August 10, 2025 • 10 mins
We spoke with Dr. Jesse M. Bernal, Ph.D., who was appointed as the 10th president of Western Connecticut State University.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison de Merz. My guest this morning is Western Connecticut
State University President doctor Jesse Bernald. Good morning, morning, Thank
you so much for being here. When did you become
president of the university?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So I'm brand new less than a month?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Oh wow, and they have you doing interviews, you poor thing.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I've learned a lot about Western Connecticut, so you know,
just jumping right in.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Tell me about yourself. Where were you born? Where were
you raised?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, raised in South Texas, small mostly Mexican immigrant community.
My mom and grandma raised me and my three brothers.
Then had a really great opportunity to go to school
in California, so moved out there when I was seventeen
and life really changed for me. So it's brought me
here to Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Now, that's wonderful. I love Texas. I went to see
the Cowboys play at.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
The New Stay Boys. You're speaking my name.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Oh I am okay. I thought your face was like, no,
I love that you have Texas. I have this Connecticut
accent more so than others, I think because I was
born and raised in Waterbury, this particular area. So as
soon as I got off the plane, I was like,
how about them cowboys? You know how they say all
these things? How y'all? And they were like, please stop,
because I just don't sound like I belong there. But
(01:16):
I wanted the belt buckle, I wanted the boots. I
wanted that. I love Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, you got to keep that, y'all.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, I got to learn it.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Tell me you are the first generation to graduate from
college in your family.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I was the first out of my entire family to
go to school. And I was given a lot of
opportunities in college and a lot of support from faculty
and staff who helped me really succeed and thrive. So
I graduated from undergrad in California and then went up
to grad school to finish a doctorate and really positioned
me well to support other students in higher education.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And it says in your bio that you're a son
of a migrant farm worker. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, So my grandparents, my mom's parents, and her and
all of her siblings worked in fields for most of
their childhood. So they traveled across the country and that's
how they made their living, really, and then went to
college you know, my grandparents were first generation American, so
so moved to Texas and that's where they raised their family.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So college means a lot too, then, Yeah, it.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Means a lot.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I mean my family, our family taught us a lot
about responsibility and hard work, and for me, the path
was college and that really changed my life, just like
it does for so many students. That really transforms lives.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yes, and look at where you are now, you're the
president of a university.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, you know, it's an honor really to be able
to serve in this way. And it's the promise I
made to myself and my family when I left Texas
to make sure that we're giving more opportunities to people
in communities and kids from families like mine.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
How important is it for families to support these students
in college.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, you know, lots of people have different paths, but
college is a path that really gives people an exponential
number of opportunities. And so it's all about choice. It's
all about opportunity and families creating those opportunities when they can,
and if they can't, we're here to support them.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
How do you think your background as a first gen
student influences your role as college president.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, I think about it every day. I mean, the
students we serve at WCSU are mostly first generation, so
they're the first people in their family to go to college,
So being able to relate to that experience, and lots
of staff and faculty are the first in their family
to go to college at West Coin as well. So
that relation that we're able to have since we've had
similar experiences allow us to support students in unique ways,
(03:35):
in ways that are really personal, in ways that are
high touched. That really enables our students to be successful.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I think it's amazing when you can walk the walk
and talk the talk. Especially young people, they love when
you get it. They're like, oh, they get it, and
it's just easier for them to relate to you.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, definitely, I think connecting with our learners, connecting with
our students is something that's really special about wc ISSU.
We're also a Hispanic service institution, so that means, you know,
twenty seven percent of our students are Latin Hispanic, and
so the number of opportunities we have to connect on
that way are just really great too.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You have a background working in Michigan and California. Would
you like to discuss that a little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, So, California was an amazing opportunity. I worked for
the University of California for a number of years. It
gave me a lot of experiences in a really large university.
And then I had a great opportunity to move to
Michigan to join an executive team in Grand Rapids, and
the last eleven years was able to serve a community
that is very much like Western Connecticut, growing very close knit,
(04:38):
very warm, very welcoming, but like Western Connecticut on the
rebound in terms of growth and opportunities, and so the
similarities in the initiatives and experiences we had in Western
Michigan really will serve me while here in Western Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Well, I'm a huge fan of Western. Both of my
daughters attended one for nursing school, the other four musical theater,
one of the traveling all over the world open for Duran.
