As often happens, the talk turned to careers. Goldberg told the couple (their names turned out to be Chuck and Kim) that she was a longtime music professor at Cal State San Marcos. The couple told Goldberg that they both worked in the cybersecurity field.

When Goldberg’s face betrayed that she knew nothing about cybersecurity, Chuck and Kim launched into a brief introduction. As Goldberg listened to them, it occurred to her that she might have a personal story that at least touched on cybersecurity. She recounted it to them, and after she was done, Chuck and Kim had to pick their jaws up off the floor.

“They were like, ‘Oh my God, you are going to become famous,’ ” Goldberg recalled.  

Within weeks, Goldberg had been introduced to the organizers of the biggest cybersecurity event in the nation, the RSA Conference in San Francisco, and she was invited not just to appear, but to be a keynote speaker. Soon after that, Jen Easterly, then the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (commonly known as CISA), approached Goldberg and asked her to join an upcoming lecture circuit.

Goldberg’s life hasn’t been the same since that chance encounter in La Jolla. Now, she’s in the process of achieving an even greater level of exposure.

She turned her amazing tale into her first book (non-textbook category), “Notes of Deception: How a Quartet of American Musicians Outwitted the KGB,” released Aug. 25 by HarperCollins, one of the largest book publishers in the world. The book – co-written with Vince Houghton, director of the National Security Agency’s National Cryptologic Museum – chronicles an almost-too-bizarre-to-be-believed episode from the mid-1980s, years before Goldberg joined the faculty at CSUSM.

“I had been sitting on the story for decades,” she said. “I didn’t realize the extent to which people would be really interested.”

More than four decades ago, Goldberg was a saxophonist for the Klezmer Conservatory Band (KCB), a Boston-based group that played mostly Yiddish music. This was during the height of the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a battle of nuclear brinkmanship.

Through a newspaper article, the KCB became aware of a musical group in the Soviet republic of Georgia called the Phantom Orchestra, composed mainly of so-called refuseniks (the term for Jewish people who were denied permission to emigrate by the Soviet government) but also Catholic and human-rights activists and artists. The Phantom Orchestra was using music to circulate their story to the Western world, and the KGB (Soviet state police) increasingly viewed the musicians as a threat.

Urged on by locals in their Boston suburb, Goldberg and three of her bandmates decided to travel to the USSR to meet with the orchestra in a show of solidarity. But there was one big catch.

“The caveat was that this had to be undercover, a secret mission,” Goldberg said. “We couldn't tell anybody about it, except for our parents and if we had a boyfriend or girlfriend. Not only that, but in order to take information in and out, we had to have a secret code because we couldn't walk in with people's names and addresses. They would get in trouble.”

Goldberg had the perfect secret code in mind. As musicians, of course, the KCB would be bringing sheet music to Georgia. What if they were to use that as a cipher – effectively obscure their hidden messages in plain sight?

“So it looks just like piano music, but actually it’s directions on how to get to someone’s apartment because their phones were disconnected,” she said.

Goldberg and her bandmates felt thrilled by their proposed deception, by the notion that they would be acting like real-life spies. After the first in-depth interrogation by the KGB, however, their headiness turned to fear. Yet they made it into the Soviet Union with their code undetected, and once they met the members of the Phantom Orchestra, they grew more emboldened.

“We gained so much confidence from them,” Goldberg said. “We became less afraid of the KGB and more defiant, and that helped our ability to manage a difficult situation and what potentially was a very dangerous situation.”

After spending eight days behind the Iron Curtain, Goldberg and Co. tricked the KGB on their way out as well. Then they went to work, lobbying members of Congress and playing concerts to raise awareness of the refuseniks’ plight. Their advocacy ultimately factored into the negotiations between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on easing Cold War tensions, and the USSR finally dissolved in 1991.

“Once people started being able to emigrate, of course, our story faded into the woodwork of history,” Goldberg said.

“Notes of Deception” is her latest, boldest attempt to change that. A self-described “pack rat,” she saved all the archival information – reports, news clippings, photos – from the spy mission, suspecting that it could prove useful someday. But none of it emerged until 2022, when the accidental meeting with Chuck and Kim yielded the cybersecurity conference speaking gig, which in turn yielded an exclusive feature about the saga in Wired magazine that attracted widespread attention.

Goldberg decided that she wanted to tell her story in her own words. She had written much of a manuscript – using a sabbatical to piece it together – but was struggling to find a literary agent.

Enter Houghton, the NSA official who had heard about Goldberg’s speeches and read the Wired article. As a historian of cryptology, he was dumbfounded that the tale of Goldberg’s band was unknown to him. He contacted Goldberg, and they hit it off. After Goldberg described her book project, Houghton told her she might have a better chance of getting it published if she recruited a co-author who could sprinkle in more historical context.

“I was like, ‘Hey, Vince, how about you? Do you want to take this on with me?’ ” Goldberg said.

Houghton agreed, and with him on board as an experienced writer (one of his colorful titles is “Nuking the Moon: And Other Intelligence Schemes and Military Plots Left on the Drawing Board”) a bidding war ensued to publish the book.

Now it’s here, and the reception has been enthusiastic. People magazine published an extended excerpt last month, and the Wall Street Journal reviewed the book (among many other outlets). Goldberg already has been interviewed by multiple podcasts and TV stations, and she spoke on a panel at the recent KPBS book festival in San Diego. She also has embarked on a national book tour that will extend through May (she’s able to do it because she has entered the Faculty Early Retirement Program, having taught her final class last spring).

Asked what she hopes readers take away from the book, Goldberg said: “What we did was a little over the top in terms of making a difference in people's lives, but advocacy absolutely makes a difference. Every single day there's something that you can do to change someone's life in a little way. Also, music is a very powerful language in terms of communicating, but also self-empowerment. It's really important for people to have music or the arts or even sports, to have something that they can hold on to that takes them out of their brains to reconnect, recharge and be mindful.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Fisher joins CSUSM at an important moment in the university’s fundraising efforts, as it advances its ambitious “Blueprint for the Future” fundraising campaign. The $200 million campaign has reached 87% of its goal, reflecting the extraordinary momentum of faculty and staff grants, as well as the generosity of CSUSM’s alumni, donors and community partners, positioning the university for an exciting next chapter of growth and impact. 

Fisher joins CSUSM from the University of Arizona, where she has served in various development roles since 2019, including most recently, nearly four years as a vice president of development, leading centralized and college-embedded advancement teams supporting a broad portfolio of academic and university programs. She brings more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning higher education philanthropy, nonprofit management and community service. 

“I am overjoyed by the opportunity to join President Neufeldt and the CSUSM team,” Fisher said. “As a first-generation college student myself, student success and social mobility connect deeply to every chapter of my life, and it will be an honor to lead advancement at this amazing university.” 

As vice president of development at the University of Arizona, Fisher has partnered with donors, faculty and university leaders to advance philanthropic initiatives supporting student success, research innovation and community engagement. She has led development teams across multiple colleges and university programs, while cultivating and stewarding a portfolio of major and principal gift donors. She has also played an integral role in planning and executing the university’s current multibillion-dollar fundraising campaign. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Andy to CSUSM at such an important time in the university’s history,” CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt said. “Her experience as a successful advancement leader, combined with her background as a nonprofit CEO and her deep commitment to student success, makes her an exceptional addition to our leadership team. Andy understands the transformative power of education personally and professionally, and I look forward to partnering with her as we continue building the philanthropic support necessary to advance our university’s vision and create even greater opportunities for our students.” 

Before her career in higher education philanthropy, Fisher spent nearly 25 years in the nonprofit sector, culminating in her role as CEO of the Centre County Youth Service Bureau in central Pennsylvania. She led an organization with more than 90 employees and 14 programs serving children, youth and families across eight sites. During her tenure, she helped grow the organization’s private giving and donor retention efforts and worked closely with community organizations, government leaders and elected officials on issues affecting children and families. 

Fisher said her experience working directly with families and communities continues to shape her approach to philanthropy. 

“I know firsthand the difference that opportunity and support can make in a person’s life,” Fisher said. “I am especially drawn to CSUSM because of its extraordinary commitment to social mobility and its focus on helping students achieve their dreams. I look forward to building strong relationships with our alumni, donors, Foundation Board, campus community and regional partners to help advance that mission.” 

In her new role, Fisher will lead CSUSM’s University Advancement division, including development, alumni engagement, events and conference services, government relations and advancement operations. She will work closely with Neufeldt, university leadership and the CSUSM Foundation Board to strengthen philanthropic partnerships and support the university’s strategic priorities. 

Fisher holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Shippensburg University and a bachelor’s in administration of justice from Pennsylvania State University. She began her career in human services after being hired in 1994 to implement a federally funded residential program for homeless youth. 

Fisher’s appointment marks the next chapter in CSUSM’s efforts to build upon its strong foundation of philanthropic and community support and expand opportunities for students and the region. She will begin her new role at CSUSM later this month. 

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

President Ellen Neufeldt expressed excitement and optimism about the new academic year during her annual convocation address to faculty and staff last Thursday.

Neufeldt highlighted many of the university’s achievements over the past year, including progress on CSUSM’s fundraising campaign “Blueprint for the Future,” the largest capital campaign in university history.

“One year ago, we were preparing to publicly launch the most ambitious fundraising campaign in our university’s history,” Neufeldt said. “Today, our ‘Blueprint for the Future’ campaign has reached over $173 million toward our $200 million goal. That’s 87% of our goal!”

Neufeldt also highlighted some of the gifts that have been received this year, including:

• $10 million from Hunter Industries and the Hunter family toward the naming of the Hunter Hall of Science and Engineering;
• $3 million toward the CSU National Center for Social Mobility at CSUSM; and
• $1 million from the Prebys Foundation to provide stipends for students to pursue research opportunities and strengthen the region’s STEM workforce.

New housing, dining facility open

Celebration was in the air on Aug. 3, as hundreds gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of Black Oak Hall and Kwíila Dining.

Black Oak Hall is CSUSM’s fourth housing community, and Kwíila Dining is the university’s second dining facility. Kwíila, the Luiseño word for “acorn,” was chosen to honor the local tribal heritage and the land on which CSUSM resides.

Located at 303 Campus View Drive, the seven-story Black Oak Hall features 555 beds – 390 of which are considered affordable thanks to funding from the Higher Education Student Housing Grant program established by Senate Bill 169. Just steps away, the 10,000-square-foot Kwíila Dining serves a variety of locally sourced foods and allows students to foster connection outside of class.

New coffee spot

El Kafecito, a local coffee shop with multiple locations, opened its sixth spot on Aug. 24 in the space vacated by Campus Coffee, whose owners retired after more than 20 years.

El Kafecito is owned by Rodrigo Rodriguez, a former CSUSM soccer player. A Valley Center native, Rodriguez started the company with a small, drive-through coffee hut in Vista in 2021, when he was just 21 years old.

El Kafecito specializes in Mexican and Hispanic-inspired flavors that, Rodriguez said, “bring something unique to the traditional coffee experience.” Its signature flavors include dulce de leche, horchata, mazapán, café de la olla, tres leches and Mexican mocha, though it also offers traditional favorites such as vanilla, caramel and mocha. El Kafecito also serves pastries and other food items.

CSUSM named to best colleges list

CSUSM was named to the “Best Colleges in America 2026” list by Money magazine. The university received a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.

The list, which includes 735 colleges, showcases the country’s top values, based on graduation rates, cost of attendance, financial aid, alumni salaries and more.

Weeks of Welcome

The annual Weeks of Welcome, which started Aug. 28, includes dozens of events for students to meet new people and kick off the academic year.

Visit the Weeks of Welcome calendar for a complete schedule.

Arts & Lectures fall series

The university’s longstanding Arts & Lectures series recently released its fall lineup. This season boasts a diverse selection of eight events.

