Elaine Welteroth’s Visit at Sacramento State College

Elaine Welteroth, a judge on the hit show Project Runway, just had a case of deja vu visiting her alma mater, Sacramento State College.

Elaine Welteroth just received a full circle moment while visiting her college campus after 11 years. August 29th, the exact day 15 years ago Elaine Welteroth the author, former Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue, and judge on Project Runway graduated college at Sacramento State.

Elaine recently visited her alma mater for a book signing for her New York Times bestseller, More than Enough. She also was at her alma mater for her panel with Jennifer Newson and Shirley Weber, discussing equal pay in California. The panel included discussions of the pay gap between women and men in California. Elaine’s parents even surprised her for this college homecoming by showing up at her panel and book signing.

 

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I started college 15 years ago today. Yesterday, I found myself back on that same campus for the first time since graduation (my parents surprised me and sat front row for my book signing). I’ve spent much of my life since then sprinting towards my future, admittedly ambivalent about the past. But birthing a book has a way of bringing you back to your roots. Writing about my parents—whose love and lineage forms the foundation of my life story—and the four living generations of women whose shoulders I stand on inspired me to dig deeper into our history. After years of indifference, I finally decided to explore my DNA and family tree through @ancestry. The discoveries have not only brought my family closer, they’ve deepened my understanding of what it means to be born at the intersection of two divergent worlds, blood lines, and cultures. There is power in understanding the intersections of our identities as they inform much of our walk in the world. One thing that we all have in common, despite our wildly different backgrounds and dreams for our futures, is that none of us got where we are by ourselves. We are each the product of a larger interconnected story and a collective experience defined by our ancestors. Digging into that has given new meaning to one of my favorite quotes in #MoreThanEnough from @bmike2c: “I am my ancestor’s wildest dreams.” Swipe to see the ultimate #tbt pic that #ancestry mined from our family records: Meet my great great great great grandparents Dan Southerland and Ella Fullworth. 🖤(I’m SHOOKETH!!) #QuestionsandAncestors

A post shared by Elaine Welteroth (@elainewelteroth) on Aug 29, 2019 at 4:41pm PDT

Elaine has mentioned in her book, More Than Enough that she struggled with finding her identity in a black and white world. On Instagram, Elaine documented footage of places she mentioned in her book and the feeling of being proud of where she started her journey at Sacramento State.

Elaine Welteroth’s journey is very humbling and inspiring, for young women of color.