After two and a half years at Macalester, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Javier Gutierrez will leave campus this June for Hamline University, where he will serve as an assistant professor and director of the educational doctoral program.
He got his own educational doctorate at Hamline in 2015.
“I was never meant to get a doctorate, and I’m going back to where I got my doctorate,” Gutierrez said, reflecting on his path as a first-generation student. “I hope, just like any position I’ve held, that people who either have similar experiences to mine or look like me feel like, ‘Oh, you’re there. I can do it as well.’”
As a high school student, educators tracked Gutierrez into vocational work. No one encouraged him to pursue undergraduate and eventually graduate degrees.
“I had to find it on my own. So historically, people who look like me, are first-gen like me, with a financial situation like me, usually aren’t mentored into getting their doctorate. And so that’s why I say I was never meant to get it, but I did,” Gutierrez said.
That experience shaped Gutierrez’s approach to student affairs. During his time at Macalester, he prioritized creating space for students to feel validated.
“I always talked about people’s stories — wanting people to be heard, people from any identity,” he said. “I’m hoping that students I interacted with felt heard, with no judgment.”
Before coming to Macalester, Gutierrez worked at the University of Minnesota Rochester, where he missed what he described as a “traditional campus experience.” Macalester’s residential campus, along with its commitment to diversity and global engagement, drew him back to St. Paul, Minn.
At Macalester, students broadened Gutierrez’s perspective. He had not traveled outside of the United States until about a decade ago, but through his work with students, he gained a deeper understanding of global issues.
“Understanding what it means to be a refugee … learning about visa processes … [these are] things I never would have thought of before,” he said. “It really opened my eyes.”
Gutierrez will bring this perspective with him to his new role at Hamline, where he will work with doctoral students to turn their research into systemic change.
“There’s more than one way to make an impact,” he said. “That’s the whole foundation of the doctorate program: what good will you do with your dissertation? What change do you want to make an impact on?”
Looking ahead, Gutierrez said the next associate vice president for student affairs must balance competing priorities while maintaining a strong focus on students.
“The person has to be able to multitask and really identify priorities,” he said. “But at the core, it’s about supporting students and building relationships.”
The candidate search is ongoing, and will be filled via a committee, including student input.
While he looks forward to his next chapter, Gutierrez said he will miss the energy and community at Macalester.
“The lawn being full, students being welcoming — even in moments of conflict, there’s been genuine care,” he said. “That’s something I’ll definitely miss.”
In his first semester at Macalester, he was on the front line of communicating with student protestors and maintaining safety protocol.
He was impressed by how Macalester students handled that moment of conflict: “99 percent of those students were still like, ‘Hey, we hear you. We know what you’re doing. We have our voice, but we understand and respect why you’re doing what you’re doing,’” Gutierrez said. “Even in moments of conflict, the genuine care has been there, and that’s been something I’m definitely gonna miss.”
