Sacramento State President Donald Gerth was conducting an important meeting in his boardroom when his secretary announced an unexpected visit from a young man and his father.

Gerth halted the meeting and invited them in.The young man was Art Pimentel, the President of Associated Students, Inc. He brought his father, a long-time migrant farm worker, to meet Gerth and visit the campus for the first time.

This was a big moment for his father- but for Art, it was even bigger.

“Art felt very proud to show the President his dad,” says Professor Marcos Sanchez, the director of the College Assistance Migrant Program. “When you’re a farm worker, and your son tells you he’s the president of ASI, it’s a concept you can’t understand. What better way to help him understand than by bringing him to the campus and showing him around.”

Elias Pimentel took time off work as a foreman of George Aoki Farms in Woodland that day, arriving at Sac State in his company?s tomato truck.

“I go to different farms and see if they need help,” he says about his job.

Elias has worked for farms in Yolo County since he and his wife came to the U.S. in the 70s.

Elias was 19 and his wife was 15 when they first met at a migrant workers post in Lodi. After marrying, they returned to their families in Michoacan, Mexico.They eventually immigrated to Woodland, where they raised their three sons and now raise their young daughter.

Pimentel, growing up as the youngest son in the family, would often help his father in the fields.

“I work with him as he drives all over the place,” Pimentel says. “I get to drive the trucks, talk with the workers and ask them how the tomatoes are growing.”

From an early age, Pimentel had a strong interest in the political arena. He hadn?t, however, held any positions in high school or early in his college yearsto distinguish himself as a leader.

Eric Guerra, ASI executive vice president, thought Pimentel was just an average student when he first met him. “As far as I knew, he was just a punk kid coming out of high school,” he says.

Sanchez, however, saw something different in Pimentel when he first came to Sac State through CAMP.

“The willingness to get involved in politics was already there. Some students, you have to encourage them, and even then they might not do anything. But he already had initiative,” he says.

After receiving a couple of contacts from Sanchez, Pimentel started working at the Capitol as an intern for Assemblyman Tony Cardenas of the 39th District.His political career snowballed from there.

Pimentel, with Guerra, moved onto the campus political scene with their creation of the Political Awareness Club.

Pimentel then ran for and won the position of ASI Executive Vice President in 2000, and ASI President in 2001.

Though he moved up the political ladder quickly, Pimentel was still learning the rules of the campus political arena.

“He wasn?t aware of the process of the university. He was a big visionary missing the steps in between,” says Guerra.

“Now he?s more realistic about what he can accomplish,” says Sanchez. “Especially this year, since he?s more responsible for managing ASI.”

Since the start of the fall semester, ASI has addressed numerous controversial issues, including the Monday-Wednesday-Friday scheduling conflict. Yet Pimentel is happy with the way he and his administration have dealt with them.

“ASI [in the past] wasn?t in the headlines as much. Now we?re taking care of student issues: housing, parking, campus life, making sure we have finances,” he says.

Pimentel was recently thrown into the national limelight with his appearance on Nightline, commenting on Sacramento Bee Publisher Janis Heaphy?s graduation speech last December.

Despite the newfound fame and influence, Pimentel manages to stay grounded.”I?ve seen past ASI Presidents tend to get bigheaded,” says Angela Gomez, an ASI service representative. “But I don?t see that in Art at all.”

In addition to his duties with ASI, Pimentel maintains his job as manager of Denny?s. “I do the freezer pool, take everything out one night before. I make a chef’s prep of what they need for the next day,” he says.

Pimentel usually stays on duty to help the workers out. “Sometimes I go back there and cook.”

After this semester, Pimentel plans to pursue a Master?s degree in either Political Management at George Washington University or Public Policy at Sac State, and hopes to “maybe become mayor of Woodland, or even a teacher,” he says.

Pimentel hopes to continue being successful doing what he loves, working in politics and with students.

“I think he wanted his dad to experience that,” says Sanchez.