Jesse Castellanos: Graduate Student Receives Minority Access Role Model Award

While membership in a Greek organization is often thought of as a purely social asset, many students at California State University, Dominguez Hills find that their fraternity brothers and sorority sisters also provide essential support as they make academic and career choices.

Alumnus Jesse Castellanos (Class of ’03, B.S., biology) was one such student. As a member of the campus chapter of Phi Iota Alpha, he was able to turn to his fraternity brothers for not only friendship but also academic counseling.

“Before I joined a fraternity, I had no guidance [regarding my education],” he says. “During my beginning stages in the fraternity, I had a lot of guidance from my older ‘brothers,’ something I never got from my family.”

Now working toward his doctorate in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Southern California, Castellanos is the one providing guidance to his fellow students.

“I try to mentor students as much as I can, especially in the sciences because that’s my field,” he says, “and to be there to help them not hit the bumps I hit in the road, like not knowing what classes to take, not knowing about undergrad research or their options in graduate school and funding opportunities.”

For his generosity and for caring about his fellow students, Castellanos was awarded the Minority Access, Inc. (http://www.minorityaccess.org/index.htm) Role Model Award at the organization’s national conference last month.

The first in his family of three sons to graduate from high school and attend college, he is encouraging his younger brothers to pursue their education.

“Either consciously or subconsciously they now have that drive to go to school,” he says. “It’s not a matter of if, they have to because they now see going to school as being very important to their success.”

According to Castellano’s mentor at Cal State Dominguez Hills, professor of biology Thomas Landefeld, Castellano was “one of those students who might have been ‘lost’ from the sciences if not for his determination. Once on track, he performed exceptionally well in the lab and also as a role model for his community. Jesse demonstrated himself to be persistent in getting into the master’s program here,
resulting in a number of research presentations and publications, which are really the true test for a scientist.”

Castellanos credits his mentor with encouraging his success, saying, “Dr. Landefeld has been very supportive of my endeavors by really getting to know me and giving me personal interaction that I think is crucial. He knows where I came from. It’s not like handing me a piece of paper that tells me what to do. He really personalized my guidance in my education and career goals.”

In his work at USC, Castellanos will be able to embark on his dissertation next summer, choosing a focus and a mentor to study neuroscience, lung cancer or stem cells. He looks forward to someday teaching at a CSU, particularly at his alma mater, in the hopes of helping to eliminate disparities among health professionals of color.

“The medical field is not diverse right now,” he says. “I hope it will be, for the sake of the country and for society in general. Students need to see it’s not impossible and to see that there are people there who can help you and who understand where you’re coming from.”

Castellanos exhorts his fellow students to explore any and all opportunities for scholarship awards and research opportunities, saying that, “These programs were fundamental. Dr. (Laura) Robles and Dr. Landefeld, with their advice and guidance, really groomed me into seeing that there’s a need for people of color in faculty positions and mentoring roles for future generations. They’ve been very supportive
and very nurturing in the sense that they really want you to succeed and keep on going.”

“Jesse stands out as a role model for minority scientists who have struggled with their environment but found the way and in doing so, have been successful,” says Landefeld. “I look to him as someone who will in turn mentor young scientists to be successful as well.”

- Joanie Harmon

Photo above: Jesse Castellanos and his mentor, professor of biology Thomas Landefeld (pictured at left), celebrate Castellanos' Minority Access, Inc. Role Model Award at the organization's national conference in September.