Jonathan Henderson knows a thing or two about how a good support system can be critical to your success. The 23-year-old sociology student at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) is set to graduate this spring, will begin his master's in sociology program here on campus in the fall, was nominated for the Presidential Outstanding Student Award this year, has been an integral part of numerous groups on campus including Male Success Alliance (MSA), and volunteered countless hours to at-risk youth groups and the homeless community in the surrounding areas. But according to Henderson, all of his accomplishments and achievements almost didn't happen. In fact, the ... Read More
Sociology
A Room of One’s Own: Women’s Resource Center Re-opens on Campus
Against a sunny, clear spring day, a gathering of faculty, staff and students helped mark the re-opening of the California State University, Dominguez Women's Resource Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 3. “We are so happy to be able to re-open the women's center,” Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Borrego said. “There has been so much shared effort among groups on campus in support of the center. It is a great day to see it open.” Ivonne Heinze-Balcazar, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Modern Languages who served as director of Women's Resource Center prior to its closing, expressed joy at seeing the center reopen. “I am so ... Read More
Cuban and CSUDH Faculty, Students Participate in Sociological Exchange
The idea to take a group of students to Cuba stemmed from an academic visit that Jose Prado made to the island nation when he was a graduate sociology student more than 10 years ago. “I made a promise to myself that, like the professors who took me and other students to study in Cuba, I'd do the same when I became a professor,” he said. Prado kept his promise. Prado, an associate professor of sociology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, collaborated with Cuban academics from Havana's Universidad de la Habana and Casa de las Americas (CLA), a Cuban cultural institution, to design a week-long academic seminar, Latitudes de Latinidad en America (Latitudes of Latina/o ... Read More
CSU Trustees’ Award Recipient John Bagnerise: Recapturing a Future Nearly Lost
Just when many 21-year-old undergraduates are about to begin their last academic term, John Bagnerise was starting a much different sort of term–an 18-year-to-life sentence at Folsom State Prison. He spent the next 22 years incarcerated in some the toughest prisons in California for a crime for which he was present, but did not commit. “I had to convince a parole board that I was suitable to be a part of society and could readjust to a world that had become foreign to me,” said the determined 49-year-old. And convince he did, but not before 12 years–when he became eligible for parole–and another decade of pleading his case to parole boards would pass. Now six years out of prison, ... Read More
Robert Anderson: Sociology Alumnus Finds His Calling as a Teacher
Robert Armando Anderson, 44, thought analytically about the world around him even when he was a child, so much so that while growing up in Compton, his nickname was “Professor Bob.” As if fulfilling a prophecy, the California State University, Dominguez Hills alumnus (Class of '96, B.A., sociology/minor in public administration; '99, M.A., sociology) has enjoyed a 16-year career at Colin P. Kelly Elementary School in Compton, first teaching second grade and then fifth grade and, in between, serving for three years as a curriculum specialist resource teacher, training new teachers and coordinating testing programs. He also teaches evening and weekend sociology and general education courses ... Read More
