Distinguished Alumni - 2023

Everett Community College has selected attorney at law Diego Gavilanes as the college’s 2023 Distinguished Alumni.

The distinguished alumni award is the highest honor given to Everett Community College and Everett Junior College alumni. The award honors those who have demonstrated leadership in their chosen professions and distinguished themselves through service to their communities.

As a guest student from Ecuador, Diego Gavilanes planned to return to his home country after a year of attending 12th grade in the United States. Days before graduation, however, he decided to work as a YMCA summer camp counselor and attend college here. Calling his decision to attend EvCC “one of the best decisions of my life,” Diego studied hard. He was assigned a column in the student newspaper, where he expressed his views on war and government openly, amazed that he could exercise freedom of expression. Instead of returning to his native land, he eventually went on to earn a law degree.

“Attending EvCC was equivalent to an explosion of learning in my mind,” he shared, in an Alumni Spotlight article. “I studied law because I wanted to see more people in more places have more justice. As an immigration lawyer, in a small way, I’m helping to change the face of this country for the better.”