California State University, Fresno

Arreguin-Bermudez, now an associate professor of Spanish at Chico State, was born and raised in Michoacan, Mexico, and came to America as a pre-teen with a student visa and the intent to stay in California. After graduating from high school, Arreguin-Bermudez attended Fresno State where he earned his master's degree. He was then accepted to the University of Arizona where he earned his doctorate in Spanish literature. In the fall of 2002, Arreguin-Bermudez began to teach Spanish at Chico State.

Eric Bryant serves as an elder, speaker, and navigator overseeing the leadership team at Mosaic in Los Angeles. Starting as a volunteer in the parking lot at Mosaic, Eric later worked with students and then helped catalyze new venues across Los Angeles. He also teaches at the Southern California campus of Golden Gate Seminary and is working on his Doctorate of Ministry with Bethel Seminary.

A sought-after speaker, Eric is one of the co-authors of The Uprising Experience, a workbook developed for Promise Keepers based on Erwin McManus' book Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul, and has written several articles for Group and Relevant Leader magazines. His book, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love, was published with Zondervan in June 2007.

Eric lives with his wife, Debbie, and two children, Caleb and Trevi in the middle of Los Angeles. Read Eric's blog at www.ericbryant.org/blog

Cesilia “CeCe” Lomeli-Perez works as a family nurse practitioner for the Holy Cross Clinic in Fresno. The clinic is a medical and health care facility dedicated to serving the poor. An outreach of St. Agnes Hospital, the clinic is located within the Poverello House, across the street from the Fresno Rescue Mission near downtown Fresno.  

CeCe leads this outreach to people who are poor, homeless, and uninsured. There is no cost for services at the Holy Cross Clinic. Patients are asked to pay only what they can spare. CeCe has a master’s in public health and is licensed to make diagnoses and write prescriptions for patients who visit the clinic. She also coordinates additional needed medical care through contacts with Fresno Community Medical Center and other area hospitals.  

CeCe has been working with the poor for 15 years. She estimates that 70 percent of her patients are immigrants -- some legal, some not. Documents are not required for a person to receive health care at the clinic.

Ruben Navarrette, Jr. is a graduate of Harvard College. He has done doctoral work in education, has served the College Board as a consultant for Latino student affairs, and has worked as an assistant to a federal appellate judge. Mr. Navarrette has also taught in elementary and secondary schools and, at twenty-three, as an instructor at California State University, Fresno.

Mr. Navarrette has published nearly one hundred editorials for newspapers and magazines. His work has appeared most regularly in the Sunday "Opinion" section of the Los Angeles Times, though he has also written for the Chicago Tribune , Albuquerque Journal , Kansas City Star , Arizona Republic and
dozens of other newspapers. He also recently had a weekly column at The Fresno Bee, where he was the first Latino columnist in that newspaper's history.

His work is featured in several literary anthologies including Writing About Diversity (HarperCollins), Debating Affirmative Action (Dell), A Multicultural Reader (Kendall/Hunt) and The Resourceful Writer (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich). Mr. Navarrette is the author of a book detailing his experience as one of less than five hundred Mexican-American students to graduate from Harvard College. A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano was published by Bantam Books in the Fall of 1993 and has been reviewed by numerous periodicals including the New York Times Review of Books, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Publisher's Weekly.

Mr. Navarrette lives in California's San Joaquin Valley where he is writing his next book, contributing regularly to the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, and preparing to launch the political newsletter, Reconciliation, which addresses issues of
concern to Latinos and the American community.

Bruce S Thornton, a native of Fresno County, received his BA in Latin from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1975, and his PhD in Comparative Literature: Greek, Latin, and English, from UCLA in 1983. He is the author of numerous essays and reviews on Greek culture and civilization and their influence on Western civilizations, and also has written on contemporary political and educational issues.