It takes compassion, empathy and consistent action to truly make a difference in another person’s life. Kate MacTavish, Gerrad Jones and José García — this year’s Outstanding Diversity Advocate award recipients — go beyond what’s expected in their positions in multiple ways. And it’s all in the interest of one common goal: to see students and faculty gain the support, confidence and connections they need to thrive — at Oregon State and beyond.
Associate Professor Kate MacTavish has spent much of her career recruiting, retaining and supporting marginalized students and faculty. She has been a faculty member in the College of Health since 2001 and the college’s director of equity, inclusion and diversity initiatives for nearly a decade. For the past 20 years, MacTavish has studied rural mobile home parks, the stigmas attached to those who live in them and the related environmental, economic and health injustices. She also served as co-principal investigator for the Sustainable Rural Communities Initiative, which included a student experiential learning opportunity focused on understanding rural housing insecurity, hunger and poverty. In this experience, students lived in rural Oregon communities for two weeks, studying their surroundings. And many have described it as one of the most impactful moments of their college career.
In both teaching and research, Assistant Professor Gerrad Jones works to eliminate gender bias in the traditionally male-dominated field of engineering. In his Fundamentals in Ecological Engineering course, students take quizzes and hold discussions about how gender bias impacts people in the workplace. A member of the Quechan Tribe, Jones brings in representatives from Oregon’s Indigenous communities to address water rights and access issues across the state. He has developed a senior capstone project to create a low-cost system to measure water consumption for the Quechan Tribe. In addition, Jones actively recruits underrepresented students for his research program. He is humble, listens intently to his students and is passionate about creating an open, welcoming environment in the classroom.
José García makes time to help anyone who needs it and encourages others to do the same. Being there for his students can extend from giving them a ride to events to connecting them to important resources. As OSU Open Campus Juntos Coordinator for Yamhill, Polk, Malheur and Lincoln counties, García provides families of underrepresented students with information and skills to help them stay in school through graduation and encourage them to keep going. He also leads summer Juntos STEM camps, where students gain valuable leadership skills. García has worked with more than 1,500 students and parents — most of whom primarily speak Spanish at home. And the impact of his dedication is evident: More than 92% of these students graduated high school, and 92% have continued on to attend a college, university or trade school.
