Meet Armando Valdez, CSU Pueblo’s new president

PUEBLO — A university in Southern Colorado is under new leadership. Armando Valdez is starting his first full academic term as President of Colorado State University (CSU) Pueblo. News5 sat down with him Wednesday to discuss his focus and mission as he takes on this new role.

President Valdez said one of their missions is to celebrate diversity and expand an inclusive culture at CSU Pueblo.

Eleanor Sheahan

“I came to CSU Pueblo with a commitment to being student-centered, employee-centered and community-centered,” Valdez said.

In her new role, Valdez plans to reach outward while focusing inward. She said that starts on campus with student diversity.

“So we are a Hispanic-Serving Institution. We are a minority-serving institution, and we have a little over 50% of the campus that is Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Chicano Chicana, minority backgrounds, African American, Asian American, Native American. We are very proud of that,” Valdez said.

“When we talk about Hispanic services and minority services, we talk about what that means. It means serving those populations, closing equity gaps, closing achievement gaps, closing funding gaps, better serving populations that have historically experienced underrepresented access,” Valdez said.

Valdez said he aims to serve all students.

“Every student who comes to CSU Pueblo, regardless of their background, chooses to be a part of and participate in a diverse community,” Valdez said.

Valdez said he plans to expand outward and reach and enroll students growing up in rural areas.

“I want people who want to come back to rural communities to not only come back to those communities and continue, but to come back to those communities and have us build stronger, more robust, entrepreneurial rural communities and have a future where people can find opportunity there,” Valdez said.

It’s something Valdez can relate to. He grew up in the San Luis Valley.

“I am a beneficiary of past generations that brought me these opportunities,” Valdez said.

He said it’s now his responsibility to pass that on to students at CSU Pueblo.

“Being in education was unexpected for me. It wasn’t a career plan. It wasn’t a life plan. I was going to be in business,” Valdez said.

She always thought she would work as a financial analyst, strategic engagement or consulting, but life had a different plan. Valdez received some advice that may have changed her mind about her dream. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA from Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins. That’s when Valdez began her education.

“Going into the education field, I thought I would get some teaching experience. So I taught a class at CSU Fort Collins and I was immediately hooked. I loved the students, I loved the participation, which led me to an opportunity at Front Range Community College, where there was a lot of focus on teaching,” Valdez said.

Valdez would eventually serve as an educator at Adams State University for 15 years. Valdez officially takes over as president of CSU Pueblo in February 2024.

What is it like to be the president of this university?

“It’s a busy day. It goes by fast and, you know, there’s a lot of action in between, but there’s no breaks, and even when I do get breaks, it’s not working. So everything moves really fast. There’s a lot of engagement, a lot of meetings, a lot of interaction with people in the community,” Valdez said. “As president, you’re the external face. You’re the external liaison for the university. So a big part of my role is engaging with stakeholders in the Pueblo Community, the Southern Colorado Community, the business community, the donor community, the alumni community. There’s a lot of different stakeholders that a president has to engage with. But that also means trying to build a university that’s well-functioning, productive, efficient and effective. It also means working with the key stakeholders, our faculty, our staff, who are the primary team members of our university.”

As you take on this new role as president, what do you want to instill at CSU Pueblo going forward?

“One of my personal goals is, how do we promote and grow the profile of Pueblo in Southern Colorado? How do we get more touchpoints so that people in these communities have better access to education, have more opportunities to achieve their own economic empowerment, find ways to build their lifestyles and shape their lifestyles the way they want to be built? I want people who want to come back to rural communities to not just come back and sustain these communities, but come back and build these communities. How do we get stronger, more robust, future-oriented, entrepreneurial rural communities where people find opportunity there,” Valdez said.

He said one aspect they encourage on campus is being a Herd family.

“We talk about being a Pack family, a Pack familia, a family. You have disagreements with your family. You don’t always agree, you don’t always share the same thoughts and ideas, and that’s okay. We can absolutely disagree. We can have different perspectives. We’re going to be like a family. We’re going to respect each other, we’re going to communicate with each other, we’re going to support each other, we’re going to care about each other, we’re going to help each other, especially when things get tough. That’s part of a family and it’s a whole spectrum of family,” Valdez said. “Those are the aspects that we want people to understand about CSU Pueblo. It brings all of these things together. And when we talk about DEI, let’s not put DEI as a label. Let’s put DEI as a strength that every single person here brings to us.”

Valdez said it’s important to bring all voices to the table.

“A lot of times, DEI will focus on the primary characteristics of diversity. It will focus on gender, ethnicity, age. We like to think of DEI as a whole again, as a spectrum of those characteristics, some of the other characteristics that we influence, whether it’s education level and achievement, the background of where you grew up, whether it’s socioeconomic, geographic… We really want to encourage rural people to connect with people who have rural backgrounds, with people who have urban backgrounds, with people who have suburban backgrounds, with people who have intermediate backgrounds like you find in Pueblo, where it’s kind of a mix between the larger city elements and still a small-town feel,” Valdez said.

Academic education at CSU Pueblo is not divided into liberal arts education or STEM education, Valdez said.

“In college, I wanted to introduce what’s called We Are the Herd. So we have a two-M hustle that brings these areas together. Science, technology, art, math, music, there are two Ms, performance, engineering, design and participation,” Valdez said.

Valdez serves as the 16th President of CSU Pueblo.

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