Articles tagged with 'alumni' | CSUSM

When Campus Coffee closed its trademark red awning for the last time during the fall 2025 semester, it marked the end of more than two decades of tradition at Cal State San Marcos.Since 2004, Campus Coffee had been a beloved CSUSM cafe and eatery, …

When he started out as a Cal State San Marcos student, Tony Acevedo’s relationship with history was simple: It was just a subject that he had to take to fulfill the university’s general education requirements.But something happened along the way. …

If you had a choice to climb the highest mountain in the lower United States or walk across a stage to get your college degree, which would you choose?For Cal State San Marcos alumnus Jaedon Spurlock, the decision was simple.During commencement …

Akayla Hackson has always had a knack for finding solutions to problems.So when Kelsey Forrester told Hackson about the most challenging part of her job at UC Santa Barbara, Hackson took action.Hackson and Forrester have been close friends since …

Creativity plays a vital role in how we understand the world and one another. At Cal State San Marcos, President Ellen Neufeldt has turned that conviction into a tradition, …

When Taylor Miller-Wing tells people what he does for a living, he often feels like he has initiated a game of 20 questions.When, in February, the curious people asking those questions weren’t random strangers but rather elite athletes who had just …

Shanelle Watkins often thinks about several previous iterations of herself.She thinks about the version who had just graduated from Cal State San Marcos and still harbored some self-doubt, unsure how she would turn her sociology degree into a …

Cal State San Marcos alumnus Maxwell Paulin recently was honored as the top first-year salesperson by Southwestern Advantage, the oldest entrepreneurial program in the United States for university students.Paulin won the award from a pool of nearly …

Growing up in Mira Loma, a rural community in Riverside County, double alumna Amy Barrera remembers cows and few examples of social mobility.“We never heard about people going to college,” said Barrera, who earned a bachelor's degree in human …

As Maya Goodblanket reflects on her time as a student, she vividly remembers the day she found the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center at Cal State San Marcos. Goodblanket was nervous about checking out the CICSC. She didn’t know …

Richard Jaenisch had received a death sentence at age 12.  Diagnosed with hepatitis C, very unusual for a child that young, Jaenisch had been told by doctors that if he didn’t get a liver transplant, he wouldn’t live past 30. That …

As co-executive director of Kathy’s Legacy Foundation, Alex Lutz will tell you that no two days are ever the same. One moment she’s assembling raffle baskets, the next she’s reviewing financial statements.  “It’s almost like you could take a …

Dwaine Collier always has thought of himself as a guy who runs toward the frightening things that most people run away from.  As a boy, his career aspiration was to be on a SWAT team. As a student at Cal State San Marcos, though his …

Michelle Gonzalez was a Cal State San Marcos student only about a month away from graduating in 2003 when she started working for an organization then called North County Health Services. Her degree (communication) was unrelated to health care, …

Madison Perry didn’t have any type of physics background when he wandered through Science Hall 2 looking for research opportunities after his first year at Cal State San Marcos.  Perry wasn’t worried about pay or even the tasks he would be …

Cal State San Marcos is mourning the passing of distinguished alumnus Joshua Pack ('97), who died on Sept. 29. A devoted husband and father, proud Cougar, and tireless advocate for veterans and students, Pack leaves behind a legacy defined not only …

Cassiopeia Guthrie has worn many hats in her career – educator, journalist, curriculum designer and arts advocate. But at the heart of it all is a deep commitment to equity, creativity and student success.A proud alumna of Cal State San Marcos and …

Four people with Cal State San Marcos connections have been selected to screen their films at the inaugural Hidden City Film Festival (HCFF) in Escondido. A part of the programming at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, the festival has …

Monika Consunji transforms into her alter ego for one week every summer. She takes time off from her job at Cal State San Marcos, turns off her phone and becomes Mushu, the pint-sized Chinese dragon from the Disney movie “Mulan.”Developing an alias …

When Rachel Debber toured Cal State San Marcos as a high school student from Fresno, she wasn’t sure what her college experience would hold. What she found was a close-knit campus community, opportunities to grow as a leader and the unexpected …

Two Cal State San Marcos alumni have been selected for the CSU Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program, also known as CDIP, for the incoming 2025-26 cohort. The CSUSM fellows are: Hugo Peralta-Ramírez, studying history and sponsored …

For Lorin Keehr, Cal State San Marcos is more than the university where she earned her master's degree in speech-language pathology. It's a community where she continues to find support nearly a decade later. Keehr, who graduated in 2016, now …

David Villasenor does more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day.If you’re a watcher of “NBC 7 San Diego News Today,” you’ll see the fruits of his and his team’s labor. Villasenor is an executive producer at the station and has worked …

The next event in the spring Arts & Lectures series features the Oside Steppers and guest instructors. Attendees have the opportunity to experience modernized step aerobics set to hip-hop music, offering a fun, intense workout that burns …

When Karen Charles participated in Cal State San Marcos’ commencement ceremonies to receive her bachelor’s in 2000 and her teaching credential in 2001, she did so on a small grassy area in Forum Plaza.At the time, there were four main buildings on …

Five years ago, when Christopher Greely first acquired a leadership position at the San Diego biotech where he works and was charged with expanding his team by almost tenfold, he knew just the profile he was looking for.Scientists who had the proper …

Cal State San Marcos College of Business Administration alumnus A.J. van de Ven is one of 24 business school graduates honored by AACSB International, the world’s largest business education alliance, as part of the 2025 Class of Influential …

Every fall on high school campuses across the country, football becomes the thing to do on Friday nights.Local TV station KUSI News for the past 26 years has broadcast a highlights and interview show called “Prep Pigskin Report," also known as …

Giving back seems to be part of Dawn Myers’ DNA.As a teenager, Myers started a small nonprofit to raise money for cancer treatment and research in honor of a friend who had leukemia. Years later, as an incoming freshman at Cal State San Marcos, …

Manal Yamout McDermid often feels like she’s standing on the cutting edge of California’s multibillion-dollar green economy.  One day, McDermid will be meeting with a company that is developing what are effectively electric helicopters …