Before becoming a trail-blazing broadcast journalist, Vikki Vargas got her start earning a bachelor’s degree while working part time in a grocery store.
Now she’s capped off a four-decade career with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in recognition of her student mentorship and service to the Southern California community. It was presented at Cal State Fullerton’s College of Communications commencement ceremony.
“Today, for me, is the culmination of a career that took me into dangerous places — fires, floods, shootings — but also into the homes of people who graciously told me their stories,” said Vargas ’81 (B.A. communications).
Her father drove a humble food truck and her mother worked as a secretary and court reporter. While they were encouraging, she said, as the first in her family to attend college, “I had to do it on my own.”
Vargas landed her first job at a Palm Springs TV station weeks after graduating and quickly spun that into a string of awards and achievements. She was the first Hispanic female reporter at NBC4 Los Angeles, she’s won five Golden Mike awards and four Emmys, and in 2023 she received a lifetime achievement award from the Radio Television News Association of Southern California.
In partnership with NBC4, Vargas in 2011 established a scholarship for CSUF broadcast journalism students.
“If I can give advice to the Class of 2025, you’re going to get a lot of it today, but remember this: Always do more than what is asked of you. That, to me, is the secret to success,” Vargas told graduating students.
Now retired from television and working as a consultant, Vargas told the new graduates they can apply her simple rules to any career field: Investigate to make sure what they’re told is accurate; find the best way to interpret and illustrate the information to share with others; and don’t be afraid to get inventive.
College of Communications Dean Jason Shepard shared that Vargas has long been one of the university’s biggest supporters, personally presenting scholarships to students and their excited families, some of whom had watched her on TV for years.
“So many of our journalism students seeking a career in TV news have looked up to Vikki Vargas as they watched her work as Orange County bureau chief for NBC4. They knew she started out as a Titan, and they could see themselves in her. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honor,” Shepard said.
When Vargas learned she’d be “hooded” during the ceremony, she wasn’t sure what to expect, so she researched the meaning of the special garment bestowed on graduates with advanced degrees.
“This is a symbol of the continuing pursuit of knowledge. I think that’s what brought you here today, and I pray that’s what takes you into the future.”