By RANDY GONZALES
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Oscar Rodriguez, who was an all-conference safety for the Tiger football team more than a decade ago, wanted to make sure he was part of Fort Hays State University’s inaugural Hispanic College Institute. That’s why he was one of 14 “Hispanic Stars” who volunteered to share their success stories with almost 90 campers in small groups on Thursday.
“A part of me wants to give back to the institution that’s given me so much,” said Rodriguez, a 2005 Fort Hays State graduate who played for the Tigers in 2003 and 2004 after transferring from a community college. “Just seeing it change in a diverse way doesn’t mean it still can’t thrive. If I can be part of the growing process, I want to have a seat at the table when it really changes and be a part of that process.”
Rodriguez, 34, knows all too well about change. Early in a successful coaching career, Rodriguez learned he had testicular cancer, which spread to a kidney, in 2012. A few years later it came back, and Rodriguez is now a two-time cancer survivor.
“I didn’t beat cancer; God spared me,” said Rodriguez, who finished his first season as the defensive coordinator for University of La Verne in La Verne, Calif. “You don’t lose to cancer because you die. It’s just part of the process. You’ve got to embrace it.”
Because of cancer, Rodriguez founded the Coaches Against Cancer Foundation four years ago. It has a free football camp and charity golf tournament every summer in his hometown of Liberal.
“I have a platform; that’s why HCI is such an important deal to me, to give back,” Rodriguez said. “We raise money to give back to these people who have medical expenses. One thing I learned going through cancer, I had insurance, I had a support system. But not everybody has that.”
Rodriguez was a student teacher under legendary Liberal football coach Gary Cornelsen when he moved to Texas to coach. That’s when Chris Brown — who is also from Liberal and played there with Rodriguez under Cornelsen — asked Rodriguez to join the staff at Washburn University, where Brown was the defensive coordinator. When Brown left Washburn to become head coach at Fort Hays State, Rodriguez also left to take the defensive coordinator position at Emporia State University. After his second year there came his first bout with cancer. Now, he’s a coach at a school near Los Angeles that serves the Hispanic population.
Life didn’t go according to plan — but that’s the plan, Rodriguez said.
“It’s all about the process,” Rodriguez said. “The process never goes according to our plans. One thing I’ve learned through cancer is that everything is so much bigger than ourselves.”
Rodriguez said FHSU hosting its first HCI is an important step in helping Hispanic students. The HCI brought almost 90 high school juniors and seniors to the FHSU campus from Wednesday through Saturday this week. The institute is a free, four-day residential program that prepares Hispanic students for success in higher education. It was the goal and dream of FHSU President Mirta M. Martin to bring the HCI to Fort Hays State after starting a similar program when she was involved in higher education in Virginia.
“Dr. Martin has an unbelievable vision and a plan,” Rodriguez said. “They’re lucky to have her.”
Rodriguez also had a sibling as one of the program’s “Hispanic Stars.” His sister, Mirta Chavez, is the director of multicultural programs and services at Kansas State University. She is also a Fort Hays State graduate. Chavez stressed to the students the importance of finding a school that takes seriously the role of multicultural education.
“You want to go to a university where they will invest in you,” Chavez said. “Think about that as you move forward to your college campus visits.
“This has been one of my best days in a very, very long time,” she added. “It’s just great to see you all here, motivated to learn and to move forward. You guys are our future.”
Yasmin Salazar, who will be a junior in high school this fall at Erie, decided to attend the HCI because she wanted to check out Fort Hays State. She enjoyed meeting the “Hispanic Stars.”
“It was pretty interesting,” she said. “I liked what they all had to say. They had really interesting stories that motivated me.”
That was the purpose, said Hector Villanueva, a multicultural recruitment admissions counselor at FHSU.
“We want students to picture themselves on the other side,” he said. “All the professionals we have here, everyone has a college degree. (The students) can see themselves going somewhere, doing something with their lives, after high school.”