Rejoice Chavira, longtime counselor and student advocate at Crafton Hills College, announces retirement
Publish Date: Jan. 13, 2025
Rejoice Chavira believes every student has a story, but someone has to stop what they are doing and listen.
As a longtime Crafton Hills College counselor, department chair, and student advocate, Chavira has been championing success of Roadrunners for more than 20 years, a chapter that will close at the end of the Fall 2024 semester.
“Deciding to retire was a hard decision to make because I really, really love my job,” she said. “But my husband has been retired for 10 years now and when the opportunity presented itself and I mentioned it to my husband, he said, ‘Let’s talk about it.’”
Through that conversation, Chavira continued, the question of “What does the future hold for us?” and soon solidified her decision to spend more time with her husband and growing family.
Since starting her career in education, Chavira has been the voice of those in need of a hand up by not being afraid to start with the basics when it comes to building relationships. She does this by asking one simple question: “Tell me about yourself.”
Chavira continued to grow in her field and began developing a strong career footprint in the Inland Empire, first with Crafton’s sister college, San Bernardino Valley College, in 1999, before starting at the Yucaipa-based college in January 2002 as a counselor for its EOPS/CARE/CalWORKs department.
Chavira would eventually climb the managerial ladder, but would later transition back into counseling, which she describes as her “why.”
She credits her success to the strong foundation Crafton’s leadership, faculty, and staff have built over the years, all of whom have a similar calling—supporting student success.
“If then-Crafton President Gloria Macias Harrison hadn’t seen my potential or my abilities, I wouldn’t be here today,” said Chavira. “I’m so glad that she gave me an opportunity because from there, everyone I’ve worked with – from Gloria to Dr. Cheryl Marshall to Dr. Kevin Horan and my team – they all believed in me and my vision, and they all allowed me to pursue that vision.”
“Our students wouldn’t be here without the relationships we’ve built with other departments on campus,” she continued. “Each of us plays a role in making sure our students are able to graduate and move forward. It takes everybody working together.”
Although this chapter in her story is ending, Chavira hopes to encourage current and future Roadrunners to not let anything stop them from reaching their goals.
“In life, the more obstacles you can overcome, the stronger you’ll become and the better person you’re going to be coming out of it,” she said. The Crafton community will remember her positive influence on so many.
