An Advocate
for the Underrepresented
ASI President Edgar Mejia-Alezano reflects on his past and how it’s shaped his approach to leadership.
Public service runs deep for Edgar Mejia-Alezano, president and CEO of Associated Students, Inc. at California State University, Dominguez Hills. A proud son of Guatemala, he descends from two civic leaders of the small town of Retalhuleu, an agricultural hub in the southwest corner of the country, where he was born in 2002.
“It felt like a call to action when I was given the opportunity to serve in ASI,” says Alezano, who became Director of Student Services in 2021 before he has elected as Executive Vice President the following year. “My grandfather and his father were mayors in my hometown and fought hard to improve access to schooling for those who could least afford it.”
Life in Retalhuleu was hard for young Alezano. His parents emigrated to the United States by the time he was two. He grew up with his grandparents in a house that had no running water and only occasional electricity.
It’s hard for him in hindsight not to think of it as a journey home when he arrived in the United States at the age of four, concealed in the cargo hold of a passenger bus. He spent hours nestled among suitcases, with only water and a few snacks.
“I was very young, and I don’t remember every detail, but I know that I was scared and excited,” Alezano says. “My grandfather was taking me to a place where my dreams could come true, where my family was waiting for me, where I could be whatever I wanted to be.”
His parents and a few other family members met them at Union Station. “I remember that I gave everyone a big hug. Then I got to my dad,” Alezano says. “I was so young when he left, and I had no real memory of him as my dad, but I threw myself at him and didn’t let go.”
In the excitement of his arrival, he forgot his suitcase on the bus. His great-grandmother had packed it full of family photographs. “I had no idea the value of what I was carrying,” he recalls. “It was a record of my life, a life that my parents had missed, and it was gone forever.”
In the years since, artifacts have become important to Alezano. He pulls a worn paperback from a bookshelf. “My grandfather gave me this after we arrived in America. It used to belong to his father,” he says. “It’s a sort of guide to the qualities that a good man should have. It represents all the hopes he had for me.”
Alezano played football at Crenshaw High School, helping the Cougars win a state championship in 2017. During his senior year, he toured CSUDH. It was a representative of ASI that ultimately inspired him to become a Toro. “He talked about campus as a welcoming community and a place that I could call home.”
It felt like a call to action when I was given the opportunity to serve in ASI,” says Alezano, who became Director of Student Services in 2021 before he has elected as Executive Vice President the following year. “My grandfather and his father were mayors in my hometown and fought hard to improve access to schooling for those who could least afford it.”
CSUDH proved to be a perfect fit. “When I say that CSUDH is where dreams come true, it’s been the literal truth for me,” he says. “You are seen here, no matter where you come from or how you got here, and you have opportunities that you could never have imagined.”
Alezano successfully ran for president in 2023 on a platform of providing more assistance to students from underrepresented communities. Key priorities have included making menstrual hygiene products freely available to any students who need them, as well as advocating for increased funding to extend students opportunities and resources for Theater Arts and Dance, Music, and Intramural programs. He’s also co-chair of the Financial Aid and Affordability Task Force that was convened late last year, to help mitigate the impact of tuition increases on students struggling to afford higher education.
A family tragedy in 2022 nearly convinced him to leave ASI. Two of the most important people in his life—his great-grandmother and his aunt—passed away in the space of 36 hours. For the next few months, he struggled to focus on school and even submitted a letter of resignation from ASI to then-President Obioha “Obi” Ogbonna. Fortunately, he says, Ogbonna talked him into staying. “He told me not to make a life-changing decision while I was grieving.”
Alezano has always worn the mantle of leadership lightly. His role, he says, is to provide the support and direction that so many others gave to him. “I’ve never tried to hide my background,” he says. “When I talk to students and their parents, I see that they recognize my story because it’s their story, too.”
Brought up in the Christian faith, Alezano says he’s found strength to overcome the challenges he’s faced from a verse in the Gospel of John. In the 13th verse of chapter 7, Jesus tells his disciples they don’t yet know what he’s doing but that they will understand later. “I don’t always know why things happen in life, especially the hard things, but that’s not a reason to give up,” he says.
In the worn paperback book his grandfather gave him, Alezano keeps a small sheaf of handwritten letters. “He would write to me from Guatemala and remind me to work hard.” The book and letters help him stay connected with his grandfather, who died in 2016.
You are seen here, no matter where you come from or how you got here, and you have opportunities that you could never have imagined.”
