The CSUDH Male Success Alliance (MSA) held its annual Spring Summit on campus, returning to full strength for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. The event brought hundreds of middle- and high-school students of color to CSUDH on Friday, May 5, for a day of workshops and activities aimed at introducing them to higher education. The theme of the 2023 summit was “UNSHAKEN,” an acronym for “Understanding Need, Struggles, Hopes, and Kinfolk, Excluding No one,” a phrase created by MSA Program Coordinator Gerardo Cuevas. “The committee was moved by the theme's uniqueness and its relevancy to the male of color experience, not only in higher education, but in society as a whole,” said MSA ... Read More
mentor
New MSA Director Hakeem Croom Aims to Inspire
“I think my life's purpose is to inspire and influence people to be their best selves–lifting as I climb, and leaving a positive impact in people's lives,” says Hakeem Croom. As the new director of CSUDH's Male Success Alliance (MSA), he's in a position to do just that. Initially formed on the CSUDH campus in 2009, MSA is a support program and campus resource designed to improve access, retention, and graduation rates for undergraduate men of color. MSA aims to support the college and career success of its members by providing academic support, professional development, and mentoring. Croom says that his primary goal in his new position is to “help others recognize what they have ... Read More
Class of 2021 Graduate Matthew Hernandez Takes First at Statewide CSU Student Research Conference
Matthew Hernandez is on a roll. On May 1, the English literature major took first place at the 35th Annual California State University Student Research Competition (SRC) in the Humanities and Letters undergraduate category. The win comes two months after he advanced to the statewide competition, having placed first in the same category at the CSUDH Student Research Conference. Hernandez says the two SRC wins were a memorable way to cap off his final semester at CSUDH. “It was a wonderful experience competing with others in the CSU system,” says Hernandez, who was one of seven CSUDH students selected to represent the university at SRC. “But I didn't feel any more daunted going into ... Read More
Panetta Intern Oscar Mancilla Experiences History in the Making in D.C.
For Oscar Mancilla, living through history can be a lot more exciting than just reading about it. The California State University, Dominguez (CSUDH) history major learned this firsthand during his recent participation in the Panetta Institute for Public Policy's Congressional Internship Program in Washington D.C., where he spent three months as an intern for California Representative Jimmy Gomez (CA-34th District). Mancilla had only been living and working in the nation's capital for six weeks when the impeachment inquiry of President Donald J. Trump was announced on Sept. 24. “I was very fortunate. For a history major, there is no better place in the world to be right now than ... Read More