Attendees can reserve tickets online via the Arts & Lectures website.

Summer highlights

• CSUSM hosted “The Power of Us” Southwest Riverside County Community Breakfast on June 30, bringing together local business, government, education and community leaders to explore how partnerships are shaping the region’s educational and economic future.
• Howard Chan, the learning experience designer for the Innovation Hub, was recognized as one of the San Diego Business Journal's Asian American Pacific Islander Leaders of Influence for 2026.
• The Safety, Health & Sustainability department was recognized by a national organization for its program that allows students to borrow lab coats for academic use.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The event included remarks from, among others, President Ellen Neufeldt, Provost Carl Kemnitz, Vice President of Student Affairs Viridiana Diaz and Tristan Bugnot, the president and CEO for Associated Students, Inc.

“At Cal State San Marcos, we understand that the student experience stretches far beyond the classroom,” Diaz told attendees, which included family members of new students. “Students are the heartbeat of the Division of Student Affairs. Our professional staff is committed to offering intentional learning and development opportunities that stimulate self-discovery and personal growth, and I have no doubt that you’ll find that CSUSM will play such an impactful role in your lives.

“This is truly a place that not only helps students change the trajectory of their own lives, but also has a positive ripple effect on their families, friends and communities.”

As is tradition at New Student and Family Convocation, each student received a challenge coin from a family member or friend.

“We’re excited and appreciative that our kids are coming into their own and finding their niche, and the challenge coin ceremony is symbolic of that,” said Tony Reece, a family ambassador whose daughter Marisa transferred to CSUSM last year.

Relive some of the highlights from the two ceremonies in the New Student and Family Convocation photo slideshow.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

This season boasts a diverse selection of eight events as the university hosts renowned guest speakers and performances.

Attendees can reserve tickets online via the Arts & Lectures website now.

Movement Mystics: Alchemy, Resilience and Transformation

Sept. 18, 7 p.m., Arts Building 111

This captivating dance performance celebrates the richness of Brazilian culture through timeless feminine stories and symbols. Inspired by Brazil's many dance traditions, it explores themes of strength, transformation and the wisdom carried within the body.

Drawing from world mythology, Yoruba beliefs, Jungian psychology, Clarissa Pinkola Estés' “Wild Woman” archetype and the vibrant rhythms of Brazil, the performance uses movement to honor the past, express the present and connect with something deeper.

More than a celebration of culture, this work is a personal journey. It explores how dance can help us navigate life's biggest challenges and reconnect with our inner strength.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

CHABSS Networking Night: Transformative Leadership and Social Change

Oct. 7, 5 p.m., USU Ballroom

Join CSUSM students, alumni, artists and community leaders for an evening of ideas, creativity and connection. The event will highlight how leadership emerges through the arts, media, public service and civic engagement.

Enjoy appetizers, drinks, live music and an inspiring panel of alumni and community leaders sharing how their work creates meaningful social impact. The evening will conclude with structured networking designed to foster meaningful conversations, explore career paths and build lasting connections.

Whether you’re seeking mentorship, expanding your professional network or discovering new opportunities, this event offers an engaging space to learn, connect and be inspired by those shaping the future of our communities.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: Free

Community: Free

‘The Canary Code’: Designing Workplaces Where Different Minds Thrive

Oct. 12, 6 p.m., USU Ballroom

Our ability to thrive in the workplace is highly dependent on how we relate to one another. Ludmila Praslova, author of “The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity and Intersectional Belonging at Work,” shares insights on how we can prioritize neuroinclusivity in the workplace to foster connection and a sense of belonging.

Praslova draws from her perspective as a first-generation academic and a neurodivergent woman. She is a professor of industrial-organizational psychology at Vanguard University in Orange County and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Psychology Today and Forbes.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

‘You’re No Indian’

Oct. 26, 6 p.m., USU Ballroom

Come attend a screening of “You’re No Indian,” which is not just a film – it’s a call to action. At the heart of this 2025 documentary lies a battle for identity and justice, where militias storm casinos, graves are pillaged for DNA evidence and even proven lineage cannot save individuals from disenrollment.

More than 10,000 people have been disenrolled from their tribes in recent years, eviscerated from their communities and families. Research confirms disenrollment’s relationship to tribal gaming and even the corruption of tribal politicians. Not only does it result in financial ruin for the disenrolled, but immeasurable psychological harm when they are now told “you’re no Indian.”

This film exposes the dark intersection of power, greed and cultural erasure. It’s a powerful stand for those whose voices have been silenced, urging viewers to join a growing movement for truth and accountability.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

The Power of Transformation: From Gang Life to Community Leadership

Nov. 3, 6 p.m., USU Ballroom

Luis J. Rodriguez – an award-winning poet, acclaimed author and community activist – draws from his own life and shares how he overcame gang involvement to become a leading voice for hope, healing and social justice. His inspiring story reminds us that people can change, communities can heal and everyone deserves the chance to build a better future.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

Pasifika in Entertainment: Navigating Culture, Language and Performing Arts in Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’

Nov. 16, 6 p.m., USU Ballroom

The release of Disney’s live-action “Moana” film this summer involved local expertise and talent from CSUSM and the surrounding area. Attendees will learn about the making of the film through the perspectives of the Oceanic Cultural Trust, a group created by the film company to serve as cultural consultants on Oceanic language and performing arts. 

CSUSM professor Grant Muāgututi'a served as the lead cultural consultant for the film. His work focuses on the need for Oceanic language conservation efforts through mainstream popular media, independent documentary film, community partnership programming and higher education institutions both locally and abroad. He and others involved in the film will reflect on their roles in making the live-action film. 

Members of the Oceanic Cultural Trust and actors from the film will engage the audience with behind-the-scenes stories and live musical and dance performances to inspire everyone to reimagine how grassroots cultural arts education can shape more inclusive experiences of higher education and impact popular media representations.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

Capturing Complexity: Theater as a Means of Self-Exploration and Reconciliation

Nov. 17, 6 p.m., Arts 111

Join us for a staged-reading presentation of “Pride: Mortal BEINGS part 1,” a one-person play written and performed by Terrell Donnell Sledge, a San Diego actor, writer, director, advocate, empowerment coach and CSUSM theatre arts lecturer. The story is an alternative telling of the fall of Lucifer – from Lucifer's perspective – hinging on the questions of free will, love, loyalty, suffering, suicide, forgiveness and redemption.

After the performance, Sledge will be joined by Stephanie Sledge – an artist, associate clinical social worker and CSUSM alumna – for a conversation about narrative representation and creative expression for self-exploration and healing. Stephanie will interview Terrell about the process of writing the play as a form of self-preservation when he was navigating academic environments prone to stereotyping and erasure of Black male identity. Guests will depart with the building blocks for harnessing their own creativity as a therapeutic tool.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

Serenades, Fantasies and Songs: Camarada With Aaron Humble, Tenor

Nov. 19, noon, Arts 111

Camarada, a resident ensemble at The Conrad in La Jolla, will present a unique concert spotlighting the remarkable tenor of CSUSM professor Aaron Humble. This diverse and engaging program takes audiences on a journey through the history of music, spanning from the Baroque era to the 20th century.

The instrumental portion includes works by Baroque master Telemann, Romantic composer Robert Fuchs and contemporary composer Ian Clarke. Vocal selections will highlight lyrical and expressive works by Benjamin Britten, Italian opera composers Gaetano Donizetti and Ruggero Leoncavallo, and an exquisite French masterpiece by Georges Hüe. Performers include Beth Ross Buckley, flute; David Buckley, violin; Travis Maril, viola; and Dana Burnett, piano.

Join us for an inspiring midday concert as we explore the world of vocal chamber music and more.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and administered by the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the initiative brings together San Diego State University, CSUSM and education and workforce partners throughout San Diego County. SDSU serves as the lead institution, with CSUSM receiving a funded subaward to lead implementation efforts serving North County.

Through the initiative, the CSUSM Career Center will expand career navigation, workforce-readiness programming, employer engagement and work-based learning opportunities for eligible in-school youth ages 14-21. The program will prioritize young people who face barriers to education and employment, including low-income students, students with disabilities, former foster youth, English learners, justice-involved youth and students experiencing housing or food insecurity.

CSUSM participants will receive individualized career support while gaining access to career exploration, skill development, mentoring, internships and other work-based learning experiences. Eligible participants also will be able to earn $30 per hour while completing certain approved workforce-development activities, helping reduce the financial barriers that can prevent students from participating in career-building experiences.

The initiative will build upon CSUSM's existing Career Center infrastructure and partnerships across North County, including relationships with employers, community colleges, K-12 partners and campus programs serving students with barriers. CSUSM also will integrate existing campus resources and supportive services to help participants address challenges that could interfere with their educational and career goals.

“This investment gives us an opportunity to go beyond simply connecting students to jobs and provide the kind of comprehensive support that can change a student's career trajectory,” said Yasmine Farley, director of the CSUSM Career Center. “We're able to combine career guidance, paid skill development, work-based learning and supportive services while leveraging the partnerships that already exist throughout CSUSM and North County. Most importantly, we're directing those resources toward young people who may otherwise face significant barriers to accessing these opportunities.”

The regional partnership also includes the San Diego Community College District, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, San Diego Unified School District and Southwestern College, creating a coordinated approach that reaches students across K-12, community college and university settings rather than limiting services to four-year university students.

For CSUSM, the grant also represents an investment in the university's role as a workforce and economic development partner for North San Diego County. By connecting students with employers and educational pathways throughout the region, the initiative aims to strengthen the transition from education to meaningful employment while developing skills needed in an increasingly technology- and AI-integrated workforce.

To learn more or see if you qualify for the program, contact the Career Center at careers@csusm.edu.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Since 2004, Campus Coffee had been a beloved CSUSM cafe and eatery, serving warm cups of joe and sweet treats on the plaza outside Science Hall 1 – on the opposite side of campus and two big flights of stairs away from Starbucks and other food and drink vendors. It was a place where the owners greeted you with a smile and often knew your name – and your coffee order.

Now, about six months after those owners (Tim and Sandra Sabbatini) decided to retire, a new establishment will inherit the legacy of Campus Coffee.

This month, the prime real estate will be taken over by El Kafecito, a local coffee shop that already has locations in San Marcos, Vista, Escondido, Valley Center and San Diego. Its sixth spot is scheduled for a soft opening on Aug. 24, with the full launch on Aug. 31, the first day of the new school year.

El Kafecito is owned by Rodrigo Rodriguez, a CSUSM alumnus and former Cougars soccer player. A Valley Center native, Rodriguez started the company with a small, drive-through coffee hut in Vista in 2021, when he was just 21 years old. His entrepreneurial spirit was inspired by working alongside his parents in their family business.

“I remember stopping at Campus Coffee before a long lecture or between classes, so I understand how something as simple as a good cup of coffee can become part of students’ daily routine,” Rodriguez said. “Being able to return to CSUSM, this time as a local business owner, feels like a full-circle moment.”

El Kafecito specializes in Mexican and Hispanic-inspired flavors that, Rodriguez said, “bring something unique to the traditional coffee experience.” Its signature flavors include dulce de leche, horchata, mazapán, café de la olla, tres leches and Mexican mocha, though it also offers traditional favorites such as vanilla, caramel and mocha.

El Kafecito also serves pastries and other food items, with customer favorites including churro cupcakes, Mexican-inspired cinnamon rolls and stuffed conchas.

“Our goal is to create a place where everyone can find something they enjoy while introducing CSUSM to flavors that represent my culture and the community,” Rodriguez said.

The selection of El Kafecito to replace Campus Coffee stemmed from the work of the CSUSM Corporation in collaboration with the Student Culinary Council (SCC), a body created last spring to strengthen the connection between students and campus dining. Responding to students’ expressed desire for a new coffee stand on the far end of campus, the SCC helped identify potential vendors, participated in interviews and evaluated each candidate based on its vision, quality and alignment with campus culture.

