Alfred Tipon, Jr. oral history - February 16, 2023

I am Ruth Santos and I am interviewing Alfred Tipon for the Inclusive History and Images Project, a project which seeks to recover the histories of the diverse members of the LMU community.

We are on the LMU campus and the Creative Spaces Studios, and today is Thursday, February 16, 2023. Do you give me permission to interview you for the Inclusive History and Images project?

And do you allow the recording to be used in accordance with the stated goals of the project? Yes. Um.

What is your name? Alfred Tipon Jr. And when and where were you born? I was born in a nice city in

Hawaii, uh May 13, 1960. Um, where is your hometown? Or the area in which you grew up in? Uh I actually grew up in in San Dimas, went to high

school there. Okay. And then um moved to LMU in '77. So I've been in the area ever since. Um where do you currently live? Lawndale, California.

Um what is your current or former occupation? I was uh at LMU. I was a senior director of Facilities Management. Um and how do you identify yourself?

Uh he/him. Okay. Um, how how did you learn about IHIP, the Inclusive History and Images Project? And what made you want to take part in this

project? I had lunch with a a colleague and friend of mine, uh Lisa Farland. Uh Piumetti. Lisa Farland Piumetti. Um, and she asked me to do this.

And, you know, I've I've always been something, someone that supported all of my colleagues as well as LMU. I love LMU. Um— So it was, it's something that I I just agreed to do just to help promote LMU.

Great. Um what years did you attend LMU? As a student? I was a freshman in 1977, a fall of '77,

um and sort of graduated in 1981. And then in 1980 I took a position at Facilities Management until 2016. Um and then what was your major and minors?

My freshman major was a bio major and it kind of kicked my butt. So I changed over to uh computer science for a bit and then graduated with Business Administration.

Um and how did you decide on that major? Uh, business administration? Mhm. Uh, it was just it was something I got more and more interested in as um my career as LMU kind of went through. Mhm.

Um. And I think that it really helped me as to promote myself through Facilities Management once I once I got that. Um and why did you decide to come to LMU?

Uh it was by the ocean. Um, I went to a Catholic all-boy high school and Damien High School in La Verne. Um and so my mom and I were were pretty much looking

for Catholic universities. Um, so LMU popped up. It was close by, you know, it was by the ocean. They had a good bio program at the time. Um and

so I applied and got in. That's great. Um. LMU's mission is committed to the encouragement of learning, the education of the whole person, and the service

of faith and the promotion of justice. How important were these principles to you before coming to LMU and did you sense the importance of these principles during your time at LMU?

I think um, you know, I think my education when I went to a a Catholic high school—um that sort of that sort of introduced me to those certain values. Uh obviously, as I grew older and when I came to

LMU, and um you know, learned about their mission and uh the community that's here, uh those kinds of things really started to to come out, you know, and it started to get more and more involved in, um—in in student organizations and, you know, campus life.

Um what was LMU like when you were a student in the late 1970s in terms of academics, social life, relationship to faculty, your sense of representation, racial diversity, gender diversity and things like that?

Good question. Um. Let's see. It's been a while. Uh. I think times are obviously different.

I mean, I lived in Rosecrans, um, and Loyola Apartments. Um. And and so with respect to sort of resident life, you know, alcohol was a little bit freer at the time. Um uh. So campus life took on a different sort of of

of cultures, different sort of nature. I mean, not just because of the the the ability to be able to drink a little bit more freely, you know, and such.

But, um, things just seemed to be a little bit more simpler then. Okay.[Crosstalk.] You know, academics was still tough. Yeah.[Crosstalk.] There's no doubt about it. No doubt about it. Um—

Fortunately, I got into a group with with some people that some other students that, you know, they they they like to do the sports, but they also had a very good academic sort of focus. Um—

I wasn't as smart as them. But they, you know, they still kind of kept me on the right track. Um— And the commu—the community was a little bit more open.