Duran got the best education ever. The little one is
still in nursing school. So we love Western. I love
the dorms, the food, Oh my gosh, that buffet. Great school.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, you sound like our students. Their favorite thing is
the buffet. Their eyes go wide and they're really surprised
and experience, you know, all the ice cream you can eat,
So that makes people really excited. But I love West
Con too. I mean it's a place that I've already
fallen in love with. So many people do the second
they step on our campus. As you talk about your
daughter out sort of working in the field. That's something
we're really proud of giving students applied experiences, experiential learning
(05:39):
while they're in school, real workforce, workforce opportunities that enable
them to not only thrive in jobs while they're in college,
but really get a head start in their careers.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
They really did. They loved going to Western and they
are so prepared for what they're doing now. So it
just speaks volumes as a parent. And I didn't know
I was going to be in reviewing you And what
are the odds that we absolutely loved it? It could have
gone the other way.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah, well, it's good to hear that, and I totally
open to feedback to you.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
No, no, yeah, no, really, honestly.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I got you some socks to and you can wear
our wolves around, Oh you want you?
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, And my niece, I forgot all about that. My
niece just graduated this summer spring rather and she was
on a soccer team. Ala Demurz, I forgot all about that.
Everybody in my family went to West con Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I mean, the more you get around, just like me,
you know, I went to my doctor's office, there was
an alum that was a nurse. There was a tech
that was a nurse. So I think anybody in Connecticut,
wherever you go, you're going to run into an alum
from WC issue.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And it's known for their nursing program, their musical theater program.
Would you like to mention some mothers white kids loved
to have done the school.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Yeah, so our nursing program is one of the top
in the state. We're serving a shortage in this state
of talent need. Our arts and music and creative activities
programs not only attract students from the state, but are
tracting students from New Jersey to Connecticut, which is going
to help our entire economy and community in important ways.
(07:08):
But we have lots of opportunities. I mean, whether you're
just trying to explore a new field or a new discipline,
you're not sure what you want to do in life,
you can join our Humanities Liberal Arts school and really
explore opportunities or if you know what you want to do,
whether it's an MBA which is our business program, or
some of our professional studies programs in cybersecurity, homeland security,
(07:30):
which we have really being able to respond to needs
not only in our state but in our country.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So school is starting soon.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Schools in two weeks, so we're really eager to welcome
actually our second largest class in a long time. We're
going to be welcoming a lot of freshmen and a
lot of transfer students in a new class of graduate students.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
You've championed equity and inclusivity in the past. Why is
this mission so important to you and what are you
bringing to West con.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, zun has a history of supporting diversity, equity, inclusion.
It's one of the things that really drew me to
the community and the university. This has been championed by
our faculty and staff for a long time. It really
just means that we're providing opportunities to more and more people,
more and more families, more and more students. What we
know is when we as a university support individuals, they
(08:21):
support their families, they support communities, so the impact is
really exponential and it really transforms our society.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
What are you looking forward to as president?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
You know, I'm all about students, So getting to know
more students, getting to hear their stories, getting to hear
the impact that our faculty have on their lives, and
really understanding the impact that they're going to have in
our society and our communities, in our state and our country.
That's really the reason I'm in this work and the
reason why so many people on our university do this.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
What advice would you offer to parents who have a
first time student going to college?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Just support them in their dreams.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You know, our parents are really at the front line
of helping students navigate and make their life choices. Whatever
path our students choose, whatever path you know, families kids
and parents' kids desire to do, I mean, that's that's
the right path for them. What I will say is
that that college is an opportunity to open up more doors,
and that's what we try to do.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
At Western, absolutely and my children are living proof of that.
Am i niece Alla, now she's a nurse and she
went to your school. It's wonderful. What do you hope
for the future and legacy of West con.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
You know, we're all about creating and transforming community. Western
has really been integrated into Western Connecticut. We are eager
to serve more broadly, whether that's into states like New
York and New Jersey or the rest of Connecticut. We're
here really to serve and that's going to be our
work over the next few years, and that's really going
to be our legacy in the future as well.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
So you've only been here about a month now, have
they taken you to New Haven to taste the pizza?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
This is the furthest east I've been, so it is
first time in Hartford. But I hear you're in competition
with other states for pizza. You know, I found some
pizza on the West Side a few weeks ago and
it's some great stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Okay, good. We got to make sure we get you
down in New Haven you can try all the different pizzas.
And then we got to get him out to New Londonti, Mystic,
to all the great places in Connecticut because we want
you to feel at home.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
And oh, for sure, you know Detroit style of pizza
is the thing in Michigan, so there's going to be
some some competition.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Okay, okay, well you're talking to an Italian. It's like
me talking to you about Mexican food, right, Yeah, don't
do that, right. I'm speaking with Western Connecticut State University President,
doctor Jesse Bernal. Thank you so much for being here today.
