Dorothy Gonzales died at the age of 68 on May 9 after serving on the MSU Board of Trustees for 16 years from 1993-2008. Prior to her death, she also retired from the Michigan Department of Mental Health after serving as the director of multicultural services.

Her political success and presence in the Michigan Democratic Party speaks a lot of her internal strength and her desire for empowerment for Chicanos and for women, Jesse Gonzales said.

Former MSU Trustee Colleen McNamara said if the board ever was voting on a tuition increase, they always could count on Dorothy Gonzales to vote against it.

When Dorothy Gonzales was on the board, former president Peter McPherson agreed Gonzales was passionate about keeping tuition affordable for students from all financial backgrounds.

“She was a very good person and was particularly interested in making sure the low-income students had a full opportunity here at MSU — that was a hallmark of her time as a trustee,”
McPherson said.

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said in a statement from University Relations that Gonzales was a tireless advocate for first-generation students and students of color, for whom education is a challenge.

“Gonzales provided inspiration and a guiding hand to countless students during her long tenure on the board,” Simon said. “She will long be remembered for her spirit of personality and her generosity and kindness.”

But McNamara said Gonzales’ active career just scratches the surface of the passionate woman she was.

McNamara remembers her as someone who always did thoughtful things for members of the MSU community.

Dorothy Gonzales lived near MSU and could be spotted walking across campus probably every day to visit with people at the university. She also is survived by two sons, Todd A. Torres and Mark A. Torres, whom she brought to many campus events when they were younger, McNamara said.

Whenever groups wanted to meet with a trustee, Dorothy Gonzales was willing to talk to them, and students often invited her to attend events on campus, she said.

“Dorothy was available to students, which isn’t necessarily the case for most of the trustees,” McNamara said. “She was a good resource when it came to talking about student issues because she was talking to them every day.”

McNamara said Dorothy Gonzales always would ask about people’s families when she saw them, and family was very important to her.

She said one of her memories of Dorothy Gonzales was when McNamara was about to adopt a girl from China. Dorothy delivered her a package before she left for her trip.

“She had bought on sale all kinds of toddler clothes, all kinds of darling clothes,” McNamara said. “She didn’t wrap them up in gift wrap or anything, she just brought them over in a shopping bag.”

McNamara said many of her favorite pictures of her daughter were taken in outfits Dorothy Gonzales gave her, and as she reminisced about her former coworker, she began to miss her even more. “It was just one of those unexpected thoughtful things she did for a lot
of people.”