California Golden Bears Athletics
Ladislao Rodriguez (right) with the late Joe Kapp.
You Are My Other Me
9/6/2023 12:56 PM | DEIBJ
My name, "Ladislao," means "to rule with power and glory"; it originated in the kingdoms of Eastern European regions of present-day Hungary and Poland and somehow made its way down to Mexico. While I am far from a royal descendant, I love to tell people I take pride in ruling with power and glory over my daily responsibilities and tasks. I embrace challenges and love to display gratitude for my journey by maintaining humility. I love being part of a team and contributing to a greater mission than just myself. I have an immense passion for compassion. I want to be a bridge to connect resources, informational capital and experiences between student-athletes and their desired community partners. Much like how I see my roles and responsibilities in the Cal DEIBJ Office, my training as an undergraduate student of Ethnic Studies and Sociology was the fulfillment of my childhood dreams. I can't help but feel like this is the position that I always dreamed of working in but could never articulate. With this said, I aim to elevate "brilliance" through the DEIBJ office's ability to leverage athletes, staff, coaches, trainers, alumni and community members' stories to promote the success happening all around UC Berkeley's campus.
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My DEIBJ philosophy can be summed up by the Mayan law of "In Lak' ech" which translates to spanish as "Tu eres mi otro yo" and means "You are my other me'' in English. In essence, I envision my work in the DEIBJ Office as heartwork and headwork. Efforts of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging were taught to me since my days at a progressive teacher co-operative K-8 school where I learned from teachers of all races, genders and sexualities. My favorite books as a child were non-fiction and I was excited when I was given A Young People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I have early childhood memories of attending the May Day Immigration Marches with my father.Â
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Additionally, I am the product of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging because I consistently found home at Cal in Latinx student serving spaces like the Casa Magdalena Mora Theme Program, Hermanos Unidos, Chicanx/Latinx Student Development Center and the Educational Opportunity Program, which made me feel powerful because I was surrounded by people who come from the same culture as me. As an alumnus of these programs, I have peers in many different facets of Cal Athletics, the UC Berkeley community and in the East Bay who work in the EOP offices, are coaches for Cal Football and are still Cal student-athletes. I'm in a zone where I can be a bridge between people of different backgrounds because they are all my peers in real life who I've built relationships with. I'm looking forward to kicking off my tenure as Director of Operations by celebrating Latinx Heritage Month starting September 15th and continuing until October 15th, with our Latinx DEIBJ Playbook Panel on September 26th!Â
Ladislao Rodriguez is the Director of Operations and Engagement in the Cal DEIBJ Office.
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My DEIBJ philosophy can be summed up by the Mayan law of "In Lak' ech" which translates to spanish as "Tu eres mi otro yo" and means "You are my other me'' in English. In essence, I envision my work in the DEIBJ Office as heartwork and headwork. Efforts of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging were taught to me since my days at a progressive teacher co-operative K-8 school where I learned from teachers of all races, genders and sexualities. My favorite books as a child were non-fiction and I was excited when I was given A Young People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I have early childhood memories of attending the May Day Immigration Marches with my father.Â
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Additionally, I am the product of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging because I consistently found home at Cal in Latinx student serving spaces like the Casa Magdalena Mora Theme Program, Hermanos Unidos, Chicanx/Latinx Student Development Center and the Educational Opportunity Program, which made me feel powerful because I was surrounded by people who come from the same culture as me. As an alumnus of these programs, I have peers in many different facets of Cal Athletics, the UC Berkeley community and in the East Bay who work in the EOP offices, are coaches for Cal Football and are still Cal student-athletes. I'm in a zone where I can be a bridge between people of different backgrounds because they are all my peers in real life who I've built relationships with. I'm looking forward to kicking off my tenure as Director of Operations by celebrating Latinx Heritage Month starting September 15th and continuing until October 15th, with our Latinx DEIBJ Playbook Panel on September 26th!Â
Ladislao Rodriguez is the Director of Operations and Engagement in the Cal DEIBJ Office.
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