“What makes this selection so special is that Rodrigo is a CSUSM alumnus who is passionate to serve the campus community,” said Anthony Romero, who leads the SCC. “His commitment to quality coffee, building community and creating meaningful connections makes Rodrigo and El Kafecito the clear choice for the new coffee stand at CSUSM.”

Rodriguez, who now lives in San Marcos and spends his days shuttling between locations, said he can’t wait to get started.

“My goal is not simply to sell coffee on campus,” he said. “I want to build a connection with the CSUSM community and make El Kafecito feel like it belongs to the students, faculty, staff and Cougar family. As a former student and student-athlete, I’m excited about the opportunity to give back to a campus that was an important part of my own journey.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Black Oak Hall is CSUSM’s fourth housing community, and Kwíila Dining is the university’s second dining facility. Kwíila, the Luiseño word for “acorn,” was chosen to honor the local tribal heritage and the land on which CSUSM resides.

More than 200 people – including local and state dignitaries, CSUSM Foundation Board members, students, faculty, staff, and construction officials – attended the ceremony.

Located at 303 Campus View Drive, the seven-story Black Oak Hall features 555 beds – 390 of which are considered affordable thanks to funding from the Higher Education Student Housing Grant program established by Senate Bill 169. Just steps away, the 10,000-square-foot Kwíila Dining will serve a variety of locally sourced foods and allow students to foster connection outside of class. 

The project also reflects CSUSM's commitment to sustainability, from its LEED Gold certification ambition and renewable energy systems to the use of native landscaping and sustainable building materials. 

President Ellen Neufeldt said the project will serve CSUSM students – more than half of whom are the first in their families to attend college – while advancing the university's mission of social mobility. 

“When housing is affordable, close to campus and connected to a supportive community, students have more time to study, participate in campus life, build relationships with faculty and peers, and ultimately persist to graduation,” Neufeldt said during the ceremony. “That is why today's celebration matters.” 

In addition to Neufeldt, others who spoke were Tristan Bugnot, president of Associated Students, Inc.; Patrick Henning, chief deputy treasurer in the State Treasurer’s Office; San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones; Viridiana Diaz, CSUSM's vice president for Student Affairs; Richard King of project designer Gensler and Eric Halverson of builder McCarthy Building Companies; Deanne Ellison, associate vice president of business development and executive director of the CSUSM Corporation; and Travis Douglas, executive director of CSUSM Housing and Residential Education.

The emcee of the ceremony was Leon Wyden Jr., CSUSM's vice president of Finance and Administrative Services and chief financial officer.

During her speech, Jones issued a proclamation in support of the housing and dining project. After the ribbon-cutting, guests were invited into Kwíila Dining for the first meal, with food provided by Sodexo, the vendor for the facility. Students gave tours of the new dorm rooms in Black Oak Hall.

The project was funded in part by $91 million received from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature.

Construction on the site of a former parking lot for University Village Apartments, CSUSM’s original housing complex, began in 2024. Students will begin moving in later this month.

Bugnot said the new facility perfectly illustrates CSUSM's culture of care, which was a big part of the reason why he chose to attend the university over other institutions.

“As ASI president, I think a lot about what students need in order to thrive,” he said. “Students need access. Students need affordability. Students need spaces that make them feel seen and supported. Black Oak Hall and Kwíila Dining move us closer to that vision. We are creating something that you probably can’t get anywhere else in the world: the San Marcos experience.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

But something happened along the way. The history courses sparked Acevedo’s interest in a manner that his other GE courses did not. The material ran so much deeper than the rote memorization of names and dates that he associated with history.

“My professors at CSUSM also made me feel smart, giving me invaluable feedback on my work and my progress as a student,” Acevedo said.

That was more than two decades ago. Intending to major in communication, Acevedo switched to history, graduated with a history degree in 2004 and ultimately became a professor himself – with an ambition to emulate in his teaching the way he was taught at CSUSM.

It seems to be working. Now an associate professor and coordinator of history, political science and American studies at Hudson County Community College (HCCC) in Jersey City, N.J., Acevedo last month received the Distinguished Faculty Award from the New Jersey Council of County Colleges – an honor that covers all faculty across the state’s 18 community colleges. He was recognized for his “profound influence on students academically and professionally inside and outside the classroom.”

Acevedo co-founded the Hudson Oral History Project, through which he guides student interns in interviewing residents, community leaders and business owners to document the history and rapid changes of Jersey City’s Journal Square area. He also helped establish the HCCC Department of Cultural Affairs, which provides free arts and enrichment programming for students and the people of Hudson County.

“When I was notified I got the award, it felt quite rewarding,” he said. “Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of the impact you have on students, especially when doing the work of preparing lessons or confronting challenges like the influence of AI on education. So to receive an award like this was definitely a reminder that the daily commitment to help students grow as learners and thinkers is so worthwhile.”

A Fallbrook native, Acevedo chose CSUSM because of the proximity to home and the intimate learning environment compared to other California State University schools that he considered. Once he switched his major to history, he came under the tutelage of multiple faculty mentors, most notably Alyssa Sepinwall.

Sepinwall invited Acevedo to be part of CSUSM’s Faculty Mentoring Program, which since 1991 has paired first-generation students like Acevedo in a one-on-one mentoring relationship with a faculty member to increase retention rates. At Sepinwall’s suggestion, he attended an academic history conference in Newport Beach that he calls a turning point because it exposed him to what history professors do outside the classroom.

“Dr. Sepinwall also brought in guest speakers and made sure her students got engaged with history beyond just completing our assignments,” Acevedo said. “And she gave me invaluable guidance when I applied to grad school, spelling out in no uncertain terms the challenges of the academic job market, but also pushing me to pursue my dreams. Along the way, she has been my go-to person for all things history.”

Sepinwall’s influence was such that, during his senior year, Acevedo nominated her for the President’s Award for Innovation in Teaching, which she won in 2004. Her admiration for her former student is equally strong.

“I am so impressed by all of Tony's successes since he graduated from CSUSM,” Sepinwall said. “He took everything he was taught here and built on it in his own way to become a superstar teacher. I learn so many things from him when we talk about teaching – and watching him become a state and national leader in history pedagogy, for community colleges and others, makes me tremendously proud as his former Faculty Mentoring Program mentor.”

After graduating from CSUSM, Acevedo earned a master’s degree in history from San Diego State and worked there as a graduate teaching associate. He also taught a history course at CSUSM for a former professor, Darel Engen (another major influence), when Engen was on paternity leave. Hired by HCCC in 2013, he lives in New York City, where he’s in the dissertation phase of achieving a Ph.D. in world history from St. John’s University.

Acevedo particularly values the experience of teaching at a community college.

“Most of my students are first-generation students, and getting to be part of their journey feels special, because for many of them, as for myself, receiving a college degree can be transformational,” he said. “I also can relate to the ways my students have to balance lots of real-life responsibilities, such as heavy work schedules, with their pursuit of a college education, and I am continually impressed by their grit and perseverance.

“Most of my students are also non-history majors taking history courses to fulfill a requirement, so I especially love reading student evaluations that start with ‘I didn’t like history before’ or ‘History was never my favorite subject’ before they explain how much they enjoyed the class.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Over the past 12 months, Cal State San Marcos celebrated several fundraising milestones.

Last fall, the university publicly launched Blueprint for the Future, an ambitious campaign to raise $200 million in philanthropy and research funding. Today, the campaign has reached 84% of its goal thanks to the generosity of donors, alumni and community partners.

CSUSM also recorded its second-highest fundraising year in campus history, reflecting a growing culture of philanthropy across the university.

"Every gift creates a new opportunity for a CSUSM student," CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt said. "Our donors believe in the potential of our students and the power of higher education to change lives and strengthen our region’s economic prosperity. Their generosity is creating opportunities for social mobility today while shaping the future of our university for generations to come."

Building the Future of Engineering

The largest gift of the 2025-26 academic year, $10 million from Hunter Industries, ranks among the largest philanthropic contributions in university history. The investment builds on a decades-long partnership between the university and the Hunter family and will support the future Hunter Hall of Science and Engineering.

Opening in spring 2028, the 70,000-square-foot, three-story facility will feature advanced laboratories, a robotics suite and collaborative learning spaces designed to prepare students for careers in engineering and advanced technology.

Hunter Hall will expand CSUSM's engineering capacity, increasing enrollment from approximately 500 to nearly 2,000 students while enabling the launch of a new industrial and systems engineering program.

Leading the Nation in Social Mobility

Backed by $3 million in philanthropic support, the university will become home to the CSU National Center for Social Mobility, a hub for research, innovation and collaboration that will share evidence-based practices across all 22 CSU campuses and beyond.

The center builds on CSUSM's longstanding commitment to expanding opportunity. Earlier this year, CSUSM was ranked No. 1 in the nation for social mobility for the second time in four years by the CollegeNET Social Mobility Index.

Stewarding Donor Investments

The university also celebrated the continued growth of its endowment. This year, CSUSM earned systemwide recognition for investment performance, achieving the highest five-year rate of return among CSU campuses, tying for the top one-year return and ranking second in 10-year performance.

Fueling Research and Innovation

Faculty research is also advancing Blueprint for the Future. Physics professor Justin Perron is leading a three-year, federally funded initiative to give undergraduates hands-on training in quantum information science and technology. Additional funding is supporting research in mathematics, biology, mental health and public health.

Record-Breaking Giving Day

The momentum behind Blueprint for the Future extends far beyond transformational gifts. It is powered by thousands of alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends who believe in the promise of CSUSM.

That collective generosity was on full display during the university's most successful Giving Day to date. In just 24 hours, supporters contributed $828,397 through 2,444 gifts, setting a new university record. Alumni also continue to play an increasingly important role in the campaign, now representing 32% of all Blueprint for the Future donors.

A new building. A national center. Thousands of lives transformed. That's the vision behind Blueprint for the Future, and every gift brings CSUSM closer to reaching the goal to raise $200 million in philanthropy and research funding.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

This spring, Clerihan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and she's planning to launch her own construction billing business in the community she now calls home. She credits her professors at CSUSM at Temecula for encouraging her to pursue her educational and entrepreneurial dreams.

“I was never that student who enjoyed school, but at CSUSM at Temecula, I found myself on the dean’s list and looking forward to going to class,” Clerihan said. “My parents were amazed by the change in me.” 

Her story was highlighted by CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt at “The Power of Us” Southwest Riverside County Community Breakfast on June 30. The event brought together local business, government, education and community leaders to explore how partnerships are shaping the region’s educational and economic future. 

Sponsored by the Pechanga Band of Indians, the event was emceed by CSUSM Foundation Board directors Alisha Wilkins and Esther Phahla, both Temecula residents and local business owners with deep ties to the region. 

Before Neufeldt took the stage, Riverside County Third District Supervisor Chuck Washington reflected on the partnership that has shaped CSUSM’s presence in Southwest Riverside County. 

“It started with a simple but ambitious idea: bringing expanded higher education opportunities closer to the families of Southwest Riverside County,” Washington said. “Cal State San Marcos has listened to our communities, understood our workforce needs and invested in programs that reflect our local priorities.”  

Meeting Students Where They Are 

CSUSM established its Temecula campus in 2008 and has expanded to include two locations, with programs in nursing, software engineering, teacher credentialing and business administration. That commitment received a major boost in 2024 when Riverside County invested $5.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to enhance technology, equipment and academic programs.  

Today, more than 20% of CSUSM’s nearly 17,000 students come from Riverside County. Students attend classes on the university’s main campus in San Marcos, at CSUSM’s Temecula locations, online or through a combination of locations. 

