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
Administration
Staff Spotlight: Catherine “Cat” Jermany
The program director of CSUDH's Rose Black Resource Center (RBRC), Catherine “Cat” Jermany is dedicated to helping Toro students succeed. When the center opened in 2017, it was the only space of its kind on campus, and its success has paved the way for the Queer Culture & Resource Center, Latinx Cultural Resource Center, and more. Located on the first floor of the Loker Student Union, the RBRC provides a network of academic, personal, and professional support services for Black students at CSUDH. After coming on board as a program coordinator in 2019, Jermany was named the center's first program director in July 2020. “I'm proud of the fact that I have been able to contribute 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
Toro Men’s Soccer Ready to Take Next Step
When CSUDH men's soccer coach Eddie Soto was hired in April 2019, it was with one goal in mind: returning the team to the heights it reached in the 2000s, when the squad won a pair of NCAA Division II national titles. Despite a 2020 season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Toros are proceeding right on schedule. The 2021 team finished the season with a 10-6-1 record, including a pair of tough losses to eventual national champion Cal State Los Angeles. “For us, it was a success,” says Soto, who previously served as head coach at the University of San Francisco and assistant coach at UCLA. “We got to the semi-finals of our conference tournament, were ranked as high as number 13 in the ... 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
