Homeland: Pohnpei, FSM High School: Harker Heights High School, TX College: Purdue University Major: Interdisciplinary Ecological Sciences and Engineering / Curriculum Studies Pursuing: Ph.D Expected Graduation: 2028
Biography
Jayvaughn went to the University of Texas at Austin (UT) to get his bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering. 1 of 10 Pacific Islander engineering students at the UT, Jayvaughn spent most of his free time with other minority engineering student organizations that welcomed him into their communities. He would serve in multiple leadership positions in the UT chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Pi Sigma Pi: Minority Academic Engineering Society (PSP), and the Engineering LGBQTies.
The most integral point of his time at UT was during the Black Spring of 2020 as Treasurer of NSBE when he co-authored the NSBE Demands for Change in the Cockrell School. It was through this experience that Jayvaughn would help execute tremendous progressive changes for the college as well as become a mentee to the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Under her guidance, Jayvaughn would help create and lead outreach initiatives to diversify and expand outreach efforts towards Black and Brown students of lower-income backgrounds all around Texas. By the time Jayvaughn graduated from UT, he had left his mark on the university through his leadership—being the first Pacific Islander to receive the Engineering Student Leadership Award, awarded to six student leaders a year—and his embrace of multiple intersecting communities.
As a first-generation student who was inspired by these experiences of outreach and community, he decided to pursue his doctorate to become a professor much like his mentor and the many other professors who impacted him. A professor that engages in the entirety of a student’s humanity and takes the steps to create equitable environments for these students to align their intellectual and professional interests towards things that they hold close to their hearts. Jayvaughn is now a doctoral student at Purdue University. He is in both the Ecological Science and Engineering Interdisciplinary graduate program and in the Curriculum Studies department in the College of Education. Missing from his undergraduate journey and now central to his work at Purdue, is what he holds close to his heart: the Islands, peoples, and futures of Pohnpei.
Update: 8/29/2025 Now in his third year preparing for preliminary exams to become a doctoral candidate, his research is now concerned with strengthening spaces and routes for diasporic COFA students to enter higher education in ways that allow us to center and revitalize our cultures. Initially, his graduate research was focused on sustainable development in Pohnpei, namely through alternative energy diversification and implementation with the goal of energy independence in the region. This shift was done in the understanding that no problem can be faced alone and in the spirit of legacy.
Inspiration
The most inspiring trait that Dr. Joakim Peter portrays consistently throughout his life is his nature of giving back through advocacy for our community. At no point in his academic career did he turn his back on the community, rather he centered his work on it and used his platform and influence to continue to support it.
In Western ideology, this idea of “giving back” to the communities that raised us to the pedestals we find ourselves on is often seen in the form of monetary donations. While not entirely unhelpful, I always found there is a certain coldness to these transactions that degrades the connection between those on the pedestal and their communities. Generating the success and funds to make meaningful donations often takes a lot of time–time in which the community continues to be unsupported.
In contrast, through his constant advocacy and mentorship, Dr. Peter brought his community with him through his successes. The act of advocacy alone for smaller communities like our COFA community creates opportunities for many who would have been left behind. It shows he never forgot where he came from. There is also an immeasurable amount of work and courage to being a community leader; an invaluable sacrifice that money alone cannot buy. Even after his passing, this net of support he spent his life weaving remains. Similar to his grandfather, he served as a protector to many in the region.
Legacy Project
We come from cultures that are so deeply entrenched with both the arts and sciences. Yet, we often find ourselves not embracing it in our careers or academia. I view this as a huge loss of potential not only individually but for the preservation of our cultures at a collective and long-term scale. Higher education is becoming more and more vital to thrive in the diasporic communities of the continental U.S. Economically, it aids in creating generational wealth, which would allow for easier mobility for families between the continental U.S. and the islands throughout the Pacific. Academia also serves as a space to present and re-present ourselves to those outside of our community. Academics have always been at the forefront of intellectual and social advocacy movements. Joakim Peter and his lifelong work is a primary example.
In terms of research, opportunities in higher education allow us the agency and power to investigate and preserve the many nuances of our peoples and islands. With growing concerns for language revitalization, the climate crisis, and the general precarity facing our people in the shadows of global superpowers, it is important to continue to push for more seats at decision-making tables. There are many routes to these tables, but the one I am focused on is through higher education. Within my community alone, of the dozens of youths full of potential, I could only count on one hand how many went to college. While we can attribute this to a lack of resources—I believe it is also precise to say that it is a general lack the knowledge of available resources for those of COFA status. Many parents in my community did not know how to really help their kids prepare for college, including my own. Additionally, since many COFA youth are low-income, college seems to be out of reach compared to a more tempting arrangement through enlistment. This choice is often backed by many of the first-generation COFA migrant parents who enlisted to get here over the option of student loan debt.
Update 8/29/25 For my legacy project, I initially wanted to develop a comprehensive information hub for those interested in college. One that was accessible to COFA people everywhere, withtranslations for the major COFA language—for us, by us. The main function of this hub would have been to educate and inform any interested individuals, especially COFA parents, on the ins and outs of the U.S. college admissions process.
Since then, many changes have occurred in the college admissions and financial aid processes nationwide and especially in Texas. Rather than a website—one that would be started from scratch—I now aim to connect with and design academic programming for the already existing and organized COFA communities throughout the continental U.S. as part of my dissertation. These programs would be focused on tutoring, college prep, and connecting those interested with localized resources. This shift was made to be much more personal and impactful.