Expanding access to higher education is central to CSUSM’s mission of advancing social mobility. Last fall, the university again was recognized as the nation’s top university for social mobility by CollegeNET, reflecting its success in helping students improve their economic opportunities through earning a degree. 

“Beyond the ranking, social mobility is a student like Alyssa, who thought she would have to drop out and instead earned her business degree,” Neufeldt said. “It's a first-generation student becoming an engineer. A working parent becoming a nurse. A transfer student becoming a teacher. That's what social mobility looks like.” 

Collaborating Across the Region 

In her remarks, Neufeldt emphasized that expanding access to higher education requires collaboration among schools, colleges, employers and community partners. 

She highlighted the university's participation in Riverside County's Direct Admission initiative, the first countywide partnership of its kind with the California State University system, as well as CSUSM's Alliance partnerships with more than two dozen school districts and tribal nations. 

“The message to students is simple,” Neufeldt said. “You belong here. You can do this. College is not something that happens to other people. It is for you.” 

Aligning Education with Workforce Needs 

Neufeldt also showcased several programs developed in response to workforce needs identified by employers throughout Southwest Riverside County. 

Among them is an accelerated software engineering pathway created in partnership with MSJC, Temecula Valley Unified School District and Murrieta Valley Unified School District. The innovative model allows students to begin coursework in high school, earn college credit through MSJC and complete a CSUSM bachelor's degree on an accelerated timeline. The program is now expanding to include Lake Elsinore Unified School District. 

The university is also strengthening healthcare pathways. CSUSM produces more nurses than any other campus in the California State University system and has graduated nearly 4,000 nurses over the past decade. The university is developing a concurrent nursing agreement with MSJC that would allow students to earn their RN and BSN degrees simultaneously. 

“A skilled workforce is essential to the economic vitality of this region, and we are working conscientiously with our education partners and community leaders to create and deliver the right mix of programs that meet the needs of these communities,” said Godfrey Gibbison, CSUSM’s dean of Extended Learning and associate vice president for international programs.  

Additional programs under development include integrated studies, early childhood education and clinical laboratory science, a high-demand healthcare profession identified by regional employers as one of their most difficult positions to fill. 

“Every one of these programs starts with the same question,” Neufeldt said. “What does this region need? And how can we help meet that need?” 

Looking Ahead 

Neufeldt noted that CSUSM's work in Southwest Riverside County continues to evolve, with plans to further expand into MSJC University Center. 

"This gathering represents something that is a hallmark of Southwest Riverside County: the belief that progress happens through partnership," she said. "Real change happens when we work together." 

For students like Clerihan, those opportunities can be life-changing: a degree, a business and a future in the community she loves. 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

For Cal State San Marcos alumnus Jaedon Spurlock, the decision was simple.

During commencement weekend last month, he and his dad, Jared Spurlock, elected to skip the ceremony and instead climb Mount Whitney.

“I just figured, since my friends aren’t going to the ceremony, maybe it’d be all right if I did this instead,” Jaedon Spurlock said. “I think it’d be cooler, and I think it’d be more memorable for me.”

So, on Monday, May 18, after a weekend spent preparing, father and son completed the 18-hour hike up Mount Whitney.

Mount Whitney is in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It’s the highest point in the lower United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet. Thousands of people try to reach the summit each year, but not all make it, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

The Spurlocks, however, did. And since it was commencement weekend, they held a small ceremony at the peak.

“I brought a little grad cap that I bought on Amazon, and then I also had my honors cord that I got from the school, so I just brought that with me,” Spurlock said. “I didn’t have too much space in my backpack, so I brought what I could.”

It worked out that commencement weekend was the window of opportunity for the Spurlocks to go on this journey, because permits are limited due to the sheer number of requests and the conditions on the mountain at the time, according to the Park Service.

The climb allowed the family to grow closer.

“We’ve always enjoyed doing outdoor stuff, and we wanted to do things together,” Spurlock said. “So, we’ve just started hiking together.”

He said he is used to challenges such as climbing Mount Whitney.

Jaedon was born with congenital profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and now hears with cochlear implants. The implants are small rectangular devices that sit behind the ears and act as sound processors. Then then stimulate the nerves in his ear, allowing him to hear.

The implant on the right side isn’t working, however, so he’s living with low hearing.

“I’ve always grown up using only my left side,” he said. “So, I actually have full hearing on this side, but on this side, I can’t hear at all. It’s kind of like 50% hearing.”

Asked how he navigates this challenge, he said: “A lot of times I won’t get what someone says on the first time, so I always be like, ‘Oh, could you repeat that?’ And they’ll say the same thing again. Usually, I get it the second or third time.”

He said keeping a positive attitude helps him to accept his disability.

“I think it’s just years of growing up with this disability and then being able to accomplish things that other people can,” he said. “It’s knowing that I’m just as capable as a person as anyone else.”

His degree is in software engineering, and he graduated magna cum laude. One of his professors remembers Spurlock as smart and hard-working.

“He never mentioned to me the challenge that he faced”, said Yongjie Zheng, a professor of computer science and engineering. “Instead, Jaedon worked as hard as many other students and had lots of industrial experience. He kindly shared with us his technical knowledge and internship experience in some of our classes.”

Spurlock plans to move to Orlando, Fla., this summer to begin his career at Lockheed Martin – a massive aerospace, defense and technology corporation – as a software engineer. He said his time at CSUSM helped prepare him for his future.

As his recent climbing experience illustrates, he doesn’t accept limitations on what he can accomplish.

“Don’t put yourself in a situation where you put yourself to the same expectations as others,” he said. “Set your own expectations, set your own level of confidence and just find what you can do.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Cal State San Marcos researchers – along with colleagues from the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the Research Experiences for Southern California Undergraduate Ecologists network (RESCUE-Net) – recently discovered a population of banana slugs at Palomar Mountain.

Now they are trying to determine if they stumbled on a new species of the slug, or if it is an existing species far from its usual home.

The team was so excited about its discovery that it blasted the news on social media after a population was found in photos on a nature app.

Fun fact: The mascot for UC Santa Cruz is the banana slug, which was selected in the 1980s. And in 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation making the banana slug the state’s official slug.

“This tells you about the importance of this slug … in the California culture,” said Sergio Nigenda Morales, a CSUSM assistant professor of biological sciences. “If it’s a different species and a really isolated population, that’s what I’m interested in studying. And it’s in our backyard, so we can just go and try to study them.”

“Great discoveries often begin with curiosity,” said Jackie Trischman, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. “Dr. Nigenda Morales recognized a fascinating scientific mystery right here in our area and engaged students in the process of exploring it. That's exactly the kind of hands-on learning and discovery we value at CSUSM.”

The banana slug is a decomposer that eats dead organic matter such as fallen leaves, plants and moss, then recycles it into waste that fertilizes the soil. It got its name because it resembles a ripe banana, and it’s usually found on moist forest floors in the Pacific Northwest.

Nigenda Morales said there are two ways that the population of slugs could exist here in San Diego County. One, they could have been introduced from a population farther north. Two, the slugs could have existed on Palomar Mountain for a while but are now trapped there because of the hot, dry conditions in the area surrounding the mountain.

California is home to all six currently recognized banana slug species, which explains the cultural importance of these slugs for Californians, according to Nigenda Morales.

CSUSM got involved in the project after Nigenda Morales, who joined the faculty in 2023, spoke about his genetic research on mammals, particularly whales, at UC Santa Cruz in the spring of 2025. That’s when he was approached by Janet Leonard, a UCSC researcher who’s a leading expert on banana slug reproduction.

Leonard asked if he’d be willing to partner on research on the genetic makeup of banana slugs. UCSC provided the samples, and Nigenda Morales decided that the research would make a great class and lab for students at CSUSM in a course called “Population Genetics.”

The group started the process of extracting the DNA of the samples, and a few days later, Leonard connected Nigenda Morales with some researchers and scientists from Los Angeles.

The research and initial work began last August. A short time later, a discussion was held about possible banana slug sightings at Palomar Mountain, dating back to the 1980s or even '90s, that were never proven. However, on the iNaturalist app/website, which relies on citizen science for its data, photos of the slugs on the mountain were recorded for about 10 years before a decision was made to pursue the research.

The group decided to organize an expedition to the site and tried seven times to find the slug. Luckily, eight was the magic number.

As far as next steps, the group will send the samples it collected off to be studied against the other six known populations of slugs. Once that is done, an analysis will be conducted at CSUSM with students in Nigenda Morales’ lab.

“Once we get the samples back, we can work on figuring out how much genetic diversity there is and how big the population is,” Nigenda Morales said.

The researchers also are also studying to see if the slugs can survive on the mountain.

“With small populations, you can have genetic problems such as inbreeding; if we know about that, then we can take better care of them,” he said. “We cannot intervene, but because Palomar Mountain is a California state park, we can give some recommendations to the rangers.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

But in spring 2025, the 22-year-old offensive midfielder was fighting to recover after a serious injury to his collarbone. Dobbins was participating in a game near the end of the season when tragedy struck, in this case literally.

“Someone came and blindsided me. I had broken my clavicle, and it broke into three pieces,” Dobbins said. “It was pretty gnarly.”

Tim Puls, the head coach of the CSUSM men’s lacrosse club, said it was the second time that Dobbins had been injured within a year.

“In the fall (2024), he broke his collarbone in one of our fall scrimmages, and he recovered from that,” Puls said. “Then he broke his other collarbone, his left side, in the spring.”

If you’re not that familiar with lacrosse, Puls described it as “hockey on grass and turf. You’ve got some big boys in these leagues, and you’re running around with sticks. It’s pretty physical.”

Despite the physicality and even after two injuries, Dobbins said he wasn’t ready to give up. After all, he has been playing the sport since he was about 4 or 5 years old.

But the path back to the field wasn’t easy. After the second injury, Dobbins was scheduled for surgery to repair his collarbone. The day before the surgery, however, he started having breathing problems and lower back pain.

That’s when doctors discovered blood clots in his lungs. Because of the collarbone injury, blood had begun slowly filling his lungs and becoming clots, which collected in his lower lungs.

“If I had gone in, it’s pretty scary to think about back then, it probably wouldn’t have been good for me,” Dobbins said.

After the surgery, he worked with a physical therapist, learning the basics.

“My rehab was grueling and not fun at all,” he said. “I pretty much had to relearn how to use my arm, how to eat, drink, grabbing cups. It was a process.”

But through it all, he knew he had to get back on the field and rejoin his team.

His coach said Dobbins, as a captain, is “like the heartbeat of our team.”

“He takes this sport very seriously, and he wants to play at the highest level,” said Puls, adding that Dobbins “does a great job of being a leader and helping out the young guys.”

A transfer to CSUSM in 2024, Dobbins previously played at Stevenson University, an NCAA Division III school in Maryland.

Founded in 2010, CSUSM’s lacrosse club competes at Division II level in the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference. Led by Dobbins, who recorded 40 goals and 15 assists, the team went 16-2 this spring, losing in the semifinals of the national playoffs.

It’s this team and family that Dobbins credits for helping him stay positive during his recovery.

“I missed playing with my boys, my best friends,” he said.

Puls, who is also Dobbins’ stepfather, credits the team with helping Dobbins by keeping his spirits up.

“These guys supported him, they were calling and talking to him, guys were coming over to the house checking on him, making sure he was good physically and mentally,” Puls said. “And soon as he was able to move around, he went out with the guys to get some shots and reps in.”

Dobbins, who will be a senior this fall, has a major in wildfire science and the urban interface. He said he wants to win a national championship in lacrosse and then focus on firefighting.

He also said his injuries taught him a valuable lesson.

“Luckily, the body is marvelous," he said. "I learned a lot through the process. The body will never let itself fail.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Perron is leading a three-year, $1,085,815 project supported by the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, targeting one of the most demanding areas in modern science: quantum information science and technology (QIST).  

