CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

information technology

Toro Esports Academy Opens with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

By

: CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham cuts the ribbon opening the Toro Esports Academy, aided by CSU Board of Trustees Chair Wenda Fong, President of the CSUDH Esports Association Franky Saldana, and others.
CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham cuts the ribbon opening the Toro Esports Academy, aided by CSU Board of Trustees Chair Wenda Fong, President of the CSUDH Esports Association Franky Saldana, and others.

The new Toro Esports Academy officially opened with a flourish on Monday, April 24, with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by students, university officials, community partners, and a cohort of local gamers from Compton Unified School District.

In front of a crowd of Toros and local media, President Thomas A. Parham, with assistance from Wenda Fong, chair of the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees, and Franky Saldana, president of the CSUDH Esports Association, cut the ribbon to signify the official opening of the venue.

Located on the second floor of the Leo F. Cain University Library, the Toro Esports Academy features a competitive arena for students with 38 gaming stations, three broadcast stations equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, and practical classroom space that will enable academic courses to be taught on-site.

After the ribbon cutting, guests were invited to an outdoor reception, where Parham and others spoke of the importance and excitement surrounding CSUDH’s new esports space. President Parham reminded listeners of his commitment to esports as a vehicle for student preparedness, retention, and success.

Parham articulated the five aspects of esports that CSUDH focuses on: competition, academics and research, entertainment, opportunity, and community. He stressed that the community aspect involves both creating connections between Toro students and reaching out to the local areas that surround the campus.

“Esports at CSUDH is positioned to be a crucial engagement tool, and will help bring future Toros to our beautiful campus,” said Parham.

Fong followed up with her own enthusiastic take on the new facility. “I am excited about the tremendous potential that the Toro Esports Academy bring to the CSU, creating new, innovative paths to achieve our mission of student success.”

Other speakers included Alvaro Brito, esports director for Compton Unified School District, Mohsen Beheshti, chair of the CSUDH computer science department, Gerald Solomon, executive director of the Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations, and Kevin Buchmiller, Kevin Buchmiller, director of esports at CSUDH..

The speeches were followed by tours of the facility and gaming demonstrations by students from Compton Unified School District, which has partnered with the Esports Association for a number of events and workshops aimed at developing computer skills in their student population.

Members of the Esports Association expressed their excitement at seeing the facility up and running. Jenn Gutierrez, who serves as the club’s secretary and diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator, said, “This has been anticipated for a really long time. It’s nice to finally have our own space, and seeing it built up the way it is now. I was here when everything was just in boxes, and to see how nice everything turned out is fun. I love it!”

Ricky Lopez, who represents the fighting game community on campus, as well as serving as the Esports Association event coordinator, added, “I’m really excited that this space is finally open for students to be able to do their thing. For me, as the event coordinator it’s important to find cool spaces for our students to have events.” Lopez emphasized that the facility will be used for on-campus events involving groups and organizations from across campus, not just esports.

Esports Administrative Coordinator Kelly Melendez said, “This is a great day. The students have been putting in so much hard work and they finally get to celebrate all the fruits of their labor.”

When asked what she’s most looking forward to about the new space, Melendez spoke for many students on the team. “I’m most excited to have the other Cal States come in here to play. It’s going to be fun to see our CSU rivals come to campus and see what’s going on here – and to show off!”

Staff Spotlight: Danny Le

By

Information Technology (IT) Consultant Danny Le has only been working at CSUDH for a year, but in a way, getting a job on campus was a kind of homecoming–Le is a Toro alum who graduated with a BA in computer technology in 2014.

The Gardena native returned to CSUDH in 2021, and now spends his days “running around campus trying to assist everyone with their technical issues.” He says he’s proud to be able to “come back and use the skills I’ve learned here to give back to students, faculty, staff, and the community.”

He doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon, either. He recently had an opportunity to fill a vacant position in another department, but says that soon enough, “I realized I love what I do, and want to keep doing it for the rest of my life.”

“Working at DH is special to me because I get to build lots of great relationships with all the fantastic people that work here,” Le continues. “When I worked in the private sector, I felt like I was just working to make someone else turn a profit. Here, I can use my skills to assist staff and faculty with educating the younger generations to build a better tomorrow.”

Prior to joining the CSUDH IT team, Le held a few other jobs, including working at the giant FAO Schwarz toy store in New York City. He got the bug to go into IT work because “Everybody kept asking for me for help with their computers!”

When not working, Le says that his favorite pastime is “wasting money” – which fits in perfectly with his favorite place to spend time: Las Vegas.

If you run into Le while he’s doing his campus rounds, you’re sure to get a smile. As he puts it, “I get to come to work doing what I love to do and having fun every day!”

Fun Facts About Danny Le
Favorite movie:
Jingle All the Way
First concert/last concert/best concert:
Life is Beautiful Festival/Alesso/Martin Garrix
Favorite song:
“If I Lose Myself” by Alesso
Favorite food:
Chicken wings
Cats or dogs?
Cats
If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to play you?
Ryan Reynolds
What is a place you would like to travel to that you’ve never been?
Japan
Your favorite childhood memory?
“Not having body aches!”
Describe yourself in three words:
“Happy go lucky!”

Keeping Campus Clean: Facilities Services Shines During Crisis

By

Loker Student Union dining patio
Loker Student Union dining and socializing patio.

While the vast majority of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) staff are working from home, dedicated crews from Facilities Services have continued to perform their vital services to keep the campus clean and safe. Their hard work has enabled other essential campus offices to stay up and running.

Under normal circumstances, Facilities has over 110 people on campus, doing everything from fixing locks to landscaping. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, on-campus staff has been cut down to essential positions, according to Jonathan Scheffler, director of Facilities Services.

Science and Innovation Building
Science and Innovation Building

“We’ve got most of our staff on rotating schedules,” says Scheffler. “At any one time, we now have about 30 people working on campus performing essential services, between our grounds, custodial, logistics, and office staff.”

During the crisis, keeping the campus clean and safe has been the department’s number one priority. “The custodial staff right now is cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting specific areas on campus where people are still working, including restrooms and office areas,” says Scheffler. “The majority of employees working on campus right now are in Welch Hall, so that’s where most of our efforts are concentrated.”

Meanwhile, the grounds staff has been hard at work keeping nature in check throughout the spring. “We’re keeping the lawns mowed, the weeds down, trimming the trees and shrubs, and keeping storm debris from piling up on campus,” says Scheffler.

Responsible social distancing practices are being followed by all facilities workers, and the department has issued personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks to its employees. They have also helped out the remaining on-campus University Housing staff, giving them masks and cleaning supplies as needed.

Empty campusDue to the department’s foresight, they haven’t had any issues with supplies. “We ordered some supplies like hand cleaner and disinfectant wipes early on,” says Scheffler, “When this first started happening, logistical services supervisor Dino Hernandez suggested we should prepare ourselves. I quadrupled our normal stock of those items, just as a precaution.”

Scheffler points out that communication between departments has been vital throughout the crisis. “Communication on campus is very important, and we’ve been doing a really good job with it. Our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) staff and Academic Affairs let us know when faculty or staff need to come on campus, so we can be there to unlock doors and help people get into their offices and grab what they need.”

Ultimately, being adaptable and responsive to the crisis as it develops has been the key to Facilities Services’ success. “Every day is a new challenge of some sort, because what we’re being told to do by the state, county and our local city of Carson is practically changing daily,” says Scheffler. “We just try to be flexible. We’re here to serve.”