CWU Associate Vice President finds growth through curiosity

When Ruben Cardenas took on the role of Interim Associate Vice President for Student Development and Belonging in April 2025, he knew he had a lot to learn in order to best serve CWU students and staff.

He joined CWU in 2012 as an outreach recruiter for the Veterans Center and eventually worked his way up to a director role. As time went on, he grew to appreciate the campus culture and his colleagues at all levels of the organization.

But a series of changes in the Student Engagement and Success division created an entirely new opportunity for Cardenas — one that has allowed him to hone a new skillset and contribute to the overall well-being of all Wildcats.

“This has been a huge growth opportunity for me,” he said. “I’ve embraced it, trying to learn as much as possible and support both our students and our directors so they can succeed.”

Cardenas’ road to higher education started early in childhood, when his parents made sure to impress upon him the importance of getting a degree.

As the son of migrant farm workers, he saw how hard his parents work to support him and his siblings. Their experience working in the dairies of the Yakima Valley showed him that he wanted to pursue a different path.

“Both of my parents are from Mexico, so the consistent message I heard growing up was ‘hey, we sacrificed to come to this country so that you can get an education.’ That expectation was always there,” he said. “When I was out working with my dad, he’d ask me if I wanted to do this kind of manual work for the rest of my life or go to college, and when you’re sweating buckets and trimming hooves, that choice seems pretty straightforward.”

In order to secure funding for his education, Cardenas enlisted in the Army, and in 2011, found himself graduating from Eastern Washington University with a degree in mechanical engineering. Wanting to stay close to his family in the Yakima Valley, he moved to Ellensburg in hopes of finding an engineering position.

It wasn’t long before he his military experience led him to CWU in what was supposed to be a temporary position with the Veterans Center.

“At the time I thought I’d do it for one or two years until I found a job in my field,” Cardenas said. “The work turned out to really resonate with me, and I found a passion for it that I wasn’t expecting. It felt like I had found my vocation.”

As an Outreach Recruiter, Cardenas was in a position to offer support to students who, like himself, had chosen military service as their pathway to an education. The experience opened his eyes to a future of helping others find theirs.

“When I started seeing students I had worked with graduate, and hearing that I had been an important part of their education, that’s when I started to realize that I had the chance to really make an impact here,” Cardenas said. “That’s when I knew that I had important work ahead of me here.”

Cardenas took over as director of the Veterans Center (since renamed to the Veteran and Military Connected Student Center) in 2015, and held the position for almost a decade, using his openness and curiosity to set his department up for success.

One of the ways he accomplished this was mentoring the department’s current director, Edwin Torres, who has been leading the way since Cardenas’ promotion to interim AVP for Student Development and Belonging in April 2025.

“If this department cannot operate without me, then I’m not doing my job,” he said. “I need to leave it in a way where it continues to operate and grow, even in my absence. That’s how I thought about it when I was at the Veteran and Military Connected Student Center, and I’m still figuring out what that looks like in my current position.”

In his new role, which directly supports Student Rights and Responsibilities, Cardenas has found himself holding conversations with students accused of conduct violations, a task he has found deeply interesting and often enlightening.

“As part of this position, I have been doing some conduct work this year, which has included difficult conversations with students about their behavior and the reason I’m meeting with them,” he said. “I didn’t think those would be so inspiring, but when I meet a student who is approaching it from an open-minded perspective and has decided to be accountable for their actions, that’s when it can be very fruitful.”

Outside of work, Cardenas has been focusing on his health, as well as his 7-month-old puppy, Felix. The two like to go on long hikes in the stunning nature that surround Ellensburg. The practice has proven beneficial, both physically and psychologically.

“It can be physically challenging, but it also recharges me,” Cardenas said. “Just really immersing myself in the experience and enjoying my surroundings, and in the best-case scenario, getting a great view at the end.”

Since becoming a CWU employee 15 years ago, Cardenas has earned another bachelor’s degree in Craft Brewing from CWU, as well as a Master’s of Business Administration from EWU.

When he looks toward his future, he plans to pursue at least one more diploma, though he’s still deciding whether to pursue an EdD or a PhD. No matter which direction he chooses, he knows his commitment to lifelong learning will augment his strong core skillset of curiosity-focused leadership and service to his community.

“Leaders don’t know everything, so they have to trust subject matter experts and synthesize that information to make decisions,” Cardenas said. “You have to be vulnerable and open to learning to be effective in leadership.”