What do a family of immigrants from Mexico, President Don Lofe and a judge from Tulsa, Oklahoma, all have in common? The short answer is Westminster College. The lengthy answer ― which requires some explanation ― is senior Victor Guevara Gomez III.
Driven by Determination
Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Guevara and his younger brother, Alan, arrived in Tulsa in 2013 while still in grade school, one year after their mother, Marlene, an industrial engineer, bravely ventured alone into unknown territory in search of a decent-paying job. She was determined her sons and husband, Victor Jr., would find a better life in the United States.
The Guevaras were particularly focused on their children receiving a strong education.
“My mother took the risk of going to another country with no knowledge of the language and lifestyle, away from everything she had known with the small hope that my brother and I would have a better future,” Guevara explains.
To the family’s relief, Marlene applied for a work visa and found employment in quality management with Marco Industries in Tulsa. The boys then left Monterey to join Marlene while Victor Jr. stayed behind in Mexico to wrap up the family’s affairs.
Adapting and Thriving
Soon, everything changed for Guevara. He doubled down on learning English, freely admitting he repeated the fourth grade because of his initial struggles with the language. Yet he and Alan, now 18, thrived, along with their father, who eventually arrived in Tulsa and later launched his own home-based business, fixing landscaping and other equipment.
Guevara attended Tulsa’s Jenks High School, where he learned about Westminster from one of the College’s admissions representatives.
After receiving a scholarship offer he couldn’t refuse, Guevara excitedly arrived at the College in 2022. He then threw himself into his studies, double-majoring in political science and history with pre-law and global-transnational studies minors.
A Campus Connection
Today, Guevara is a proud member of the International Club who sincerely appreciates the relationships he has developed with his professors at the small college. He also particularly enjoys striking up conversations with Westminster’s president whenever he runs into Lofe on campus.
“I met Victor shortly after he arrived on the Westminster campus his freshman year. I have seen him frequently in many different settings, and he is always friendly and engaging in every conversation we have,” Lofe says. “He represents the kind of curiosity, kindness and determination that define the very best of Westminster College.”
A flute-player and voracious reader, Guevara dreams of becoming an attorney, of working to make the world a better place for the disadvantaged, or of being employed at an inspiring non-profit, all while continuing to marvel at the beauty of the U.S. landscape, from its abundance of trees to the lush greenery so different from what he knew growing up in Monterrey.
“It’s always impressed me how clean it is in the United States. Even the side alleys here in Fulton are clean, which is something that has always impressed me,” Guevara says.
The Long Road to Citizenship
In addition to his keen awareness of his surroundings, Victor has also been acutely aware that many of his dreams would not become reality without obtaining American citizenship.
At his mother’s urging, and in keeping with the Guevara family’s determined nature, Guevara, Marlene and Victor Jr. began embarking upon the process of obtaining U.S. citizenship more than a decade ago. During that time, they hired an immigration attorney, studied U.S. history and civics, completed a 100-question exam and underwent an interview.
And, mostly, they waited.
Finally, patience paid off, and the three Guevaras, minus Alan ― who was not legally an adult when the family originally began the process ― arrived for their formal naturalization ceremony on Sept. 10 through the U.S. District Court of Northern Oklahoma in Tulsa.
A Full-Circle Westminster Moment
One of the guests who Guevara was sure to invite to the ceremony was Lofe, who enthusiastically and proudly watched the Westminster senior and his parents swearing in ceremony and related events after making the six-hour drive from campus to Tulsa’s Herman and Kate Kaiser YMCA, where the event took place.
The late-summer ceremony elicited grins and enthusiastic applause from the gathering of more than 40 immigrants from approximately 20 countries, along with numerous friends and family members.
To the surprise of Guevara and Lofe, the event just happened to be conducted by the Hon. Judge Jodi Jayne ’99, a former Churchill Scholar who graduated summa cum laude from Westminster with a degree in English before attending law school. Jayne also happens to be a 2023 Alumni Achievement Award honoree.
“I had no idea U.S. Magistrate Jodi Jayne was a Westminster alumna, and I smiled widely when I learned this,” Guevara says. “I guess the College’s motto once again rings true: Small College. Big Impact.”
A New Chapter
Despite various present-day difficulties throughout the United States, Guevara says he is proud to call himself a U.S. citizen and is determined to do his part to ensure the nation “lives the ideals of ‘a more perfect union.’” Meanwhile, he is pleased the hard work of becoming a citizen is over.
“Being a U.S. citizen has been exciting,” Guevara notes with satisfaction, reflecting on the long road behind him. “I have applied for and received my U.S. passport, and with it, I feel this journey of 12 years, two months and seven days is finally over.”
Sarah Rummel Backer is the Director of Media Relations and Senior Writer at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. A proud Westminster graduate, Sarah has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and strategic communications in the areas of higher education, medicine, agriculture, and the private business sector.
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