What do Dance Dance Revolution, Dungeons & Dragons, and theatre arts have in common? For alumni Mark Kerr and Paola Carbajal, these were just a few of the building blocks for their deep commitment to each other and their devotion to the Toro community. Perhaps no previous (or future) Toro alums have had as close a relationship with the campus as Kerr and Carbajal. CSUDH is their alma mater and employer. They were married on campus, and they've lived in student housing for the last eight years. “It's quite a legacy story,” says Carbajal. “It's not always ideal to live where you work. Some day we would like to have a house of our own. But we've made a good life here for us and for ... Read More
Features
Toro Makes an Impact as Youth Commissioner
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
New Book Explores the Resilience of the Ancient Maya
Throughout human history, civilizations have had to adapt to ever-shifting environments in order to survive–whether sudden, catastrophic climate events, or gradual changes that span centuries. These human-environmental relationships are at the center of The Maya and Climate Change (Oxford University Press, Nov. 2022), a new book by CSUDH Assistant Professor of Anthropology Ken Seligson. Since 2010, Seligson has worked on archaeological excavations and mapping in the northern Maya lowlands of Yucatán, Mexico. He wanted to research and write a book shifting the focus away from the oft-cited “collapse” of the Classic Maya civilization, and instead toward their centuries of socioecological ... 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
CSUDH is Changing the Face of Sustainability
Sustainability is about more than just greenhouse gas reduction and better waste management, says Jenney Hall, lecturer in environmental studies at CSUDH. “Sustainability is ultimately about perpetuating systems. When you perpetuate systems, you must ask if those systems are serving everyone,” Hall says. “I think that our unique perspective is incorporating social justice, environmental justice, and climate justice into that transition.” Integrating sustainability with social and educational inequities is critical to CSUDH's approach, says Ellie Perry, manager of the university's Office of Sustainability. “We're a small, under-resourced institution that caters predominantly to ... Read More
