A white sheet of paper sits on the bookshelf behind Bradley baseball coach Elvis Dominguez’s desk in his office. It is loose leaf. It is not framed, but he still keeps it there.
Every once in a while, Dominguez turns around in his chair, picks up that piece of paper, and thinks to himself, “That didn’t actually happen.”
About six months ago, Dominguez answered a routine call on his phone. He didn’t know the number. He didn’t think much of it. He answered.
It was the White House calling to let him know he was on a short list of finalists to be honored by the president and the first lady.
In August, the second call came. Dominguez was officially invited to a reception at the White House for being an influential Hispanic person in the United States.
“How I got nominated; I still to this day don’t know,” Dominguez said. “But it was myself and about 175 other people from around the country. We were [going to be] guests of the White House.”
It was impossible to decline an invitation like that, so in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Dominguez and his wife Mary Pat, took his first trip to Washington D.C.
For the first two and a half days, they experienced a behind the scenes look at the U.S. Treasury and Library of Congress, visited with Illinois Representative Darin LaHood and even stepped on the Senate floor in the Capitol.
When Monday rolled around, they pulled out that white sheet of paper: their invitation to the White House.
“We were greeted by President Trump and Vice President Pence, on a small group basis,” Dominguez said. “They thanked each and every one of us personally for our contributions and hard work and basically we celebrated the culture in a sense.”
Dominguez said he was very proud in the moment, not so much for himself, but for his mom and dad who spearheaded his family’s move to America. He said he felt like his family’s long journey had finally come full circle.
“Who would have ever thought that a kid from Cienfuegos, Cuba, who just came here, not knowing the language, not knowing anything, would one day be at the greatest place in this country, in the greatest country in the world,” Dominguez said. “It was really just an emotional time to be there in the White House, with the President, being recognized as an influential Hispanic individual in America. It was really surreal.”
Dominguez arrived in America with his family on May 6, 1971, on one of the last Freedom Flights out of Cuba. He was eight years old. They had the clothes on their backs and nothing else.
“Being eight years old, you don’t know what’s expected or what’s ahead, but obviously, that’s what my mom and dad saw as a future for us to have an opportunity to grow,” Dominguez said. “My parents said this isn’t right; we’re just going to take a leap of faith.”
Dominguez’s story was similar to that of the many others who shook the president’s hand that day.
“I met so many people and each and every one of them, we all did the same thing, we just wanted an opportunity. We just wanted out. We just wanted a chance to do something greater with our lives,” Dominguez said.
Over the past 32 years since he became the first member of his family to graduate college, Dominguez has had an incredible opportunity to be an influence on the players he’s coached. Many of the messages he shares with his teams today stem from the same life lessons he learned growing up.
“I learned to take things one day at a time, that tomorrow is not guaranteed, and what we have today, we learn to appreciate today,” Dominguez said. “There’s certain values in things that I really cherish.”
Dominguez has had chances to go back to Cuba, but he hasn’t returned since he stepped off that flight in 1971.
“You always remember things in images and pictures throughout life and I want to keep those fresh,” Dominguez said. “I still remember playing catch with my grandfather. To go back and see him the way he is now would take away from that. I think someday – I can’t tell you the exact date – but I would like to take my kids back to see where it is our family came from and all the struggles.”
Dominguez said he still believes that America is the greatest country in the world because it gives anyone the opportunity to thrive if they simply apply themselves.
“The last four letters of being an American says it all … I CAN,” Dominguez said. “This is the only place where you can.”
Dominguez did.
Great AmerICAN story. I know this man. He is a good one.