Sometimes it's dramatic and heroic measures that go into saving a life, but sometimes it's simply the choices one makes. For Pedro Valles, it was his decision to alter the path he was on and join the military that saved his life and led to him graduating from California State University, Dominguez Hills with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Technology with an emphasis in homeland security this past weekend. While a student at San Pedro High School, Valles fell into a bad crowd and was slipping in school. Aware that his behavior was destructive, he sought help from his parents. “I told my parents, 'Look, I'm getting in a bad mix. I need some help,'” Valles recalled. They enrolled ... Read More
Features
Heidi DeLeon: Looking Forward to a Bright Future
Life has changed dramatically for Heidi DeLeon since she grew up on a Michigan farm in Pinconning, a small town where at 10 p.m. the major traffic signal switches to a blinking red light and the police station closes. In a flash of violence in 1995, a series of events were set into motion that would send DeLeon's life spiraling out of control and eventually lead to her doing a five-year stint in Chowchilla's Valley State Prison for Women in central California years before she would become a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and a Class of 2013 graduate of California State University, Dominguez Hills with a degree in Africana studies. DeLeon was only 14 when her father fatally stabbed her ... Read More
MSA Summit: Young Men of Color Challenged to Make Meaningful Changes
With a dynamic line-up that included a keynote address, workshops, panels and hosted discussions aimed at building their self-worth and empowering them to strive toward success through education, nearly 800 middle- and high-school Latino and African American male students from local Los Angeles and Long Beach Unified school districts, and from California State University, Dominguez Hills were brought together for the Fourth Annual Male Success Alliance (MSA) Summit, a day-long event hosted on May 9 in the Loker Student Union at the university in partnership with Inglewood-based nonprofit Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI). Kicking off the event was an inspirational and edgy ... Read More
Students Share Research and Creative Work and Gain Editorial Experience through Scholarly Publications
In addition to their classroom assignments and myriad other commitments many students at California State University, Dominguez Hills are also intellectually and creatively engaged scholars who have taken to sharing their research and creative projects by contributing to scholarly publications. The English department's literary journal, Enjambed, the Electronic Student Journal of Anthropology (ESJOA), the Chicana and Chicano studies e-newsletter Adelante, and the Electronic Journal of Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding (NCRP) feature student work, and to some degree or another are edited by students. Enjambed editor Raul Martinez, who is finishing his thesis for a ... Read More
Academic Excellence, Service, and Perseverance Honored with Presidential Awards
For some students, the college experience reaches far beyond average classroom engagement and instead is a golden opportunity for them to give it their all in ways that help to secure a better future, not only for themselves, but for the university, the community, and society. In its third year, the President's Student Leadership and Service Awards celebration at California State University, Dominguez Hills honored just such exemplary students, as well as student organizations and faculty advisors in front of nearly 200 university faculty, staff, students and family members in the Loker Student Union on May 2. “When I say 'extraordinary' and 'outstanding' to describe these students ... Read More