The best teachers lead with empathy. They seek to understand what their students are going through, offering a listening ear as well as guidance.
Jonathan Garcia embodies empathy. An assistant professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, he helps students find a sense of community while working to find and create equal opportunities for LGBTQ+ students and students of color. For his ability to relate to student situations and desire to create a better college experience for all who attend, Garcia was awarded the 2021 Outstanding Diversity Advocate Award.
As program director of the OSU Global Health program, Garcia developed a curriculum focused on health equity and social justice. One of the offered courses, Be the Change for Global Health Transformation, shows students how discrimination and stigmas impact the quality of health care that traditionally marginalized people have access to, and how to begin facilitating change.
Through his work with ENLACE — Engaging the Next Latinx Allies for Change and Equity — and in collaboration with the nonprofit Outside the Frame, Garcia empowered LGBTQ+ youth of color to combat isolation and bullying. Through a series of telenovela-style videos, students tell their personal stories, on topics ranging from bullying to self-harm to access to health services. Sharing their experiences through these videos can be therapeutic, but more than anything, they show other LGBTQ+ students that they are not alone.
Nancy Vargas, who worked directly with Garcia during her graduate research assistantship, says Garcia greatly valued her contributions and acknowledged her hard work. She adds that he has always been there to encourage her, especially when faced with the microaggressions that often arise at primarily white institutions.
“Dr. Garcia exists as one of my support systems,” she says. “He always makes sure to build students’ self-esteem and their belief in their own capacity to be great.”
F. Javier Nieto, dean of the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, emphasizes how much it means to students — and the university as a whole — to care about the future of Oregon State students like Garcia does.
“Jonathan pushes us to extend our circle of compassion to our students and ourselves,” Nieto says. “He is unfailingly cheerful and pleasant, and he makes every room he walks into — even if it’s a Zoom room — seem more comfortable and welcoming. The world needs more Jonathan Garcias.”