The siblings have not forgotten what their mother, Lucia Velez, used to chant at their Eastside San Jose home.
Duro duro a los libros — hit the books hard.
Xavier Gutierrez, Lucia’s oldest child, took those words to heart as a student at Bellarmine College Prep, and later at Harvard University and when earning a law degree at Stanford.
Gutierrez, who became the first Latino president and chief executive of a National Hockey League team on June 8, has followed the guiding principles of his parents to break barriers in what he proudly describes as a symbol of the American Dream.