At 23, CSUDH junior Ricardo Ortega Martinez Jr. is already a veteran in California politics. “My advocacy and community organizing started at the age of 17,” says Martinez, a political science major whose early experience with foster care growing up in Huntington Park helped shape the focus of his current advocacy work. Martinez serves as youth commissioner for California’s 5th District, which encompasses much of Antelope Valley and northeastern Los Angeles County. The Youth Commission was established in September 2021 by the Board of Supervisors to promote involvement by young people in public policy decisions. Youth commission members have direct experience with foster care, juvenile ... Read More
In Conversation with Lauren Halsey
Students from CSUDH’s art and design department welcomed celebrated artist Lauren Halsey to campus this week for a wide-ranging discussion about her approach to art, her creative process, and the importance of community in an event co-hosted by the University Art Gallery and the PRAXIS Community Engagement Program. Halsey’s work has been the subject of a solo exhibition at the gallery since March. Sitting among the signage, collages, and sculpture that make up the exhibition, the artist characterized her work as “love letters” or “moments of meaning” gathered over many years. As a student at El Camino College, she traveled through the city by bus every day. “I was remapping my ... Read More
Carson Proclamation Hails CSUDH Support for Anti-Hate Campaign
The Carson City Council has acknowledged the ongoing contributions of the Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding (NCRP) program at CSUDH in equipping future leaders with the tools they need to better combat hatred and racism in our local communities. A proclamation marking Nov. 13-19 as LA vs. Hate – United Against Hate Week in Carson highlighted the work of the NCRP in providing a “supportive and friendly learning environment” that helps give students “practical skills and knowledge” that can be used in communities, businesses, and local governments to combat hate and promote inclusion and equity. Councilman Cedric L. Hicks, Sr., a CSUDH alumnus, read the text of the ... Read More
Toro College Corps Fellows Meet Service Chief
CSUDH welcomed California’s chief service officer, Josh Fryday, on Nov. 9 for a meeting with students in the first cohort of “Californians for All” College Corps, the largest state-level investment in a college service program in California’s history. Fryday, who heads the California Volunteers Office of the Governor that oversees College Corps, attended a roundtable discussion at the Innovation and Instruction Building to hear directly from CSUDH fellows about what the program means to them and what they hope to accomplish in their chosen service areas. “We’re so proud of this program,” said Fryday in his opening remarks to College Corps fellows, CSUDH administrators and faculty, ... Read More
Helping Student Vets Chart a Path to Success
Tucked away on the third floor of Leo F. Cain Library, the Veterans Resource Center (VRC) may be small, but it exerts an outsized influence on the lives of students making the challenging transition from military service to academic life. “The Veterans Resource Center is the reason I’m here today and about to graduate with my bachelor’s degree in business administration in December,” says Luigi Torres, 30, a former artillery cannoneer in the U.S. Marines. “It’s the family that you don’t think you need and that you don’t know you have.” The VRC currently serves about 350 student veterans at CSUDH –250 who attend using the GI Bill, and another 100 who get support through the Cal-Vet ... Read More
