Joseph Castro’s greatest gift, among many, was inspiring dreams in young people raised in poverty and using his own life as proof of what was possible.

He did it time and again, day after day, night after night, as the first Latino president of Fresno State and the first Latino chancellor of the California State University system before he died at age 58.

Many talk about realizing the American Dream, but the words sound hollow, even trite, without see-it, feel-it evidence.

Castro knew this. So he walked the walk.

Busy as he was, he still found time to take people to the simple home in Hanford where he was raised. He showed them the Kings County Library branch where, in his words, he “spent countless hours checking out books and reading them” and grew passionate about reading, writing, and making his life matter.

He also pointed out the Superior Dairy fountain shop, where he rewarded his hard work with an occasional ice cream. And, not to be missed, the Burger King — the place where he met Mary Borges, his future wife, confidant, and life-work partner.

Castro knew how to paint the picture and how to draw the path: I did it, you can do it — if you work hard. Set high expectations and then exceed them. Take control of your destiny; don’t allow others to define you.

As a kid in Hanford, he took on nearly every odd job there was: raking leaves, dishwashing, delivering pizzas, and carrying the Hanford Sentinel newspaper.

“I can tell you I had the largest route in Hanford at one time. It was like 125 newspapers,” he once said.

Where did that work ethic and aspiration to rise come from?

He had heard the stories of his immigrant great-grandfather, who built railroad tracks while living in a tent with his family. He’d seen his grandparents toil in the San Joaquin Valley’s agricultural fields. His mom, a beautician, and his father, a long-haul truck driver, made it clear that success required accountability.

And, without fail, he pointed to the scholarship he earned to UC Berkeley as the “transformational moment” of his life.

Living Up to His Own ‘Be Bold’ Mantra

Castro embraced challenges, refusing to be chained to the past.

“Be Bold,” he exhorted others. I don’t know for sure, but I imagine he said it to himself every morning as he walked out the door.

He instituted the DISCOVERe tablet program at Fresno State in 2014, and it was a hit with both students and faculty. Not only did the data show that students learned more, but they also cut an average of 55% in course material costs compared to the previous year. He later started a similar program across the CSU.

Implementing new technology is commonplace now, but it wasn’t then.

“Why are we doing this? Student success,” Castro said.

Unlike many who struggle to balance the people-and-numbers equation required of leadership, he had a knack for both.

So, when a survey showed that 30% of Fresno State students faced food insecurity, he launched the Student Cupboard (now the Amendola Family Student Cupboard) along with other support services such as emergency financial assistance.

“A student cannot reach his or her full potential in the classroom if they are worried about where their next meal will come from. That’s why the issue of food security is so close to my heart,” Castro said.

Campus pantries were rare then. Today, there are more than 800 across the United States.

A couple of years after he became Fresno State president, the university began receiving national recognition for affordability and for enabling first-generation college students to graduate. U.S. News & World Report ranked Fresno State the No. 1 public university in the nation for graduation rate performance.

Rising Together

Fundraising is near the top of the list — if not No. 1 — in importance for university presidents. Castro made it clear to faculty that athletics would remain an important part of campus life. At the same time, he told the athletic department that coaches must support their players in the classroom.

“Some people presented academics and athletics as an either-or, and I believe that’s a false choice,” said Castro, a varsity tennis player in high school. “I know some people love one or the other more, but they both are so important to the university, community, and the Valley.”

Castro also understood the value of agriculture to the Valley economy and the opportunities it provided students in agronomy, enology, ag economics, and water technology. Early on, he backed his Commission on the Future of Agriculture with $1 million in new funding for ag programs.

He courted donors, strengthened many other programs, healed past campus wounds, and branded Fresno State as a place where students and staff succeed.

Gone Too Soon

Castro used his political savvy and Sacramento connections to help Fresno State and the CSU system.

One year, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown handed CSU a budget that would have limited new enrollment and hamstrung campuses, Castro teamed up with Kevin de León, then president pro tempore of the state Senate. Together, they successfully lobbied Brown to increase the allocation by tens of millions of dollars.

How did they do it?

By reminding Brown of a speech he had given a few years earlier, when he said CSU delivered the best value for California taxpayers based on its costs and the economic contributions of its graduates.

Ultimately, CSU and Sacramento politics cut Castro’s time as chancellor far too short. He was undone by petty people and, in some cases, vengeful politicians.

None of them had — or will have — the positive impact on Fresno and the entire state that Joseph I. Castro had, with Mary working hand in hand by his side.

Now, he has died young, and we miss him dearly.

But he lives on in the hearts and minds of first-generation college graduates, who will share their “Joe Castro stories” with those who follow.

That’s how the wheel of success rolls on down the highway.