Chapter 02: College, Activism, and a First Taste of Leadership
Files
Description
Ms. Villejo explains her activist roles at the University of Houston where there was strong presence of the Women’s Movement, the Black Movement, and the Chicano Movement.
Ms. Villejo notes that she was interested in community empowerment and explains her work in the Chicano Movement, where she began to take a leadership role. She reflects on her impulse to speak her mind and the lessons about leadership she learned.
Identifier
VillejoL_01_20150507_C02
Publication Date
5-7-2015
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES, Oral History Interview, May 07, 2015
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Educational Path; Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents; Personal Background; Influences from People and Life Experiences; Professional Path; Experiences Related to Gender, Race, Ethnicity; Leadership; Professional Values, Ethics, Purpose
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Interesting. Now tell me how your interests began evolving as a young person through your education.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
I was always very interested in health and in a health career. I didn’t really know exactly what that meant. But I think early on I was interested in mental health. And in my undergraduate I started out in biology because that was something that I really liked, and I really didn’t know about careers and how to choose a major and all that thing. So my mom helped. Every time there was an orientation for any kind of health career, I would mention it, and she would take me there. So she was really helpful. She didn’t get to go to college. I know that she was the fifth of seven children. So you can imagine back in that time there wasn’t a lot of support for people in her position to go to college and so forth. And then she had children very very young.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Why were you interested in a health career?
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
I think I was interested first in mental health because I had a cousin that had mental health issues. And so back then, and it probably still is a lot now for people that didn’t know how to access or have access to health care, the family just kind of gathered around and took care of them. And so that’s basically what happened with my cousin. He was schizophrenic. And so he lived with my grandparents and they just basically tried to protect him and be there for him as much as they could. But obviously it was a lot of issues. My dad’s perspective was if they just gave him a good whipping then he would be all right. (laughter) And that was kind of like my dad and my uncle’s perspective.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What was your perspective?
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Well, I knew that there was something that was a lot bigger issue than just give him a good spanking and then he’ll be all right. So I was very interested. And I don’t want to go into detail about that one.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
That’s fine, sure.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
But so I was interested in that. And also like I said I loved biology. Didn’t love chemistry as much. I wasn’t very—it just didn’t grab me. And then when I went to the University of Houston and got exposed to psychology and sociology I was really really interested in that.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And you got your bachelor of science in 1977 in psych, yeah.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Mm-hmm. Psychology and kind of biology. But that was kind of a minor, because it started out as a major, and then I really saw different—was really more interested in the field of psychology. And then sociology too. I lost my train of thought.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
That’s all right. Well, let me ask you another question. Tell me a little bit about the college experience. How did that make you grow and solidify your interests?
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
My college experience. This was around the time of the women’s movement and the black movement and what is called the Chicano movement, and a lot of consciousness raising and self-actualization. And at that time there were a limited number of minorities on campus. And so I happened to meet a number of people and became very interested in community empowerment. We had an area in what was the Cougar Den at that time. And that’s where all the Hispanics gathered. So you got to meet a lot of people. And so I became very involved in the different Hispanic organizations. And one that I was leader of for a bit was called Mujeres Unidas, which was kind of a feminist organization. And so that was quite unique at the time, because that wasn’t exactly the thing to do as a Hispanic woman, although there was a lot of women’s organizations around. But I mean it was interesting and a lot of fun. And we had a regional Chicana conference, one of the first, here in Houston. And then we had people from all over Texas and New Mexico come. And then we had one in Austin the next year. And so of course a lot of students on campus were involved in different issues. So that’s one of the things that we did. We were involved in student issues but we were also involved in community issues.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What did you learn from that? That was an early leadership experience. What were some lessons you learned from that?
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
I think what I learned from that is what I’ve learned from being involved in professional organizations. You get a lot more out of it than what you give. And so you get to meet a lot of people. I’m an extrovert. And so that was a lot of fun for me. You get to meet a lot of people. And you learn more about the different issues that you’re interested and involved in. And we always worked very hard, and we always had a lot of fun. (laughter)
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
So how did your interest in supporting women, Hispanic populations continue? I mean did that become an important value for you as you moved forward?
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Oh, absolutely. That is still very important. It’s been channeled in different ways. But I’m very involved in a number of professional organizations and community organizations. One of the things that I did also was help found an organization called the Hispanic Health Coalition, which is—I think we’re coming up to our twenty-fifth year. It was 1995. Or twentieth year. Can’t count. Yeah. And so basically what we try to do is raise awareness about Hispanic health issues. And we’ve had a Latino Health Summit for the last couple of years. And so I think that leadership experience exposed me to—it’s not that hard to do. And people here I think really expect and appreciate it when you step into a leadership position, because everybody has so much to do. If you help take leadership over something, then they’re very appreciative. I mean there’s a lot of incredible leaders here in this institution. And you don’t have to lead everything, but sometimes you’re a supporter and sometimes you’re a leader.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
When did you first know that you had this leadership impulse and the skills to act on it?
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
I have always been comfortable in speaking out and speaking in public. I know one of the funny stories that I remember is in grade school when we were having to give book reports, and some people weren’t prepared. And I was ready to jump up and talk about one of the biographies that I read, on Sacagawea. They were doing Lewis and Clark. And Lewis and Clark weren’t as prepared as they should have been. (laughter) So I helped them with that story.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I was the introvert who made sure she was sick on book report day. (laughter) So I’m in admiration already.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Yeah, I thought that was funny. But like I said, I enjoyed reading. And like you said, I owe a lot to my mom. Every time I think well, I’ve really done something different, and then I think back, you know, my mom kind of helped me get to that point. She really was what they say, the wind beneath my wings. Just encouraged me, and did a lot more that was maybe more subtle. Because I think back on it now. And I’m like oh, yeah. She kind of put me in that position, or she helped me find that situation.
Recommended Citation
Villejo, Louise and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 02: College, Activism, and a First Taste of Leadership" (2015). Interview Chapters. 1517.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1517
Conditions Governing Access
Open