Jayvaughn Peter
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Homeland: Pohnpei, FSM
High School: Harker Heights High School, TX
College: Purdue University
Major: Interdisciplinary Ecological Sciences and Engineering / Curriculum Studies
Pursuing: Ph.D
Expected Graduation: 2028
Biography
Jayvaughn went to the University of Texas at Austin (UT) to get his bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering. 1 of 10 Pacific Islander engineering students at the UT, Jayvaughn spent most of his free time with other minority engineering student organizations that welcomed him into their communities. He would serve in multiple leadership positions in the UT chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Pi Sigma Pi: Minority Academic Engineering Society (PSP), and the Engineering LGBQTies.
The most integral point of his time at UT was during the Black Spring of 2020 as Treasurer of NSBE when he co-authored the NSBE Demands for Change in the Cockrell School. It was through this experience that Jayvaughn would help execute tremendous progressive changes for the college as well as become a mentee to the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Under her guidance, Jayvaughn would help create and lead outreach initiatives to diversify and expand outreach efforts towards Black and Brown students of lower-income backgrounds all around Texas. By the time Jayvaughn graduated from UT, he had left his mark on the university through his leadership—being the first Pacific Islander to receive the Engineering Student Leadership Award, awarded to six student leaders a year—and his embrace of multiple intersecting communities.
As a first-generation student who was inspired by these experiences of outreach and community, he decided to pursue his doctorate to become a professor much like his mentor and the many other professors who impacted him. A professor that engages in the entirety of a student’s humanity and takes the steps to create equitable environments for these students to align their intellectual and professional interests towards things that they hold close to their hearts. Jayvaughn is now a doctoral student at Purdue University. He is in both the Ecological Science and Engineering Interdisciplinary graduate program and in the Curriculum Studies department in the College of Education. Missing from his undergraduate journey and now central to his work at Purdue, is what he holds close to his heart: the Islands, peoples, and futures of Pohnpei.
Update: 8/29/2025
Now in his third year preparing for preliminary exams to become a doctoral candidate, his research is now concerned with strengthening spaces and routes for diasporic COFA students to enter higher education in ways that allow us to center and revitalize our cultures. Initially, his graduate research was focused on sustainable development in Pohnpei, namely through alternative energy diversification and implementation with the goal of energy independence in the region. This shift was done in the understanding that no problem can be faced alone and in the spirit of legacy.
Inspiration
The most inspiring trait that Dr. Joakim Peter portrays consistently throughout his life is his nature of giving back through advocacy for our community. At no point in his academic career did he turn his back on the community, rather he centered his work on it and used his platform and influence to continue to support it.
In Western ideology, this idea of “giving back” to the communities that raised us to the pedestals we find ourselves on is often seen in the form of monetary donations. While not entirely unhelpful, I always found there is a certain coldness to these transactions that degrades the connection between those on the pedestal and their communities. Generating the success and funds to make meaningful donations often takes a lot of time–time in which the community continues to be unsupported.
In contrast, through his constant advocacy and mentorship, Dr. Peter brought his community with him through his successes. The act of advocacy alone for smaller communities like our COFA community creates opportunities for many who would have been left behind. It shows he never forgot where he came from. There is also an immeasurable amount of work and courage to being a community leader; an invaluable sacrifice that money alone cannot buy. Even after his passing, this net of support he spent his life weaving remains. Similar to his grandfather, he served as a protector to many in the region.
Legacy Project
We come from cultures that are so deeply entrenched with both the arts and sciences. Yet, we often find ourselves not embracing it in our careers or academia. I view this as a huge loss of potential not only individually but for the preservation of our cultures at a collective and long-term scale.
Higher education is becoming more and more vital to thrive in the diasporic communities of the continental U.S. Economically, it aids in creating generational wealth, which would allow for easier mobility for families between the continental U.S. and the islands throughout the Pacific. Academia also serves as a space to present and re-present ourselves to those outside of our community. Academics have always been at the forefront of intellectual and social advocacy movements. Joakim Peter and his lifelong work is a primary example.
In terms of research, opportunities in higher education allow us the agency and power to investigate and preserve the many nuances of our peoples and islands. With growing concerns for language revitalization, the climate crisis, and the general precarity facing our people in the shadows of global superpowers, it is important to continue to push for more seats at decision-making tables. There are many routes to these tables, but the one I am focused on is through higher education.
Within my community alone, of the dozens of youths full of potential, I could only count on one hand how many went to college. While we can attribute this to a lack of resources—I believe it is also precise to say that it is a general lack the knowledge of available resources for those of COFA status. Many parents in my community did not know how to really help their kids prepare for college, including my own. Additionally, since many COFA youth are low-income, college seems to be out of reach compared to a more tempting arrangement through enlistment. This choice is often backed by many of the first-generation COFA migrant parents who enlisted to get here over the option of student loan debt.
Update 8/29/25
For my legacy project, I initially wanted to develop a comprehensive information hub for those interested in college. One that was accessible to COFA people everywhere, withtranslations for the major COFA language—for us, by us. The main function of this hub would have been to educate and inform any interested individuals, especially COFA parents, on the ins and outs of the U.S. college admissions process.
Since then, many changes have occurred in the college admissions and financial aid processes nationwide and especially in Texas. Rather than a website—one that would be started from scratch—I now aim to connect with and design academic programming for the already existing and organized COFA communities throughout the continental U.S. as part of my dissertation. These programs would be focused on tutoring, college prep, and connecting those interested with localized resources. This shift was made to be much more personal and impactful.