We sat down at the end of September for a conversation with Associate Vice President for Student Life Felipe Martinez, who began in his role in August 2026.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell us about your background and career.
I came into the field of higher education to be able to help students. When I was an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, I was a first-generation, low-income student and at the beginning, I honestly felt like I didn’t belong because I was the only one like me in a lot of spaces. I contemplated leaving, but I met some people that told me, “No, you belong, you need to stay here.”
I made it a point to get overly involved, primarily because I wanted to be seen by other students that looked like me. I was involved in Greek life, recruitment and retention, student activities, I led a dance group ̶ a bunch of stuff that essentially allowed me to make the university my own. And that’s when I realized that the co-curricular aspect of higher education can help students find their community, which directly impacts whether or not they see themselves on the campus.
The Dean of Students at UC Berkeley was the first person that told me I could make a career out of this work. So I went to graduate school, thinking that I was going to work in student activities or Greek life.
But after graduation, I landed a job with a scholarship program that worked on retention of first-generation, low-income students, and that’s what led me to the University of Washington.
I first came to the UW in 2015 to work on retention initiatives as the manager of student success, which was an opportunity to coordinate different retention initiatives. The University is huge, and we have different functional areas and divisions and units that all have a hand in retention, and my job was to coordinate interventions. I did that for three years. And then I had the privilege of being the inaugural director for CIRCLE in 2018.
One of the things I have learned throughout my career is that no one office and no one person can do this work alone. A student might be an engineering student, but they also might live in the residence hall and interact with DRS and engage with academic advising. So we need to be able to support the students holistically, and that’s how we approached the work at CIRCLE – enhancing collaboration to support students where they are. And then after CIRCLE, I went back to California for three years to run three departments that primarily worked on student retention and scholarships. And now I’m back at the UW.
Why did you want to come back to the UW?
There are a couple of reasons. First, I really enjoy working here. One of the things that I always tell folks is that even though the University is so big and we could potentially be very siloed, there are a ton of people that care deeply about students, that want students to be successful and want to collaborate.
In my retention work at the UW and then with CIRCLE, I had the privilege of navigating a lot of different spaces, and there were so many people that I had the opportunity to engage with that I genuinely enjoy working with.
Second, the position itself is a great next step in my career. So it’s a progression, it’s a place that I enjoy working and I really enjoy the people and the students, so it really made sense.
And then there’s Seattle! Seattle is a beautiful city with a lot of things to do.
What are your areas of responsibility?
The HUB, which includes the Student Activities Office and the student governments and the D Center. There’s also Fraternity and Sorority Life, Student Publications (which includes The Daily), Community Standards and Student Conduct, DRS, Student Veteran Life and Ceremonies.
I also have an advising role to the Services and Activities Fee committee, and I’m chair of the UUF.
What are you most excited about in this role?
Reconnecting, first and foremost. Since coming back to the UW, a lot of people have said “welcome home” as I engage with them. The University of Washington has been a professional home, but also a home, for eight years, and it’s been wonderful to have an opportunity to really reconnect and catch up with people.
Second, learning. I’m in a new role supporting and working with seven different areas, so what are some of the things that I can learn from the different directors and teams to make sure that I understand not only their operations, but the things that we are doing to support students.
One of the things that has been very important in my career is to make sure that we have collaboration when collaboration lends itself. So what are some of the things that we could potentially do to have collaboration between, for example, Student Veteran Life and DRS, or Fraternity and Sorority Life and student government? How can we see the whole student as opposed to only certain aspects of them? There’s nothing wrong with serving students based on specific identity or specific involvement – but also what are the opportunities for us to collaborate to support their experience more holistically?
And then lastly, but most importantly, connecting with the students. I get to fully engage with student leaders, students that have an opportunity to really positively influence the experience of their peers. What can I learn from them in terms of what they want to accomplish? How can we support their goals? And how can we work together to enhance the student experience at the UW?
What’s your favorite thing about the UW?
I joke with people and tell them I took a job at the University of Washington because I look good in purple (laughs).
My favorite things are the people and the students. But beyond that, the University of Washington is one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve seen in the world. And I don’t mean that as hyperbole – it really is a stunning campus. The cherry blossoms, Rainier Vista, the architecture – just walking around and looking at the campus is really powerful.
And then football. I’m excited to get to go to college football games again – I didn’t realize how much I enjoy being at a school that has football until I worked at a college that doesn’t have it.
And of course, Dubs Up. That was very important for us when we started CIRCLE: making sure that students felt that Husky pride and really saw themselves as part of this community. So we always showed them how to do Dubs Up. And now every opportunity that I have, when there’s a picture to be taken, I always tell everyone they have to do it.
Describe yourself in 5 words.
Approachable, open, disruptor (willing to change), direct and student-centered.
What do you do for fun outside of work?
I love to travel. I love to eat, and I enjoy time with my family, with my loved ones, with my dog. Something that I haven’t done lately but I really enjoy is running, which is the way I decompress. And I love to dance, specifically to Latin music – it’s a way I can just unwind and relax.