I wish you nothing but the best, and thank you
so much for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, thanks so much, Alison
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison de Merz. My guest this morning is Western Connecticut
State University President doctor Jesse Bernald. Good morning, morning, Thank
you so much for being here. When did you become
president of the university?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So I'm brand new less than a month?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Oh wow, and they have you doing interviews, you poor thing.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I've learned a lot about Western Connecticut, so you know,
just jumping right in.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Tell me about yourself. Where were you born? Where were
you raised?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, raised in South Texas, small mostly Mexican immigrant community.
My mom and grandma raised me and my three brothers.
Then had a really great opportunity to go to school
in California, so moved out there when I was seventeen
and life really changed for me. So it's brought me
here to Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Now, that's wonderful. I love Texas. I went to see
the Cowboys play at.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
The New Stay Boys. You're speaking my name.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Oh I am okay. I thought your face was like, no,
I love that you have Texas. I have this Connecticut
accent more so than others, I think because I was
born and raised in Waterbury, this particular area. So as
soon as I got off the plane, I was like,
how about them cowboys? You know how they say all
these things? How y'all? And they were like, please stop,
because I just don't sound like I belong there. But
(01:16):
I wanted the belt buckle, I wanted the boots. I
wanted that. I love Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, you got to keep that, y'all.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, I got to learn it.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Tell me you are the first generation to graduate from
college in your family.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I was the first out of my entire family to
go to school. And I was given a lot of
opportunities in college and a lot of support from faculty
and staff who helped me really succeed and thrive. So
I graduated from undergrad in California and then went up
to grad school to finish a doctorate and really positioned
me well to support other students in higher education.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And it says in your bio that you're a son
of a migrant farm worker. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, So my grandparents, my mom's parents, and her and
all of her siblings worked in fields for most of
their childhood. So they traveled across the country and that's
how they made their living, really, and then went to
college you know, my grandparents were first generation American, so
so moved to Texas and that's where they raised their family.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So college means a lot too, then, Yeah, it.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Means a lot.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I mean my family, our family taught us a lot
about responsibility and hard work, and for me, the path
was college and that really changed my life, just like
it does for so many students. That really transforms lives.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yes, and look at where you are now, you're the
president of a university.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, you know, it's an honor really to be able
to serve in this way. And it's the promise I
made to myself and my family when I left Texas
to make sure that we're giving more opportunities to people
in communities and kids from families like mine.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
How important is it for families to support these students
in college.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, you know, lots of people have different paths, but
college is a path that really gives people an exponential
number of opportunities. And so it's all about choice. It's
all about opportunity and families creating those opportunities when they can,
and if they can't, we're here to support them.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
How do you think your background as a first gen
student influences your role as college president.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, I think about it every day. I mean, the
students we serve at WCSU are mostly first generation, so
they're the first people in their family to go to college,
So being able to relate to that experience, and lots
of staff and faculty are the first in their family
to go to college at West Coin as well. So
that relation that we're able to have since we've had
similar experiences allow us to support students in unique ways,
(03:35):
in ways that are really personal, in ways that are
high touched. That really enables our students to be successful.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I think it's amazing when you can walk the walk
and talk the talk. Especially young people, they love when
you get it. They're like, oh, they get it, and
it's just easier for them to relate to you.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, definitely, I think connecting with our learners, connecting with
our students is something that's really special about wc ISSU.
We're also a Hispanic service institution, so that means, you know,
twenty seven percent of our students are Latin Hispanic, and
so the number of opportunities we have to connect on
that way are just really great too.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You have a background working in Michigan and California. Would
you like to discuss that a little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, So, California was an amazing opportunity. I worked for
the University of California for a number of years. It
gave me a lot of experiences in a really large university.
And then I had a great opportunity to move to
Michigan to join an executive team in Grand Rapids, and
the last eleven years was able to serve a community
that is very much like Western Connecticut, growing very close knit,
(04:38):
very warm, very welcoming, but like Western Connecticut on the
rebound in terms of growth and opportunities, and so the
similarities in the initiatives and experiences we had in Western
Michigan really will serve me while here in Western Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Well, I'm a huge fan of Western. Both of my
daughters attended one for nursing school, the other four musical theater,
one of the traveling all over the world open for Duran.