The effort builds on a previous Department of Energy RENEW award that equipped CSU undergraduate faculty to integrate quantum concepts into their courses. Now Perron is tackling the next barrier: getting students hands-on experience with the technology itself. 

"Most undergraduate QIST education is theoretical or textbook-focused," Perron said. "While simulations and cloud-accessible systems are valuable, the quantum sector also needs scientists and engineers with hands-on experience operating these systems. Because quantum technology is expensive and typically limited to research and industry settings, most students don't have access to that kind of training." 

Perron’s team is developing a curriculum that teaches core QIST lab competencies without requiring access to a full quantum system. The model will draw on data from quantum industry stakeholders to define workforce needs, then design and test the curriculum at CSUSM and partner institutions, measuring its effectiveness from the perspectives of students, faculty and potential employers. 

While Perron’s project focuses on preparing students for emerging careers in quantum science, other newly funded CSUSM projects are reimagining how students engage with mathematics and biology from the start of their academic journeys. 

"It's exciting to see our faculty leading nationally competitive projects that connect research and teaching in powerful ways," said Charles De Leone, dean of graduate studies and research. "These grants reflect what's possible at an institution like ours, where faculty are deeply invested in student success and bring that commitment into cutting-edge work." 

Additional projects funded this academic year include: 

• Rethinking the gateway to calculus 
  A $173,098 grant from the National Science Foundation supports a collaborative project led by mathematics professor Kimberly Ayers, in partnership with Florida International University, Clark College and the University of Virginia. The project introduces a more interactive model for teaching introductory calculus, a course that serves as a gateway to most STEM majors but has some of the highest failure and withdrawal rates nationally in undergraduate education. 
  Rather than lecture-centered instruction, students work in small groups to solve problems and explain their thinking out loud, building procedural skills alongside the mathematical confidence that research shows is essential to staying in STEM. The collaboration across four institutions allows the team to test the approach across different student populations and refine what works.
• Putting field research into the biology curriculum 
  Funded with a $499,970 grant from the National Science Foundation, a project led by biology professors Mallory Rice, George Vourlitis and Jane Kim will embed hands-on, community-driven scientific research directly into biology courses at CSUSM. Students will investigate biological questions about how urban development is affecting wildlife and natural resources across North San Diego County.
• Building the region’s behavioral and mental health workforce 
  CSUSM received a $450,000 grant from the County of San Diego to help strengthen the region’s health and human services workforce through a partnership with the county’s Health and Human Services Agency and San Diego State University.
• Preparing future public health leaders 
  Kim Pulvers, a professor of psychology, and Richard Armenta, an associate professor of kinesiology, received a competitive renewal award for the Research & Action for Community Health (REACH): CSUSM/UCSD Smoke and Vape Free Scholars Program in partnership with UC San Diego. The program trains undergraduate and master’s students to address tobacco-related health disparities through research, community engagement and public health workforce development. Since the program’s launch in 2022, scholars have presented their work more than 30 times, published nine papers and gone on to graduate programs and health-related careers. This $1,331,620 grant is funded by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program. 

“What’s especially meaningful about these projects is the way they connect research, teaching and workforce preparation,” De Leone said. 

Research funding is an integral part of CSUSM’s “Blueprint for the Future” fundraising campaign, helping advance the university’s $200 million goal through both philanthropy and grants. 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Helmantoler had planned to major in speech-language pathology, but a part-time job leading art classes for children shifted her direction entirely. 

“I realized I loved working with a group of kids and creating that classroom environment,” said Helmantoler, president of the Future Educators Association (FEA), an organization for aspiring teachers at Cal State San Marcos. 

This week, Helmantoler will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, and this fall she will begin a multiple subject credential program to teach transitional kindergarten. 

Her involvement in FEA has been supported by Project R.I.S.E. (short for Recruiting Inclusive, Supportive Educators), a CSUSM initiative aimed at strengthening Southern California’s educator pipeline.   

Jared Leeds is on a similar path, one he has envisioned since childhood. 

“I remember playing teacher when I was in kindergarten,” said Leeds, who is pursuing a single-subject credential in English and plans to teach literature to middle and high school students. 

“It’s an interest that has always stayed with me. There’s something profound about building trust with students and knowing you can make an impact, whether it’s big or small. It’s a fulfilling career path.” 

Project R.I.S.E. also has shaped Leeds’ experience. Through program events, he connected with high school students exploring teaching, as well as educators who shared their perspectives and career journeys. 

The initiative is generously funded by SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, which provided an initial $40,000 grant to launch Project R.I.S.E. last year and has since committed an additional $120,000 to expand the program. 

“Supporting future educators is an investment in the future of our communities,” said Kristin Crellin, senior vice president at SchoolsFirst FCU and a CSUSM Foundation Board director. “Programs like Project R.I.S.E. create pathways for students to become teachers who will make a lasting difference for generations to come.” 

With this investment, Project R.I.S.E. hosted 400 high school students and their teachers at the Future Educators Summit, offering 14 sessions ranging from student panels and campus tours to hands-on classroom activities. It also organized mock interviews with school administrators for CSUSM students and launched its first College and Career Readiness Summit, bringing together regional educators to co-develop pathways that better support students from high school through college and into careers in education. 

“SchoolsFirst FCU makes this work possible,” said Cassiopeia Guthrie, Project R.I.S.E. faculty fellow and Distinguished Teacher in Residence. “It allows us to create opportunities for students at every stage, from bringing high school students to campus to helping credential candidates cover essential costs like testing and certification fees, while helping build a more diverse educator workforce.” 

Support from SchoolsFirst FCU helps students like Helmantoler and Leeds become educators who will shape and inspire the next generation. It also contributes to CSUSM’s Blueprint for the Future fundraising campaign to raise $200 million in philanthropy and research funding.  

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

While the Class of 2026 prepares to walk across the graduation stage in their caps and gowns, four Cougars athletics teams and one individual are gearing up to continue their stellar seasons with appearances in regional and national championship events.

Here’s a rundown of what’s on tap.

Softball Team to Host Regional

For the second time in school history, the CSUSM softball team (50-8) will host the NCAA Division II West Regional. They will be the top seed when they face No. 8 seed Hawaii Hilo on Thursday at noon.

Joining the Cougars and Vulcans at the same site will be two teams that CSUSM knows well as rivals from the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA): No. 4 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills and No. 5 Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Cougars enjoyed another historic regular season, earning the program's second CCAA championship with a 28-4 conference record.

When they held the No. 1 spot in the Division II national ranking for four weeks, it marked the first time any CSUSM team was ranked first in a national poll since the school completed the transition from NAIA to NCAA D-II in 2017-18.

The winner of the regional pod at CSUSM will advance to face the winner of the other NCAA West Regional – consisting of No. 2 seed Cal State East Bay, No. 3 Concordia University Irvine, No. 6 Biola and No. 7 Western Washington (34-20) – in the NCAA West Super Regional on May 21-22.

Baseball Team Picked for Regional

CSUSM’s baseball team (33-17) will make its second NCAA D-II West Regional appearance after being selected as the No. 4 seed by the NCAA selection committee.

The host of the regional is top-seeded Cal State Monterey Bay, a conference rival of the Cougars, who also will be joined by No. 5 seed Northwest Nazarene. CSUSM will begin the regional by facing Northwest Nazarene for the first time ever, on Thursday at noon in Seaside, with the loser of that game facing CSUMB at 3 p.m.

The winner of the regional pod will advance to face the winner of the other NCAA West Regional – consisting of No. 2 seed Point Loma Nazarene, No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona and No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino – in the NCAA West Super Regional on May 21-23.

Women’s Golf Makes Nationals

The CSUSM women’s golf team is in Florida as one of 18 teams to qualify for the NCAA D-II national championship.

The Cougars, ranked No. 7 in the country, are the top qualifier of the five teams to make the tournament from the West Region. The national championship started Tuesday and continues through Saturday at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

CSUSM earned its spot last week by winning the first NCAA D-II West Regional title in program history. The Cougars posted a three-round score of 55-over-par 907 to defeat No. 2 Dallas Baptist by seven strokes at Pueblo, Colo. Avery Foster led the team with a second-place finish among individuals, carding an 11-over 224.

Men’s Golf Makes History

The men’s golf program has secured a berth as a team in the NCAA D-II national championship for the first time in school history.   

The Cougars are one of 20 teams that advanced from the regionals, with the national tournament taking place May 18-22 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev.

CSUSM punched its ticket by finishing in a tie for fourth place at the NCAA D-II West/South Central Regional, posting a three-round score of 3-over-par 867 at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton. Liam Weaver led the Cougars by tying for second in the field individually with a score of 9-under 207.  

Jumper Qualifies for Track and Field Championships

Jordyn Brooks of the women's outdoor track and field team has been selected to compete in the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships.

Brooks will make her NCAA championships debut in the triple jump after recording the 22nd-best mark in Division II (12.20 meters) during the recent CCAA championships. Her mark ranked second in the conference and the West region.

Athletes qualified for the championships by reaching a provisional standard established for each event. For each individual event contested, the top 22 declared athletes were accepted into the competition.

The NCAA championships will be held in Emporia, Kan., and Brooks will compete on May 22.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Julian, a Cal State San Marcos social sciences major who's graduating this week, grew up in Los Angeles. The youngest of six siblings, she dealt with surroundings that proved challenging. She said one of her sisters became addicted to drugs when Julian was young, and a brother got involved with gangs and was in and out of juvenile hall.

Julian said her father was an abusive alcoholic and that her parents divorced when she was 2 years old. Her mother worked nights at a hospital as a nursing assistant, and her oldest brother was often responsible for taking care of her and her siblings as best he could.

But Julian doesn’t have much memory of her siblings because when she was only 6, she and her next-oldest sister were placed in foster care. They previously had been in kinship care with their maternal grandmother, who lived across the street. However, they were put in foster care after often returning to their mother’s house, where they were not allowed to be because their mother’s new boyfriend had been accused of molesting one of Julian’s siblings. 

“A lot of my childhood was just surviving,” Julian said.

Julian moved 11 times during her 13 years in foster care, making it difficult to create a solid group of friends. In eighth grade, she attended one school for only 20 days, but those 20 days marked an important milestone for her. It was at that school that she tested into honors classes, which allowed her to take AP classes when she entered high school.

After graduating from high school, Julian was accepted into the Guardian Scholars program, which helps former foster youth pursue higher education. Though the scholarship helped her afford college, the overall experience proved traumatizing.

Julian was sexually assaulted at both her initial college and another college where she transferred after the first incident. Both times, she said, her feelings were never prioritized. She said she wasn’t believed the first time and the second time she was only asked if she was pregnant.

The assaults led to a challenging period. Julian couch surfed with friends until she eventually had to move back with her biological mother because she had nowhere else to go. That, too, was traumatic as Julian contended with learning that she had been molested as a child, which she said subconsciously contributed to many of the issues she experienced as a young adult.

To make matters worse, Julian also experienced an ectopic pregnancy that left her fighting for her life in the hospital, with only one of her foster parents around to support her.

Julian recovered and worked countless jobs just trying to survive without a support system. She ended up marrying a man she hoped could provide her with stability and love, but the relationship was both physically and verbally abusive.

It continued until one day Julian knew she needed to make a change.

“I just remember thinking, ‘I don’t deserve this. I’ve worked so hard and I know I am worth more than this,’ ” she said.

After a gap of almost 20 years since she’d been in college, Julian enrolled at Irvine Valley College during the pandemic. She earned an associate degree and transferred to CSUSM in 2024 to pursue a bachelor’s degree.

During orientation at CSUSM, Julian was unsure if she had made the right choice to pursue a degree in social sciences, as she originally went to college for psychology. But seeing sociology professor Matthew Atherton made all the difference.

