Jenna Smith (jesmith2@ursinus.edu)
Alvert Hernandez joined Ursinus in 2019 where he resided in the Freshman center. Many of us know him from working with housing, conversing with him when we were figuring out where we were going to live. His first year he focused on freshmen and their housing, but as his time here continued he moved to focus on Reimert, New, and North. His work was truly felt by all areas of the campus! On March 11th, 2022 Hernandez said goodbye to Ursinus to continue his journey elsewhere.
Hernandez is moving on from Ursinus to join Moravian College as its Director of First Generation Student Initiatives, an inaugural position within the division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. At Moravian, Alvert will be in charge of building their first ever center for first-generation students. Ursinus is lucky to have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion center, but Moravian has not been as fortunate. Hernandez will be able to give their college the help they need and specialize his focus to first-gen students and their success, addressing issues and topics such as “programming, leadership development, personal and academic advisement as well as additional resources for first generation students.”
When asked about what he is going to miss the most about Ursinus, Hernandez answered, first and foremost, the students. Throughout his time here Hernandez had built genuine relationships with students, something he will always cherish. Hernandez will also miss his amazing co-workers, a team that has supported him throughout his numerous endeavors. He will also miss playing basketball with students and staff, and noted that the athletes on campus are talented and helped keep him in shape!
Hernandez feels most proud of all of the positive changes he was able to enact throughout his four years here. He also cited the impressive work of Student Affairs, saying, “[they] made a lot of changes that have enhanced the student experience, for example, thinking about residence life through a more equitable lens and building a residence life programmatic curriculum.” However, Hernandez is most proud of the relationships he was able to build with students. At Ursinus, he was able to make a difference by “helping a student navigate college or even being a listening ear to a student having a challenging time.”
Hernandez concluded with how special Ursinus will always be to him. During his time here he has been able to learn a lot of lessons that will help him with his work at Moravian. Although these lessons have helped him in his career, they’ve also been able to positively influence him as a person! He’s learned it’s important to put yourself first and to develop a healthy work/home life balance. One final lesson he will take to Moravian is to “always take my lunch hour to either shoot some hoops or break bread with co-workers and students in Wis!” Ursinus will miss all of Hernandez’s hard work and his departure leaves a lasting impact on Residence Life. Ursinus wishes you well at Moravian!