Duran got the best education ever. The little one is
still in nursing school. So we love Western. I love
the dorms, the food, Oh my gosh, that buffet. Great school.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, you sound like our students. Their favorite thing is
the buffet. Their eyes go wide and they're really surprised
and experience, you know, all the ice cream you can eat,
So that makes people really excited. But I love West
Con too. I mean it's a place that I've already
fallen in love with. So many people do the second
they step on our campus. As you talk about your
daughter out sort of working in the field. That's something
we're really proud of giving students applied experiences, experiential learning
(05:39):
while they're in school, real workforce, workforce opportunities that enable
them to not only thrive in jobs while they're in college,
but really get a head start in their careers.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
They really did. They loved going to Western and they
are so prepared for what they're doing now. So it
just speaks volumes as a parent. And I didn't know
I was going to be in reviewing you And what
are the odds that we absolutely loved it? It could have
gone the other way.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah, well, it's good to hear that, and I totally
open to feedback to you.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
No, no, yeah, no, really, honestly.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I got you some socks to and you can wear
our wolves around, Oh you want you?
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, And my niece, I forgot all about that. My
niece just graduated this summer spring rather and she was
on a soccer team. Ala Demurz, I forgot all about that.
Everybody in my family went to West con Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I mean, the more you get around, just like me,
you know, I went to my doctor's office, there was
an alum that was a nurse. There was a tech
that was a nurse. So I think anybody in Connecticut,
wherever you go, you're going to run into an alum
from WC issue.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And it's known for their nursing program, their musical theater program.
Would you like to mention some mothers white kids loved
to have done the school.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Yeah, so our nursing program is one of the top
in the state. We're serving a shortage in this state
of talent need. Our arts and music and creative activities
programs not only attract students from the state, but are
tracting students from New Jersey to Connecticut, which is going
to help our entire economy and community in important ways.
(07:08):
But we have lots of opportunities. I mean, whether you're
just trying to explore a new field or a new discipline,
you're not sure what you want to do in life,
you can join our Humanities Liberal Arts school and really
explore opportunities or if you know what you want to do,
whether it's an MBA which is our business program, or
some of our professional studies programs in cybersecurity, homeland security,
(07:30):
which we have really being able to respond to needs
not only in our state but in our country.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So school is starting soon.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Schools in two weeks, so we're really eager to welcome
actually our second largest class in a long time. We're
going to be welcoming a lot of freshmen and a
lot of transfer students in a new class of graduate students.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
You've championed equity and inclusivity in the past. Why is
this mission so important to you and what are you
bringing to West con.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, zun has a history of supporting diversity, equity, inclusion.
It's one of the things that really drew me to
the community and the university. This has been championed by
our faculty and staff for a long time. It really
just means that we're providing opportunities to more and more people,
more and more families, more and more students. What we
know is when we as a university support individuals, they
(08:21):
support their families, they support communities, so the impact is
really exponential and it really transforms our society.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
What are you looking forward to as president?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
You know, I'm all about students, So getting to know
more students, getting to hear their stories, getting to hear
the impact that our faculty have on their lives, and
really understanding the impact that they're going to have in
our society and our communities, in our state and our country.
That's really the reason I'm in this work and the
reason why so many people on our university do this.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
What advice would you offer to parents who have a
first time student going to college?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Just support them in their dreams.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You know, our parents are really at the front line
of helping students navigate and make their life choices. Whatever
path our students choose, whatever path you know, families kids
and parents' kids desire to do, I mean, that's that's
the right path for them. What I will say is
that that college is an opportunity to open up more doors,
and that's what we try to do.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
At Western, absolutely and my children are living proof of that.
Am i niece Alla, now she's a nurse and she
went to your school. It's wonderful. What do you hope
for the future and legacy of West con.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
You know, we're all about creating and transforming community. Western
has really been integrated into Western Connecticut. We are eager
to serve more broadly, whether that's into states like New
York and New Jersey or the rest of Connecticut. We're
here really to serve and that's going to be our
work over the next few years, and that's really going
to be our legacy in the future as well.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
So you've only been here about a month now, have
they taken you to New Haven to taste the pizza?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
This is the furthest east I've been, so it is
first time in Hartford. But I hear you're in competition
with other states for pizza. You know, I found some
pizza on the West Side a few weeks ago and
it's some great stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Okay, good. We got to make sure we get you
down in New Haven you can try all the different pizzas.
And then we got to get him out to New Londonti, Mystic,
to all the great places in Connecticut because we want
you to feel at home.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
And oh, for sure, you know Detroit style of pizza
is the thing in Michigan, so there's going to be
some some competition.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Okay, okay, well you're talking to an Italian. It's like
me talking to you about Mexican food, right, Yeah, don't
do that, right. I'm speaking with Western Connecticut State University President,
doctor Jesse Bernal. Thank you so much for being here today.
I wish you nothing but the best, and thank you
so much for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, thanks so much, Alison
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