I mean, we didn't have a lot of gates and fences and whatnot. And there was the only entrance of Loyola Boulevard. Mhm. Um, so—uh— You know, everything went out obviously through Loyola Boulevard and

80th [street]. And um so the the community sort of saw a little bit more of us, you know. Um, and obviously we had a lot of we had a lot of houses in the

in the neighborhood that were rented by students. And so, you know, student life was a little little bit a little bit different, you know, and I say that as a as an adult, you know, with that had

two children that came here, you know, that experience, that whole sort of sort of residential life and campus life from a different perspective. Right.

You know, so um I think that it although it may have seemed that it was a little more simpler and has changed, there's a lot that really hasn't really changed. You know, there's still a lot of good student life,

uh population and community here, you know, which is it's it's really vibrant and it's it's good to see that it's still here. Mhm. Um it's it's kind of one of the reasons why I really like LMU still.

What was it like being a Pacific Islander in the 70s at LMU? There weren't very many. The diversity in the demographics was was percentage wise, was

probably just a little bit less than it is now. Um uh, I remember the Hawaii Club, you know, only had less than a 100— a 100 members. Uh, one of our first schools that I attended there was

probably less than a 100 uh attendees. 100— 150. And we used to have it either in the Bird's Nest or it was in in the Lair, which is now Sodexo, um you know, now the Lū’au's running into 500

people, you know, um the, the API office—the APSS [Asian Pacific Student Services] office, you know did, did a wonderful job of trying to of trying to promote, you know, ABI API [Asian Pacific Islander]—uh diversity. Um— And I think that, you know, with all the

different cultures in in the sort of the API uh spectrum, uh you know, it it it was it, I wouldn't say it was a little bit challenging, but, you know, there's there was activities to attend, you know, and they they tried

to they tried to promote their culture and to educate the campus about their culture. Um—what classes or educational programs inspired you at LMU? Hm, um—

Accounting. I really loved accounting. Um— Accounting, business, law. Dr. Sibeck was my freshman, my freshman teacher.

He was amazing. Um. I. There was a few ethics classes that philosophy classes, that's what it was—

Philosophy classes that I took that that read some really good books. Um— And so those sort of gave me a different sort of focus at that time in my life. [Crosstalk.] You know.

Um what organizations were you a part of during your time at LMU and how did these organizations help to shape your experience at LMU? Primarily with the Hawaii Club, it was called Hui Kumulipo at

the time, um you know, they accepted me into their fold, um you know, and you know, we played a lot of sports and through through intramurals, you know, we got to know a lot of the other organizations, uh especially some of

the frats we played against, like ADGs [Alpha Delta Gamma] and Pis. And, you know um, but, you know, sort of on and off the field as as usual. Um— You know, you you sort of keep that competitive edge uh on

the field and sort of, you know, socialize afterwards. I didn't really get into any anything else as far as campus organizations. Um. I was kind of busy a little bit trying

trying to focus on on studying. Okay. Um. Were you involved in any community activism during your time at LMU and can you describe that activism?

Gosh, not that I can, not that I can remember and not that there was a lot at the time, you know, between '77 and '81. I I could be wrong and I could be just blind

to it. But yeah. Um where on campus did you feel most at home and why?

I would have to say the bluff. You know, at the time it was really just between uh the Jesuit residence, Xavier, and you know, Bird Nest, basically. Um, you know, and it still remains that way today for everybody, right? Mhm.

Um. But yeah, I I think just being there and being able to to catch a breath of fresh air, you know, um is is really a special place. It's great.

Um, did you live on campus during your time at LMU? Um which buildings did you live in and do you have any specific recollections of life in the dorms or food?

Yes. Uh I lived in Rosecrans 118 my freshman year. Um uh— great wing. Uh a a couple of a couple of the guys uh were in

Hui Kumulipo. One guy was from Hawaii and the rest of the diverse, rest of the wing, you know, was just kind of spread up all over California.

We got along so great. It was it was so fun. Um. A lot of lot of good social activities, if you would. Uh, we played some of the intramurals together, um, and then eventually

I I moved to Loyola Apartments, which is now where the Del Reys are. Um, and then that, you know, I had I had three roommates, all from Hawaii. Um— so we, you know, we, again, we got along really well,

played intramurals. And there was a couple other apartments in our quad um that were uh that were, were with the the students from Hawaii as well. So it was it was kind of a nice little, little quad

area. That's nice. [Crosstalk] Yeah. Um what community activities were you involved in outside of the LMU campus?

