Story Makes History:

Applying research to action

It didn’t take long for Story-Yetto to draw parallels between his work with the community college district and his graduate studies at SJSU.

“The faculty and professors here at SJSU are absolutely top-tier,” he says. “There’s a good balance of practitioners — chancellors and school presidents who have real-world experience leading higher education programs — and folks like my professor Dra. Liliana Castrellón, who are at the forefront of pedagogy and academic research. The HELM program could not have been more helpful.”

Story-Yetto explains that the Venn diagram uniting higher education leadership and public policy is the pursuit of equity. By removing financial barriers for students, he and his colleagues are expanding possibilities for people who may not otherwise be able to afford an education, especially in one of the most expensive regions in the nation.

“In the Bay Area specifically, about two thirds of our students struggle with some form of basic insecurity — food and housing insecurity, even homelessness,” he says. “The data says that this is especially pronounced for Black and brown students, LGBTQ+ students and Native American students, which makes this an equity issue. This is what I’ve really begun to hone in on in my HELM program; we have to acknowledge how all of these are equity issues and we have to tailor our administrative solutions to be mindful of that.”

"Working within institutions of education means we need to have a fluid understanding of how systems of education and public policy interact,” says Liliana Castrellón, assistant professor of educational leadership and program co-coordinator of the HELM program at SJSU. "Indeed, policy is foundational to what resources and opportunities our students have access to. The more we understand policy, the more we can advocate for change and also work within the confines of already existing policy structures.

“While policy structures are often seen as formal, such as lobbying, debates, formal bills, etc., we also have to understand the everyday interactions of policy; how we, as educators, interact with policy. We are the face of policies for our students. Because even if we did not create the policy, or maybe we do not even support the policy, in our roles as educators in public schools, colleges, and universities, we need to enforce the policies.

“In our Higher Education Leadership Masters (HELM) Program, we develop our students to engage with policy and systems of education in ways that challenge educational inequities. We work off the premise that to work towards educational equity, we have to understand inequities. Thus, we challenge our students to leverage their knowledge and leadership to strive for social change to support minoritized student populations. Our classes focus on providing students with theoretical and practice-oriented tools to develop higher educational leaders to make systemic change in their own educational context."

Story-Yetto is quick to acknowledge the mentors that have inspired him along the way, especially Brad Davis. And while he’s seen AB 3158 become law, he knows the real work lies ahead. As a leader in higher education, he’ll have to put their plan into action.