When Champlain College President Alejandro "Alex" Hernandez is asked about the value of an education, he responds by telling the story of his family.

He is the child of immigrant parents who both became school teachers in California. After Hernandez received a masters degree from Stanford, he went into finance, but eventually left to become a high school math teacher in South Central Los Angeles. He went on to become a dean and provost at the University of Virginia, and in 2022, was named president of Champlain College in Burlington.

Hernandez assumes the helm of Champlain after a period of leadership turnover at the 145-year-old not-for-profit private college. He is the fourth president in four years. He has already made his mark as the college has had a record-breaking year in fundraising.

Education has become central to the culture wars. In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended race-based affirmative action this June, Hernandez must now craft a way for Champlain to champion diversity without running afoul of the law.

“You're either being intentionally diverse or unintentionally exclusive,” said Hernandez. “Why is it that certain groups are not showing up to college campuses? And what is it about the colleges that we’re creating that make that true?”

“I've spent my entire career thinking about how do you increase access. How do you increase accessibility, and that work is never done. It's an ideal that you need to continue to pursue as a country. And it goes on for generations.”