As a student? Yes. Um— let's see. I don't think very much as a student.

Yeah. Um, did you work during your time at LMU? If so, where? I worked in a student health center. Um—

Just a a work, worked for a wonderful woman, Liz Patel. Um— she was the nurse at the time. And I can't remember who the doctor was, but uh she taught me a lot.

Not only just in with respect to how to, you know, how to work around in a health center and whatnot, you know, because I wanted to be a bio major. And so I figured that was the right spot to

go to. Um— But, you know, she she had kids of her own. She was just like a like a mother, you know, to all of the students that were there, always took

care of you, you know, no matter what. That was that was a great experience. [Crosstalk.] That's nice. Um who were your mentors at LMU? And how did that relationship develop and do you still keep in

touch? Uh like I said before, Liz Patel was was a really good, really good mentor. Um— Dr. Sibeck— Uh—

I mean, I sort of—you know—after my class was finished with him, I sort of—you know—we ran into each other on campus every once in a while. We sit and chat.

And, you know, the thing about him is he always remember who you were—you know—which was very impressive because I I'm really horrible at that sort of thing. Um—um— But I think just as as far as a student.

Oh, um, Nancy Al, she was the APSS's director um—at the time. She was always someone you could go to talk to. Um—what historical event affected you the most during your

time at LMU as a student and later? Gosh, as a student, I. I don't really remember anything that.

That sort of happened. You know, maybe after I became a staff member—you know—things started started happening, or maybe I started remembering them a little bit more.

Um, and then were there any, like certain events as a staff member that, um—that affected you um—during your time at LMU? Um—off campus, in

the world sort of— [Crosstalk.] Yeah. —thing? Um— Well, obviously the, the '92 riots— '91—'92 riots—um—you know—campus shut down. A lot of my colleagues had houses in the areas

that were um being threatened. Mhm. Um—you know, so we let people go—you know—go take care of their families and whatnot and those who could stay stayed.

And, um, that was that one hit uh very close to home. Um— It was a— it was— it was—

it was a campus wide sort of sort of emergency that the community really came together, though, I think, you know, and supported one another. You know, same with something—with something like the Malibu fires.

There were a lot of people who were—um, affected by the fi— fires. And I want to say— Gosh, that was in— somewhere in the 2000s. Uh—

I can't remember when that was, but—you know—a lot of—a lot of community involvement and support. And then, of course—you know, 9/11—you know— I at the time I was driving, my son had the day off.

He went to Bishop Montgomery [High School] that day off that day for some reason or other. But I remember we were driving, we were going to go surfing down in San Onofre [State Beach].

And I was listening to the radio and and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. And I thought it was just a a joke or something on the radio.

You know, those— Right. The DJ's always joke. So my son was sleeping, but by the time we hit the beach—you know—everybody was talking about it— you know. And so—you know—my son was standing

there and he was just kind of wide eyed and mouth gaping open about—you know—what was going on. So—you know—there was nothing we could do. So we sort of we sort of surfed, went home,

and just jumped on the TV as quickly as I could. But I think that was you know, that was a huge educational experience in time for him, you know, as

well as as me. I mean, at the time— at the time he was 11-years-old. So—you know—I think it's something that—you know—he and my daughter really, really remembers.

You know— Um—so now I'm going to ask you questions about your staff experience. Um— When were you hired here at LMU and in what

position? Uh, I was hired November 10, 1980. Um— I was hired as the tool crib attendant, so I took care of all the tools in the warehouse and

shipping and receiving, um, for the campus and for the maintenance crews. Um. Yeah. Tool crib attendant.

Okay. Um, and why did you decide to work here? Funny thing was, I mean, obviously, opportunities pop up, right? Um, my roommate was the tool crib attendant, of my of my campus

roommate. Um— And, um—so he just he asked me if I wanted a job or I wanted to interview for it. And so uh I came in, I met with the manager

of Facilities and they pretty much hired me.