When CSUDH physics major Jeisson Pulido was a child growing up in Las Cruces, an impoverished neighborhood in Bogotá, Colombia, he used to stare up at the stars in wonder. He never imagined that he would one day be working with the European Space Agency (ESA), helping to create a cutting-edge research satellite. “The resources in my neighborhood schools were very low,” he remembers. “I didn't receive a lot of education in math or physics, just the basics. I was never able to see myself studying in college or pursuing a science degree, because of the lack of funding in my schools. I was very good at math, but I didn't even know that subjects like astronomy or physics existed.” After ... Read More
Features
New Student Convocation Welcomes Incoming Toros
Hundreds of new students received a warm Toro welcome on Friday, Aug. 26, at the university's annual New Student Convocation. The afternoon featured a formal ceremony followed by an hour of carnival games and prizes, all meant to welcome incoming undergraduate and graduate scholars to the Toro family and celebrate the start of a mutually transformative collaboration between learners and educators. DJ Juan Young energized the crowd of several hundred during pre-ceremony events with the help of Teddy Toro and the CSUDH Dance Team. Students swayed to songs from Cali Swag District and DJ Tunez before President Thomas A. Parham and his cabinet members danced their way to the stage to ... Read More
Bobbie Porter: Fighter for Equity and Diversity
Bobbie Porter's passion and enthusiasm for her work are evident the moment she starts speaking–and she's ready to put that energy to work as CSUDH's first vice president and chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. “Education changed my life,” she says. “If you look at the statistics, there's no way I should be where I am today. But I'm here. My mission is to help anyone that's choosing education as that bridge, as that gateway to a better life. I want to help create the conditions so students can do that–so they don't just survive college, but they thrive in it. And then they go out and change the world!” Porter grew up in a military family–her father was in the Navy, so she ... Read More
Education Students Create Books for Local Children
Students in the College of Education's (COE) Early Language and Literacy LBS 310 course do more than study how children's books contribute to early childhood literacy. By the time the course is over, students have written and illustrated their own books. It's all part of CSUDH's Project CYCLE: Crafting Young Children's Literary Experiences, which brings the university and local community closer together. The goal of Project CYCLE is to provide the young children and families of CSUDH's Infant/Toddler Center, Child Development Center, and the surrounding community with books to read at home. It also gives the teachers-in-training hands-on experience in creating useful early literacy ... Read More
Inaugural Juneteenth Symposium Calls for Systemic Change
California State University (CSU) held its first Juneteenth Symposium June 15 and 16, celebrating Black history and achievement while demanding justice and equity within higher education and beyond. The event, hosted by CSUDH, was titled “By Any Means Necessary: Synthesizing the Voices of Our Ancestors and Everyday People.” Recent San Diego State graduate and CSU Board of Trustees Emerita Maryana Khames led the push to create the symposium after listening to students demand action in the wake of George Floyd's murder. Students called on the CSU to take the lead in combating anti-Black racism and champion diversity, equity, and inclusion across the CSU's 23 campuses, and throughout ... Read More