For Garcia, the greatest challenge of being president is in creating a learning environment with limited funds; much could be done with more resources. Garcia regrets having to let good people go because of lack of capital to fund staff. On the other hand, one of the greatest aspects of his job is seeing students change their lives. Though they face tough situations, like caring for families, PPCC students persevere.
His wife, Claire, is also involved in education. She is an English professor at Colorado College. The Garcia’s have four children, including a set of twins. Joe met Claire, a dancer then, in his first year of college, and they were married during his third year. He makes time to spend with his family. He recently won first place with his son in the beginner men mountain bike race category of the Mountain States Cup Regional Championship Series.
If he had to name a regret, it might be that he never became a successful trial lawyer. Though a lawyer for 10 years, it never truly fulfilled him. He has problems. “Everybody does,” he says, and yet he believes he has been fortunate. Again his humility is evident as he says, “I have nothing to complain about.”
What will Garcia be doing in 15 to 20 years? He doesn’t know. He says he has never anticipated any of the jobs he’s had. In college he wanted to be a truck driver after he graduated, and he worked as one until he had the opportunity to go to Harvard. Then came the law firm, government agencies and the PPCC presidency.
To him it’s all about taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. No boasting. No swelled head. Just plain hard work and helping others.
Garcia’s life is busy and chaotic at times.
Presently, he is far from the serenity of the bush country. But maybe, just maybe the opportunity will come his way one day to fly an iron bird across the icy region of Alaska, delivering goods or people to various destinations. If it does, he may take it and gratefully, humbly, soar with its possibilities.
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