“When I saw Dr. Atherton’s bright smile, he made me feel like I made the right choice,” Julian said.

It wasn’t just the encouragement of professors that made her time at CSUSM special. It was also the support she received from ACE Scholars Services when she needed it most. Being in her 40s, Julian no longer qualified for financial support from ACE. However, she still loved having community support when she was going through tough times.

“ACE gave me a safe space to let out my feelings and vent about situations I was struggling with, where I may not have even been able to go to class if I held these thoughts in,” she said.

The comforting space that ACE Scholars cultivates for former foster care students has helped many students achieve the higher education goals they thought were unattainable.

Over the last 15 years, Julian met the man she is currently living with and helped him fight for custody of his two daughters. She continues to support the girls, as their biological mother was not part of their upbringing. They are 18 and 20 now, and Julian has made it her top priority to give them the life she wishes she had.

“I never thought I would be a mom because I was afraid I would transfer all the trauma that I went through onto my children,” Julian said, “But it was actually the opposite. I took everything that I didn't like from my childhood and promised I would never be that type of parent.”

So, as Julian completes her finals, writes her last papers and orders her cap and gown for graduation, she is reminded of how much of a role model she has been for her daughters. She has worked to show them that, even when life seems like it has turned against you, you can always make it through.

Julian is applying to get her master’s in education counseling at San Diego State University and hopes to continue her passion for inspiring students, especially foster students, to achieve higher education.

“Foster care children come from a place where they just need a little more help to believe in themselves,” she said. “And I hope to one day be the support for those students.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

“You need to find something to stay active,” Tony said.

He picked up gardening, building raised beds as his first woodworking project since his youth.

“They were a little rough,” he said with a laugh, but now they harvest baskets of potatoes, carrots, onions, snap peas and more.

Even seeds that accidentally fell to the ground took root, turning into tomato vines. The Jacksons’ Fallbrook home also has avocado, citrus and pomegranate trees, along with native plants that Sue carefully manages.

It’s a fitting next chapter for a couple who always has put in the work.

Retirement also gave the Jacksons more time for philanthropy.

Tony first visited Cal State San Marcos in 2011, and one thing stood out to him immediately: a dedicated office for student veterans.

“That was impressive,” he said, “to see resources for a group with unique experiences.”

This would motivate him to serve on the CSUSM Foundation Board for 13 years.

Today, he and Sue continue to support student veterans through the Major General Anthony L. Jackson Veterans Endowed Scholarship. They also support ACE Scholars Services and men’s and women’s basketball.

Using QCDs Instead of Cash to Support Students

The Jacksons’ approach to giving recently evolved.

Tony had heard of qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from individual retirement accounts (IRAs), but he didn’t take advantage of the strategy until last year.

“We love what CSUSM is doing and knew we were going to give,” he said. “QCDs were just the wisest way to do it.”

A QCD allows individuals age 70½ or older to make a distribution from their IRA directly to a nonprofit like the CSUSM Foundation. The distribution counts toward any required minimum distribution (RMD) but doesn’t count as income, thus avoiding income tax. That can help lower overall tax liability, reduce Medicare premiums and avoid certain income-based phaseouts. Individuals can give up to $111,000 per year this way, even if their RMD is lower.

Still, for the Jacksons, the strategy is secondary.

“I remember what it was like to be a struggling student,” Tony said.

As a former student-athlete on scholarship at San Jose State, he knows personally what a difference philanthropy can make.

“Sue and I have more than we need,” he said. “How can we share that and help the generations behind us? It’s the right thing to do.”

For the Jacksons, giving to CSUSM is about more than tax efficiency. It’s about investing in students, strengthening the community they’ve long called home and continuing a lifetime of service.

Interested in QCDs?

For information on QCDs and other tax-smart ways to give, contact P. Vien Walker, director of planned giving, at 760-750-8138 or vwalker@csusm.edu, or visit plannedgiving.csusm.edu.

Every contribution to CSUSM brings the university closer to its Blueprint for the Future campaign goal to raise $200 million in philanthropy and research funding.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

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 their days as teammates on the Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team from 2018-22. Forrester, now an assistant coach and director of basketball operation for the UCSB women, told Hackson how the hardest part of her job is coordinating meals for players when the team is on road trips.

“Honestly, everything is perfect besides the meal part – and the meal part isn’t hard, it’s just the organizational part,” Forrester said. “And so Akayla is like, ‘OK, well let me fix this.’ ”

It turned out to be a life-changing solution for Hackson. In coming up with an alternative for Forrester, Hackson launched MealOps, a business that aims to modernize team meal logistics by helping athletic programs efficiently coordinate, organize and execute large group orders.

“I like to help and I like to build things,” Hackson said. “I told Kelsey I'd help her out and maybe build a product for her to keep it more organized and just help the workflow in general. Then I had a couple more friends come to me about similar issues. So I took a step back and I realized this could be something bigger.”

Hackson, who graduated from CSUSM in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in computer science, comes from a family of engineers. She has been interested in the discipline for as long as she can remember, and she always aspired to start her own company. After graduating from CSUSM, Hackson earned a master’s in machine learning and artificial intelligence from Stanford. She worked as a software engineer at G2 Software Systems, a U.S. Department of Defense contracting company, for three years before deciding last fall to focus completely on MealOps.

“It was scary,” she said. “It's hard when you have that cushion and job security, the constant income coming in to pretty much no income for a bit. I was just trying to believe in myself and believe in the product that I was building.”

MealOps is a one-stop shop to help teams with the logistics of feeding their athletes. It recently evolved into two connected products:

• CoachImHungry is a platform built for athletic programs to manage team meal logistics and ordering workflows.
• Phantom is an AI agent that connects with restaurant point-of-sale (POS) systems like Toast or Square and enables restaurants to accept orders securely from AI agents.

Hackson said CoachImHungry now operates on top of Phantom’s restaurant ordering infrastructure.

Hackson’s college basketball experience and athletics connections have been big assets as she gets the business off the ground.

“College athletics is super interconnected,” Hackson said. “I've been able to go to friends and to show them prototypes and ask, ‘How does this look? How does the workflow look?’ ”

So far, MealOps is exploring deals with UC San Diego, the University of San Diego and UCSB, which is coached by Renee Jimenez, Hackson’s coach at CSUSM.

“It has the potential to be really special,” Forrester said. “When I talk to people who take care of the operational stuff, this is one of the hardest parts for all teams.

“When Akayla puts her mind to something, she's ready to go and she's fully in. And you can see how much progress she's made on this already in such a short a period of time.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Yang is part of Cal State San Marcos' Aspiring Scholars program, which helps students with intellectual disabilities fully experience campus life while building skills, confidence and a pathway to meaningful employment. Launched in 2023 by CSUSM education professor Rebecca Brooks, the program has grown from four students to 19, offering participants an opportunity to learn and grow in the CSUSM community while earning a certificate in higher education academic and career studies. Last fall, the program reached another milestone by securing on-campus internships for students like Yang.

Yang spent the spring semester as an intern in the University Communications office. Working with other student assistants and interns in University Communications, Yang documented campus life through photography and was always eager to help in the creation of social media content.

Yang has taken hundreds of photos throughout the semester, and some of his favorites were shared in March and April. With his internship ending this month, we're sharing one more selection of some of Yang's recent work.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Her aspiration was to build something lasting: a culture where community partnership would become so deeply embedded in CSUSM’s identity that it became a shared responsibility across the entire campus.

“I wanted to work myself out of a job,” Prado-Olmos said. “My marker was that community-engaged work would be so endemic across the institution that it would be a hallmark of who Cal State San Marcos is. We would hear about that as a hallmark in the community. And people on campus would be saying, ‘Well, of course, that’s what we do. That’s part of who we are.’

“We’re really at that point, and I think we’ve been at that point for a couple of years.”

CSUSM will continue to build on her legacy and its strong foundation in community engagement, with more information on next steps being shared in the new academic year.

As for Prado-Olmos, she has decided that she will retire at the end of the 2026-27 academic year and conclude her 30-year career at CSUSM, including the last six as chief community engagement officer.

Prado-Olmos not only has served as a senior leader overseeing the Office of Community Relations & University Engagement, but she also has been a trusted confidante of President Ellen Neufeldt as a member of the President’s Advisory Team (PAT). Neufeldt said she remembers fondly Prado-Olmos’ role in welcoming her to campus as a part of the presidential search committee in 2019.

“I am profoundly grateful for all that she has contributed to and shaped at our university,” Neufeldt said. “I am also thankful that she will remain with us in the year ahead, continuing to support the institution to which she has given so much. Her wisdom and care have made me a better leader.”

In many ways, community has been a touchstone for Prado-Olmos throughout her life. She grew up in El Monte, east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, in a Mexican American community where family and working-class values were treasured. Her father was a firefighter, and she had uncles who were plumbers and foundry workers.

A first-generation college student, Prado-Olmos chose Pomona College, which felt many more miles from her hometown than the approximately 20 that actually separate the two locales.

“It wasn’t until I got to college that I understood in really stark ways that there were people who didn’t regard my background, my family, the schools I came from, the city I grew up in as having value,” Prado-Olmos said. “I knew the value of my family and the languages and my community and everything that came with me, but it was not recognized or validated.

“So when I decided to stay in higher education – and I chose public education for very specific reasons – I said to myself, ‘I’m going to work to change that narrative, where what communities bring is valued.’ ”

At the advice of a Pomona professor, who thought she would be a natural in the classroom, Prado-Olmos elected to pursue a doctorate in educational psychology at UC Santa Barbara. Her first teaching position was in the School of Education at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, where she immediately sought to embed herself in the local school districts.

Two years later, in 1995, Prado-Olmos found herself as a visiting professor back at Pomona, a university that didn’t have a reputation for strong community ties. She tried to change that. Teaching an educational psychology class, she took her wide-eyed students on field trips to area schools to make observations.

“It was kind of breaking the boundaries, but people at Pomona took notice,” she said, adding that the college now boasts the Draper Center for Community Partnerships.

Prado-Olmos, though, truly found the alignment between her personal philosophy and a university’s mission when her third faculty position brought her to CSUSM in 1997. Hired as a professor in what then was called the College of Education, she had been teaching for only a couple of years when she was given a chance to build an internship credential program with school districts in the Temecula Valley, a region where CSUSM now has a secondary campus but then was largely unmined territory.

“An assistant professor two years in rarely gets those kinds of opportunities,” Prado-Olmos said.

Opportunities kept coming for Prado-Olmos, and she kept seizing them – further ensconcing herself in both the campus and external communities. She said yes to an offer to move into the administration as associate dean of the College of Education under Mark Baldwin. She accepted a job as the first director of the Alliance to Accelerate Excellence in Education (The Alliance, for short), a grant-funded program aimed at improving college attendance and graduation rates for all students in CSUSM’s service region.

And when Jan Jackson retired as the university’s first vice president of community engagement, Prado-Olmos stepped away from a classroom role again and into Jackson’s shoes in January 2015.

“I knew that Cal State San Marcos had a lot to offer and that we, at the same time, had a lot to learn from communities,” she said.

When she assumed the VP position, Prado-Olmos recalled, there were pockets of community engagement across campus that needed to be centralized under one umbrella. That became her charge. Her office took on internships, service learning, community outreach, tribal relations, presidential councils and civic education, among other initiatives.

One of Prado-Olmos’ closest colleagues in the division was Sarah Villarreal, who served as her associate VP responsible for community outreach for almost five years. The pair still work together in PAT, with Villarreal being Neufeldt’s chief of staff.

“In every context, she has brought an unwavering commitment to social justice and a deep belief in the importance of authentic partnership between the university and the community,” Villarreal said. “She reshaped how I think about engagement – not as something we do for a community, but something we build with community. Her emphasis on mutual benefit and shared purpose has had a lasting impact on both my work and perspective.”

