New DASB advisor, Hyon Chu Yi-Baker, eagerly begins her first quarter at De Anza College, taking on the role as Interim Director of College Life.

With her experience managing student affairs and her progressive approach to helping students, Yi-Baker adds a new element of engagement to De Anza that pushes students to seek their purpose in life and help them realize how education can lead them toward their goals .

Growing up in Seattle, Washington, Yi-Baker began her educational journey as an undergraduate at Western Washington University, which first sparked her interest in student diversity programs. “I was very active with our ethnic student center which was a center that did diversity programming,” said Yi-Baker. This early involvement in student leadership engagement pushed her to apply to Colorado State University where she obtained her major in student affairs and higher education.

This field teaches people how to interact with students to help encourage them to pursue higher education and further development in their careers.

After finishing her major program in Colorado State University, Yi-Baker moved to California where she landed her first job in the mid-nineties as a resident director at the University of California, Davis. she also later on, went to work in the housing program at California State University, Monterey and Cal Poly Pomona in Los Angeles.

After going back to Monterey, she found her dream job at San Jose State University (SJSU) in the cultural center, which is what inspired her to get involved in student affairs.

“I wanted to work in a cultural center; I wanted to work with primarily students of color, lower socioeconomic students. Doing diversity/equity inclusion work,” said Yi-Baker.

After 15 years of working in student affairs at SJSU, Yi-Baker got a call from De Anza for the position as DASB advisor.

“I think her arrival will change the atmosphere of DASB because she seems very open-minded and liberal,” said DASB senator, Lawrence Liu, 20, film major.

Her equity work for marginalized students, and the hope she has for what they can accomplish sets an example of what students hope to see more in faculty members.

“It’s really about how we do engage with students in a way that’s really meaningful and thoughtful and that they’re learning things. Not just in the classroom, but that they’re also engaged in applying their knowledge in an actual real life application outside of the classroom,” said Yi-Baker.

As she tackles her first term on the campus, Yi-Baker continues to progress her own education as she is currently working on her dissertation for her doctorate in studying the application of students in society after graduation.

“She’s not a technical person, but she’s helping us with leadership,” said DASB vice-president, Kalani Hettige, 24, engineering major. “This is the difference between her and any other advisor that we’ve had before as a student body.”

The way she has been contributing to senate meetings and senators themselves so early on shows how much she cares about shaping a bright future for the future leaders of tomorrow.