Andre Jimenez: Reset and Redefine
ASUWT President Andre Jimenez sees the pandemic as an opportunity to rethink the student experience at UW Tacoma.
June 2022 update since this story was originally published:
Andre Jimenez, '22, doesn’t have much time. “We’re leaving in July,” he said. The “we” in this statement is Jimenez, his wife and their three children. Jimenez graduates from UW Tacoma with a degree in law and policy on Monday, June 13. He’s expected to be in Princeton, New Jersey by the end of July. “There’s a mandatory summer program that I have to attend and it starts on August first,” said Jimenez.
Jimenez’s educational journey will continue at Princeton University. The university awarded him a full scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in public affairs. “I developed an affinity for the political and policy sides during the past year in my role as ASUWT President and through the courses in my major,” he said.
“I'm just really grateful for the opportunities to work with amazing students. In this role, I've been exposed to some of the best and brightest students on our campus. I think that our future is really bright.”
——Andre Jimenez
Law school might still be in Jimenez’s future but he will wait to make the decision until after he completes his master’s. “I feel that UW Tacoma really prepared me to go somewhere like Princeton,” he said. “This campus reflects the world and the communities that I want to serve, and, so, I feel like the experience I’ve had here is only going to enhance my ability to understand complex situations and to problem solve in a way that some of my colleagues at Princeton won’t be able to.”
Earing a college degree is a major achievement and not just for the person getting the degree. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the trajectory of our family,” said Jimenez. “I’m the son for formerly incarcerated parents and they’ll be at Commencement. I’m excited for what this means for my family moving forward, both for my parents, my siblings and my children. When I came back to college, I was the only one in my family pursuing higher education. Since then my brother has gone to community college and is working to become an EMT. My wife started at Tacoma Community College and I’ve been able to help them walk through the process. It’s that type of legacy building that I’m really passionate about and that I really care about.”