We hope you enjoy this series where we meet and get to know employees from across campus. Would you like to be featured? Contact us at campusnews@csufresno.edu.

Name: Danielle Quiroga
Title: Academic Advisor
Department: Craig School of Business
Academic Degree(s):

• Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, Fresno State
• Master of Science in Counseling, California State University, Bakersfield
• Master of Science in Criminology, Fresno State

How long have you worked at Fresno State and which offices have you worked in?
While attending here as an undergraduate student, I found my passion for working with college age students while working in University Courtyard. I held positions as a resident advisor and a summer conference coordinator/ marketing assistant. Roughly 10 years later, I returned to campus as an academic advisor in the Craig School of Business. I have been with the Craig School of Business since 2017.

Are you a Valley native? If not, what brought you to the area? And Fresno State.
I am a California native but I am not originally a Central Valley native. Disneyland considers me to be a Southern Californian when I grew up, but I think I truly “grew up” in Fresno. I came to the Fresno area in 2007 to attend Fresno State and have boomeranged around the Valley since.

Are you a Bulldog family with generations of Bulldog graduates or current students?
My siblings are the start of the Bulldog generation in my family. There was a group of five family members spanning seven years that all came north here. This campus has become home for my family. For the last four years I have been able to walk around campus and have four to five cousins on campus attending, they even find me on campus while I walk at lunch to catch me up on their classes and life as a Bulldog. It has become a family tradition.

Do you have a campus mentor or someone who has helped you in your career?
There have been so many people when I was in my young adulthood who helped turn me onto the path of working in higher education. Most of those people were at University Courtyard. Erin Boele and Michelle Dunlap helped a young woman who was a little lost in her senior year and for that I am forever thankful. In recent years, Dr. Tinneke Van Camp has been a great sound board for what is to come next and how to perfectly mesh my interest in victimology and higher education together.

What is your most notable accomplishment in your field, and why was it important?
I have two milestones in my life that I am incredibly proud of. In April of 2017, I was awarded the Eva Murillo Unsung Hero Award from the Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus during Crime Victims Awareness Week. This was awarded after I was attacked in 2015 at UC Merced while walking to my office by a student who was influenced by ISIS. Since then I have worked with victims rights organizations and trauma survivors to help them navigate their new world.

In 2021, I completed the Adversity Ally training to complete my degree in criminology. This training is designed to assist faculty and staff in assisting the Fresno State population who are facing adversity at home or in the classroom. The training includes a one-stop-shop for all resources on campus as well as scenarios to practice trauma-informed care responses to help guide our students to the resources they need.

What are you most passionate about in your field and why?
I think the most interesting thing about working in higher education is the diverse population that we encounter daily. Every student has an individual story and my favorite part of the day is getting to know the students I meet with. As an advisor, I feel like I spend most of my day being Sherlock Holmes trying to discover what is going on with each situation and I feel the most successful when they feel a little more confident in their next steps after our meeting.

What is a memorable moment you had at your job?
I don’t believe it is one moment in particular but my best memories come at graduation. I cry each year at graduation because you look out over the crowd and see everyone’s loved ones beaming with pride as their student takes the stage to graduate. Each of us know how much work is put into these accomplishments and it is a great reminder each year of the culminating work the faculty and staff have put in to get each student there.

What is your favorite quote or saying?
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou

What is the most interesting or unusual job you've ever had?
For two high school summers, I worked at a weeklong children’s aviation camp. It was held at a small airport in my hometown. We were able to do science projects, learn about aeronautics and the pilots in our small community volunteered time to take the staff and camp participants up in the air in small two- to four-seater planes.

What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, taking my service companion, Oaklee, on adventures, exploring Yosemite, baking sweet treats, wandering around plant rescues, crafting and shooting competitive archery.

Danielle and her service companion, Oaklee.

What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?
I obsessively watch Hallmark Channel movies, Beat Bobby Flay and the Great British Baking Show. I will just have it on in the background, much like how people will have “the game” on for background noise. (I also secretly think I could beat Bobby Flay).