What, at its core, does it mean for CSUSM to be a community-engaged university?

“I think it means that our students have unique learning opportunities that they can’t always find at another institution,” Prado-Olmos said. “It means that they’re learning a value set and a skill set about how to do things and how to interact with people in partnership that creates a stronger whole. That could not happen without faculty who have the talent to help students translate what they’re learning in the classroom to something applied in a variety of community settings, and that’s the kind of faculty we bring here because they thrive here.”

In retirement, Prado-Olmos wants to spend more time with her family, including her mother, two adult children and two grandchildren. She also wants to take time to really think about what comes next.

“People ask, ‘Well, what do you like to do these days?’ ” she said. “I don’t even know. I like to rest. I enjoy cooking. I enjoy learning. I just don’t know what I want to learn next. Maybe how to do retirement well.”

But Prado-Olmos has one more year to reflect on it, and one more year to keep community – of every stripe – close to her heart.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Honorees were nominated by faculty or staff and endorsed by their college’s dean. Here is a closer look at each award recipient:

Alexis Medina, human development

President’s Outstanding Graduate Award

Dean’s Award, College of Education, Health and Human Services

Medina was lauded as an exceptional scholar, mentor and advocate whose achievements reflect the highest ideals of CSUSM and the CSU’s mission of social mobility.

His academic excellence culminated in a 3.97 grade-point average and summa cum laude distinction. But it was his hands-on commitment to advancing student success for others that most distinguishes him.

Across more than 1,200 hours of community-engaged service, Medina has worked directly with K-12 students in under-resourced schools, providing individualized academic support, facilitating small-group instruction and mentoring young learners as they navigate their own educational journeys. In dual immersion classrooms, he leverages his bilingualism, supporting Spanish-speaking students in developing both academic confidence and a sense of belonging in spaces where they are often marginalized. He intentionally creates inclusive learning environments that affirm students’ identities, reinforce their capabilities and encourage persistence in the face of challenges.

Beyond the classroom, Medina extends this impact by guiding high school students, including first-generation and multilingual learners, through college and career exploration, helping them envision pathways that may have once felt out of reach.

Wendy Hardy, linguistics

Dean’s Award, College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences

Hardy, who also has a minor in French and American Indian studies, was praised for leaving a lasting impact academically and culturally across the campus community.

Hardy’s work demonstrates the transformative power of language to build understanding, preserve culture and advance justice. Graduating with a 3.958 grade-point average, she displays academic excellence that's matched by the depth of her applied work, from contributing to the Kawaiisu Language Documentation Project in support of Indigenous language revitalization to advancing research on linguistic justice through faculty-led scholarship. She is also a gifted educator, serving as a teaching assistant in French, teaching at the San Marcos Senior Center, and bringing creativity and care to tutoring and mentoring.

As founder and inaugural president of the Linguistics Collective, president of the French Club and a leader on the CHABSS Dean’s Student Advisory Council, Hardy has created spaces for belonging, professional growth and community that will endure well beyond her time at CSUSM.

Casey Budlong, business administration marketing

Gerevas Family Dean’s Award, College of Business Administration

Budlong has made a difference across many student groups on campus, and she was hailed as a purpose-driven student leader whose academic excellence and professional growth reflect the very best of CoBA.

Graduating with a 3.915 grade-point average, Budlong has distinguished herself as a top-performing marketing student with a strong foundation in both the analytical and creative dimensions of the field. Business professor Kristin Stewart said from her experience working with Budlong through a Professional Sales Center social media micro-internship, along with consistent feedback from her professors, she is repeatedly described as reliable, independent and collaborative. Budlong also was lauded for consistently taking initiative and producing work that is both thoughtful and results-driven.

Beyond the classroom, Budlong has made a meaningful impact on campus and in the broader community through leadership and service, including supporting environmental efforts through the Surfrider Foundation and serving as a volunteer board member for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America San Diego Chapter.

Isabel Serrano, biochemistry

Dean’s Award, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Graduating with a 3.95 grade-point average in a demanding major, Serrano has distinguished herself through academic excellence and the depth and impact of her research.

In the lab, Serrano has made meaningful contributions to the field, developing novel compounds with potential applications in areas like medical imaging and next-generation technology. Her work has led to a peer-reviewed publication and a patent contribution through her internship with Novartis.

Serrano was lauded for how she brings others along with her. As the founding president of Out in STEM and a leader in multiple student organizations, she has created opportunities for her peers to connect and see themselves in STEM fields. She has helped raise funds so fellow students could attend conferences, mentored first-generation students and built communities where people feel like they belong. Outside of campus, she has carried that same commitment into her community, using her bilingual skills to advocate for others. Serrano’s journey is already opening doors for those around her.

Callie Steppat, biological sciences

Dean’s Award, Graduate Studies and Research

Steppat is completing a master’s degree with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and will continue her education in a Ph.D. program at Cornell.

In the lab, Steppat has built an extraordinary track record by finishing her degree in one year, an unprecedented achievement in the program. She has led five research projects, contributed to six peer-reviewed manuscripts and introduced entirely new lines of inquiry that will continue shaping the lab’s work long after she leaves, according to biology professor Dennis Kolosov.

Kolosov praised Steppat for being an outstanding teacher and mentor, someone who creates supportive, inclusive spaces where students feel comfortable asking questions and building confidence in science. She has co-mentored undergraduate and graduate students in the lab and the classroom, truly embodying the teacher-scholar model, helping lead them to conference presentations and publications.

Outside the university, she volunteers in her community through beach cleanups, supporting dental care for underserved populations and working with veterans in need.

Nayelie Ortiz, sociology

Dean of Students’ Outstanding Leadership Award

Ortiz has built a strong academic record, but Interim Dean of Students Norma Larios said what stands out most is how Ortiz has used her time at CSUSM to lift up those around her.

Since her first year, Ortiz has been deeply involved with the COMPASS Center, supporting undocumented, mixed-status and immigration-impacted students through mentorship, advocacy and day-to-day care. She has helped students navigate challenges and persist to graduation, often stepping in during moments of real crisis to make sure no one feels alone. Whether organizing support for a peer in need or simply showing up consistently with empathy and encouragement, Ortiz leads in a way that is both powerful and personal.

That commitment to others extends far beyond campus. Ortiz mentors first-generation students, coaches youth soccer and volunteers in community safety patrols to support families in her hometown. Even while facing personal challenges, including the impact of devastating fires affecting her own community, she has remained focused on showing up for others.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Bonnie Biggs was a longtime Cal State San Marcos librarian – so long that her tenure predates the university’s official founding by three years – who knew that her second act would revolve around canines. The colorfully named Koshare Squash Blossom Beignet Biggs – Koshi, for short – was a Catahoula leopard hound from Louisiana who had survived Hurricane Katrina and been rescued from a high-kill shelter in Fresno.

When their paths crossed at a local animal shelter two decades ago, Biggs knew she had found her next four-legged friend. What she couldn’t have anticipated was that the magic that happened between the two of them would ultimately spawn a magical event that has transformed the CSUSM community for the better.

Koshi has passed, but her legacy will be evident at CSUSM on May 7. On that Thursday, Biggs, her husband, Gunnar, and two of their current dogs – 12-year-old Zuni, who was Koshi’s little sister, and 3-year-old Molly – will be on campus along with 18 other teams of owners and dogs. They will be stationed outside the third-floor entrance to Kellogg Library to mark the 15th anniversary of Pause for Paws, the beloved, twice-annual event at which therapy dogs help soothe the jangled nerves of CSUSM students during the week before final exams.

To say that Biggs, fellow volunteers, their dogs and the campus community – not only students, but canine-crazy faculty and staff and even President Ellen Neufeldt – look forward to Pause for Paws would be an extreme understatement.

“There are hundreds of volunteers who I’ve worked with over the years, and this is everybody’s favorite visit,” Biggs said. “The students come swarming up the dogs and drop to their knees, hug them, love them. Even these big athletes go goo-goo. Everything changes when they’re around dogs.”

During the three-hour event (which runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.), hundreds of students will get their fur fix as they enter or exit the library. They will love on not only Zuni and Molly, but a menagerie of mutts – among them Lucy, a maltipoo whose owner, Liz, has been with Biggs from the beginning; Daisy, a terrier/dachshund mix; Katie, a cavalier King Charles spaniel; Dude, a standard poodle; Biscuit, a chocolate Labrador; Myles, a golden retriever; Bear, a mixed mutt; Sammy, a corgi; and Camper, a silken windhound.

Students can write and post messages on pieces of paper cut into the shape of chew bones, and in past years the sentiments have included things like:

• “Thank you for bringing the dogs. I really needed them.”
• “So grateful to you and our fur friends!”
• “This is amazing. This is the best day ever.”
• “All the beautiful pups brought me so much joy today.”
• “Thanks for making our lives not so ruff! XOXO”

With finals staring them in the face, students might derive the most benefit from the dogs, but plenty of employees mark their calendars as well. Regina Eisenbach, who retired as dean of academic advising and academic programs last year and is now serving as a faculty fellow, owns two dachshunds and jokingly calls herself a “crazy dog lady.” Pause for Paws is perennially her favorite day of the semester.

“Seeing so many different kinds of dogs is amazing to me,” Eisenbach said. “How can a corgi and a Great Dane be the same species? And how did they all descend from wolves? Truly incredible creatures.

“At Pause for Paws, I get to pet them all, release all the stress in my day and just get doggie kisses. Nothing better than that. Also, seeing how happy the students are to see the dogs warms my heart – I firmly believe it helps them study for finals.”

Biggs is a lifelong dog lover, but it wasn’t until her retirement years that she had time to make this present work her passion project. Her career had been a foundational one in CSUSM history. She began working at the university in 1986, when it was still a North County extension campus of San Diego State, housed in a Jerome’s furniture store.

As a librarian, Biggs was a member of the founding faculty when CSUSM was instituted in 1989, and she doubled as the assistant to longtime library dean Marion Reid. Early in her tenure, a professor who was Lakota Sioux asked her to reach out to tribal libraries that recently had lost funding from San Diego County. One of the unexpected outcomes of what became a long and fruitful partnership with local American Indian tribes is that, when students (seeking a school mascot) came to Biggs wondering about the Luiseno word for mountain lion, she consulted the tribe’s language keeper and came back with “Tukwut.” The name stuck.

Biggs planned to retire in 2003, but then-President Karen Haynes convinced her to stay on by creating the job of tribal liaison – the first such position at the college level in California. In her role, Biggs established another state first in the Native Advisory Council, a body that counsels the president on university relations with American Indian communities and fosters collaboration with area tribes.

“After we developed them, almost everyone in the state, all the way up to Berkeley, wanted to have some kind of tribal liaison, some kind of native council,” Biggs said. “So that’s something I’m proud of, and CSUSM should be, too.”

Retirement held for Biggs in 2007, and one of the first things she did was sign up for obedience training with her new dog, Koshi. Told by the trainer that Koshi would make a good therapy dog, Biggs admitted that she didn’t know what that was.  

She learned that therapy dogs are different from service dogs and emotional support animals. They are specifically trained to tolerate a wide range of environments and to provide companionship and comfort to many people.

Biggs was introduced to Love on a Leash, an organization founded in Oceanside in 1984 by Liz Palika, a dog obedience instructor who introduced the idea of pet-provided therapy to schools, hospitals and nursing homes. Love on a Leash has since expanded nationwide, with thousands of members across the country.

Biggs put Koshi through the Love on a Leash certification and began volunteering with her at hospitals, hospice facilities and – close to Biggs’ heart – libraries, where shy children gain confidence by reading books to eternally patient dogs. It seemed only natural to expand dog therapy to CSUSM, and that’s just what Biggs did in 2011.

