Jennifer Lopez ’13: La Comunidad Es Todo (Community Is Everything)

Name: Jennifer Lopez
Class Year: 2013
Current Job: Alumni Relations and Donor Engagement, Walla Walla Community College Foundation

Early last Tuesday morning, Jennifer and I met in Reid and marveled at the little green shoots we saw popping up all around the building. The ducks greeted us as we walked inside.

How are you involved in the Walla Walla Valley and in the community?

A lot really stemmed from my upbringing. There was always a big emphasis on community. When my parents immigrated, they came from a communal pueblo in southern Mexico, and so traditionally, when a family was stressed we’d make a meal or do something useful. Or if the church needed to be restored people would come together and provide labor and goods and money together to help. My parents really instilled that sense in me and my siblings.

Here in Walla Walla, this manifested first within my family—with aunts, uncles doing home repairs, coming to help us, taking care of the kids—those kinds of supports. Then when I got older, this calling became more faith-based—like we’re staying after church to volunteer at this event or help out with whatever’s needed. In school, “service” was always to meet your volunteer hours. For me, I never saw it as that, but rather as an expectation.

When I became college-aged, my time and focus on college obligations took time away from any community work. I did things now and then, but it wasn’t until after graduation and moving away and establishing myself as an independent professional that I realized I missed what I had learned and done as a younger person. I could do all the “adult” things, but I realized I wasn’t helping other groups out. I wasn’t helping them move toward community well-being.

When I moved back to Walla Walla, it was when Trump was first elected, and it was clear that that was going to hurt our community and especially our community’s immigrants, so I got very involved. I learned a lot from people I hadn’t known before. Neat to see where that need to be involved came from—so many different ways.

What is something you learned when you were growing up in Walla Walla that is still with you?

Even though Walla Walla is still a small rural town, there is an ethos of neighborliness and community—looking after one another, knowing who is in your neighborhood and who lives down the street from you. When I’ve visited friends and lived in other cities I’ve looked for that but haven’t necessarily found it. But when I came back here, this aspect was always present. So, making sure that even though we may not agree ideologically, or if we’re technologically siloed, we’re still trying to work toward a collective sense of community and our shared experience of being human.

What is something you’ve learned about this area that surprised you or that you weren’t expecting?

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to be a board member at a couple organizations, both locally and also regionally, I’ve learned that Walla Walla encompasses so much more than the precise City or County borders. Now that I’m working at Walla Walla Community College (WWCC), I’ve seen the extension of who we’re reaching out to includes places like Prosser and Dayton and even quite a bit further. I’ve realized that people are making the drive from lots of places to get here since they feel part of the campus and thus are contributing their networks and relationships and expertise. I don’t think I was that aware of that growing up. Definitely has opened up my perspective quite a bit.

How do skills that you learned at Whitman help you today?

I think about the willingness to be uncomfortable. So, for instance I took classes that weren’t part of my major but they seemed really interesting. Like a class on improv in French. I’m not even sure why I signed up for it, but it was great to try something really different. I definitely wasn’t super proficient in French. Sitting with that sense that I might embarrass myself in front of my peers and the instructor but I’ll give it a shot. I’m thinking about situations where Whitman allowed me to put myself in these kinds of settings. Now that I’m in higher ed I’m working with students who are in uncomfortable situations and I’m helping them see how they can be successful. For instance, like experiencing ideological viewpoints different from the ones they grew up with—this can be uncomfortable! Or being in relationship with people from different backgrounds—how do they find common aspects? That initiated here at Whitman and has carried on since. This is true both for my personal and my professional life since there’s always that opportunity for growth.

What is a way that Walla Walla is diverse?

If we think of diversity as allowing people to exist as their authentic selves, I think Walla Walla really allows that space across ideological lines because folks have found community here. So, during my time at Whitman as a student and as a professional, I remember thinking, “yes, there are lots of people I agree with and we’re all on a similar wavelength,” and now at WWCC I meet a lot of students who are doing things that Whitman doesn’t offer and they’re sharing community with one another because they have shared experiences and can be authentically themselves. I may or may not line up with them ideologically, but them being able to have a community and exist and follow things they care about—it makes me see how Walla Walla isn’t a place that encourages people to shut out others. Rather, here it is a place that allows you to explore what you’re about. 

What should Whitman students know about our community that you haven’t mentioned yet?

There are a lot of shared educational experiences happening in this area because of the three higher education institutions and so continuing to strengthen bonds among the total student population could be fruitful. I know there have been attempts at this and so as students—young learners—here’s a great opportunity to connect and maybe more than for a social goal, but really to understand that educational experiences vary and so there’s a lot of expanded ways to learn and grow. You have peers at other institutions who can teach you something and are likely fun to hang out with!

What is your favorite thing about springtime in Walla Walla?

So many! The change of weather. More sunlight. Blossoming of all of the flowers. My allergies have moved to the summer, so that’s good. [laughs] The beauty of people coming out of hibernation, being out and about. It’s great seeing families with little ones walking around and folks moving around the community—it’s great! We’re here! We exist. And it’s beautiful.

Beyond the interview:

Jennifer Lopez will be available for questions and further conversation this Wednesday, March 5, at noon in Reid Campus Center, Room 207. The Career and Community Engagement Center will provide lunch for the first 10 students in attendance. Questions or ideas or accommodation requests? Contact Noah Leavitt at leavitns@whitman.edu.