Figueroa Stepping Down as Roberto Hernandez Center Director

On March 10, Dr. Enrique Figueroa sent a mass email to the UW-Milwaukee staff, Hispanic leadership, and the Hispanic student body in which he confirmed that he will be stepping down as director of the Roberto Hernandez Center (RHC) on Aug. 21 of this year.

Dr. Figueroa received his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education from California State University in 1973. After that, he received his two masters’ degrees from UC-Davis in ‘75, and ‘82, as well as his Ph.D. in ‘86. He served as Deputy Under Secretary for the Department of Agriculture from June ’99 to January ’01.

After a nationwide search to fill the position of Director for the RHC, he was contacted by Provost, John Wanat, and he was hired in 2002. For over 14 years, Dr. Figueroa has been the chief executive and administrative officer of the Center. His responsibilities as director included: overall management and planning of the student center, including personnel, budget administration, and program development and its implementation.

Figueroa said he began thinking of taking some time off back in 2015. But, when he asked the Provost and Vice Chancellor, Johannes Britz, Figueroa was given three options, two of which required him to step down.

“We sat down together and evaluated the options at hand,” said Britz. “However, if he wanted to remain as the director for the center, he would have to take the time off without pay.”

With the unpaid time off, Figueroa would be stripped of most of his benefits, forcing him to pay over $2,000 per month, just on medical insurance payments alone.

“It’s not that I wanted to step down, it’s just that I wanted to take some time off,” said Figueroa. “However, my health insurance payments were going to be too much of an economic burden in my life.”

Figueroa will be leaving on sabbatical for the fall of ’16, and the spring of ’17. While on sabbatical, he plans develop an “Urban Agriculture” course or program, in order to teach it for the fall of 2017.

One of his closest co-workers, Olivia Navarro, was thunderstruck when she heard of the news for the first time. She has been one of the academic advisors of the RHC for the past year and a half.

“He has been a great support all along since I started working here, through my development and the growth that I’ve had as a professional,” said Navarro. “There’s so much that he’s done that I feel its going to be a great loss for the center, and the Latino students all across the campus.”

Although Navarro said that she is excited to welcome the new director in the fall, she only hopes that they will have the drive and commitment for the Latino students as Dr. Figueroa had. She is anxious to show the new director the mission of the office, in addition to recognizing the opportunity of learning from someone else.

As of now, the Provost doesn’t have a plan set forth to search for a person to take Dr. Figueroa’s place. Being that Figueroa was an incredibly influential person in the Hispanic community, Britz said his replacement will be a community-based decision. This allows the students and staff of UWM, as well as the Hispanic community of Milwaukee, to input their options and opinions.