“The idea of bringing all this love and support back here to such a special place for me was the best of both worlds,” she said.

Biggs and Koshi – joined by other volunteers and dogs – debuted at CSUSM in May 2011 for an event that they called the first University Stress Buster. By the second edition that fall, a volunteer had tagged it with the catchier name Pause for Paws.

“I knew I was on to something the minute I came here with Koshi, just based on the reaction,” Biggs said.

From the outset, CSUSM’s library has been a hand-in-hand partner with Pause for Paws – starting with Melanie Chu and continuing for the last nine years with Rosa Rodriguez, Chu’s successor as outreach coordinator. Rodriguez has broadened the scope of the event to include arts and crafts, creative activities and supply giveaways in collaboration with campus groups like Student Health & Counseling Services and the Cougar Care Network.

“I appreciate the joy it brings to students during finals,” Rodriguez said. “I love seeing the smiling faces around me as students, staff and faculty join the event to get some fur love.”

When Koshi was in her later years, Biggs and her husband – Gunnar is a bass musician who used to be an instructor at SDSU and Palomar College – adopted Zuni from Arkansas. A treeing Walker coonhound, Zuni also was certified through Love on a Leash and picked up the finer points of the therapy dog craft by observing her big sister. Molly, a “stubborn” beagle adopted from Calexico, in turn has learned from Zuni, who has been read to by children so often that a friend of Biggs awarded the dog an honorary Master of Library Science degree (the same one earned by her owner, of course).

The Biggses have a third dog, a chihuahua-beagle mix named Lupe, but she’s not people-friendly enough to be a therapy pet.

What do the dogs derive from their work?

“I think it’s that oxytocin exchange,” Biggs said. “It’s a comfort hormone, and they know they’re being loved. They know they make people happy. They feel useful.”

Pause for Paws has grown so popular that Biggs and her crew now make three other appearances on campus annually: the “What Gives Your Life Meaning?” campaign organized by the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care each semester and Super STEM Saturday every March.

The event on May 7 outside the library, however, is what Biggs lives for – what she has lived for the last 15 years.

“I get the same good, warm feeling being on the other end of the leash,” she said. “I can’t imagine not doing this.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

At Cal State San Marcos, President Ellen Neufeldt has turned that conviction into a tradition, hosting her fourth annual student exhibition in her residence. 

Each showing has been curated by professional artist and CSUSM alumna Sarah Bricke, whose continued involvement has helped shape the series into a meaningful space for student expression. 

This year’s showcase, “Forms of Growth,” explores the intricate forms, textures and patterns found in plant life. Through sculpture, photography and drawing, the artists use botanical subjects to reflect on personal and social experiences. 

More than 800 CSUSM students major or minor in the arts within the College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences, and this exhibition highlights the range of its creative community. 

The featured artists this year are Amber Miller, Charlotte Dumbeck, Destiny Kirchner and Rodas Alonzo. 

Amber Miller  

Miller creates sculptures and photos that embody intimacy and proximity to counteract cultures of abuse. Relating Mother Nature with the human body as a shared essence of the soul, she demonstrates the art of connection brought from Mother Nature herself. By relating to nature in this way, her practice seeks to illustrate ways of being that exist outside of structures determined by oppressors. 

Charlotte Dumbeck  

Dumbeck creates art that critiques a global economy sustained by overconsumption and investigates its cultural and environmental consequences. She often experiments with material reversals that embody tensions between organic and inorganic items. Through acts of material transformation, the work invites viewers to reflect on the consequences of everyday consumption and our fractured relationship with the natural world. 

Destiny Kirchner  

Kirchner explores how the structures of plant life can shape the composition of visual art. By casting molds of real plants and pairing them with artworks of botanical studies, she translates plant morphology into both physical relief and visual inquiry. The plaster molds capture the exact imprint of each plant, preserving tiny details that might otherwise be overlooked. These impressions sit alongside illustrated botanicals of native plants in California. Together, they create a conversation between scientific observation and artistic interpretation.  

Rodas Alonzo  

Alonzo uses sculpture to reclaim ancestral Indigenous knowledge related to agriculture, identity, spirituality, gastronomy and ecology. She constructs sculptural forms with colorful patterns using materials such as plaster, wire, cardboard, leavesand clay, allowing organic and industrial elements to interact and reveal the tensions between the living and the inert. These materials trace ecological systems and connect them to ancestral teachings on land management and sustainability in Indigenous communities in Guatemala. 

Across all four artists, plant life becomes a way of asking larger questions about identity, consumption, memory and belonging. The result is a thoughtful exploration of how we connect and grow. 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

It wasn’t until she had a conversation with Robert Iafe, one of her biochemistry and chemistry professors, that she gained the confidence to pursue it.

“He was the first professor where I actually went to his office hours and we talked human to human instead of purely professional,” Newell said. “We talked about issues I had going on in my life at the time, struggles with self-doubt and feeling like maybe I want to do medicine but I'm not sure if I can. And he was really supportive of me. I felt like if Dr. Iafe believes in me, then why don’t I believe in myself?

“My conversations with him played a formative role in me changing the trajectory to end up where I am now.”

That would be UC San Diego, where Newell is a first-year medical student. And now that she’s in medical school, Newell is working to help other undergraduate students understand that they belong in the medical field.

It’s what led Newell back to CSUSM on April 18 to participate in the university’s second annual North County Aspiring Medical Professionals Conference (NCAMP). The conference, a one-day event for CSUSM and community college students, is supported by a grant through the California Medicine Scholars Program. CSUSM is a partner in the grant, which is led locally by UCSD.

“The purpose of the conference is to help students learn about the different steps that are needed on their pathway to medical school,” said Richard Armenta, who is the associate director of the Center for Training, Research and Educational Excellence (CTREE) and leads CSUSM’s efforts on the grant. “We have workshops on applying to medical school, transferring to four-year universities and just helping students think about the different things they need to do to be successful in getting into medical school.

“We want students to be able to be here and know that we have the resources and support for them to become medical students and future doctors.”

The conference this year drew about 80 participants, primarily from CSUSM, Palomar College and MiraCosta College. In addition to hearing from Newell and other medical students, participants got firsthand experience with clinical skills, including ultrasounds and medical evaluations.

“I think they really enjoyed it, especially the interactive session,” said Newell, who graduated from CSUSM in 2021. “I didn't use an ultrasound until I got to medical school, so a lot of them had never used it before and never seen it before. They got to see their blood vessels and the inside of their eye. It's very illuminating for them. Especially as undergrads, I remember you feel so far removed from that kind of thing unless you have a special job, which is hard to get. So it was nice to give them that perspective of the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Newell was joined at the conference by two fellow CSUSM alumni who are in medical school at UCSD: Vince Adair and Austin Powell. Seeing people from a similar background is an important part of showing current CSUSM and community college students that they, too, can successfully navigate the path to medical school.

“It took me until almost the end of undergrad to build up my confidence and say, ‘Yes, I want to pursue medical school. I want to be a physician. And I believe that I can do it,’ ” Newell said. “I feel like if there had been something like NCAMP back then, I could have gone and actually mingled with medical students and realized, ‘Oh, they’re just regular people. They don't have some special thing that I don't have.’ I think that could have helped build my confidence earlier.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Representing Mexico, the team won the Outstanding Delegation Award, and one of the members, senior Matt (McKenzie) Anthony, won an Outstanding Delegate Award.

The conference took place from March 29 to April 2 at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan.

The CSUSM students were joined by six students from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa., creating a joint delegation of 23.  

This marked the first NMUN conference for CSUSM since 2016. The Model United Nations program on campus has been revived by Roni Kay O’Dell, an assistant professor of environmental politics in the political science and global affairs department. O’Dell is the main academic adviser for the Model UN and has advised award-winning Model UN teams for 12 years, including at previous university positions.

“I’m so proud and impressed with the dedication of the students to learn from this experience and to expand their professional skills beyond the classroom and into their future academic, career and other professional development opportunities,” O’Dell said. “The students prepare for months, learning about the country they will represent and practicing and learning negotiation and diplomacy skills. They then put it into practice at the conference, and they always learn a great deal that they apply to expanding their skills and abilities.

“The whole Model UN experience makes an invaluable impression on the students and gives them the opportunity for social mobility and the experience to apply to professional development. We are so grateful for all the help and support across the CSUSM campus to everyone who made the team’s experience at NMUN a success.”

The NMUN conference gives students the opportunity to practice negotiation, speaking and writing skills with more than 3,000 peers from universities across the world. Students are assigned to different committees as they train for and prepare for the conference. They each learn about the history, politics, economy and foreign policy of the country they will represent.

As delegates representing Mexico, the CSUSM students worked in committees with dozens of their peers. They started by giving speeches and simulating the work of delegates at the UN who must bring policy recommendations on the issues to the committee. They then worked with each other (some of the committees have several hundred students) to debate, negotiate and write resolutions that specify how governments can cooperate to solve common security and human rights problems.

Anthony, a criminology and justice studies major, won an award for his outstanding work in the General Assembly second committee on negotiation and diplomacy. He shared the award with Elisabeth Gallagher, a team member from Seton Hill.

“I think the most important aspect of the experience wasn't only the friendships made but the building and strengthening of diplomatic skills that can be used in our future careers and our daily lives as an excellent way to build a strong social framework of friends and colleagues,” Anthony said.  

In addition to Anthony, the CSUSM team included the following students (with positions and UN committees at the conference as well as academic major):

• Jessica Aguilar, Economic and Social Council, first-year political science major
• Miguel Andres Dumani Garaicoa, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, third-year political science major
• Tatum Basco, General Assembly Second Committee, second-year political science major
• Lucia Elia, General Assembly Second Committee, first-year political science major
• Joseph Gominiak, General Assembly Third Committee, second-year history major
• Amira Helmy, Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, fourth-year political science major
• Andrea Fernanda Hernández Corral, General Assembly Third Committee, third-year political science major
• Armany Mendoza Lopez, High Commissioner for Refugees, fourth-year political science major
• Zeenia Najmi, Environmental Assembly, graduating economics major
• Ava Nolen, Human Rights Council, fourth-year political science and global studies double major
• Diana Ortega, Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), graduating political science major
• Monserrat Perez-Manzo, Committee on Narcotic Drugs, first-year political science and criminology double major
• Melanie Reyna; High Commissioner for Refugees, second-year political science major
• Baylee Robinson, Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, third-year political science major
• Ashleigh Skarshaug, head delegate and Environmental Assembly, third-year political science and criminology double major
• Kelly Vu, Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), second-year biology major

More information about CSUSM’s Model UN program can be found at its webpage.  

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Topping-out ceremonies are a long-standing construction tradition, typically marked by the signing of the final structural beam before it is lifted into place. At CSUSM, the moment carried deeper meaning, as it honored the university’s commitment to building new and accessible pathways for students in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (CSTEM).

“I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the momentum that brought us to this point,” CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt said. “This facility is social mobility in action. It’s about providing access for students, many of whom are the first in their families to go to college, stepping into fields that are shaping the future.”

Built for Growth

Opening in fall 2027, Hunter Hall represents a significant investment in CSUSM’s trajectory as one of the fastest-growing campuses in the California State University system. Once complete, the approximately 70,000-square-foot, three-story facility will feature state-of-the-art laboratories, a robotics suite and collaborative learning spaces designed to meet the region's increasing demand for engineering talent.

Hunter Hall will allow CSUSM to expand engineering enrollment from 500 to nearly 2,000 students and launch a new program in industrial and systems engineering, building on existing offerings in electrical, software and computer engineering.

The expansion comes at a critical time for San Diego, one of the nation's fastest-growing technology and innovation hubs, where the need for skilled engineers continues to outpace supply. With eight in 10 CSUSM graduates remaining in the region after graduation, Hunter Hall is positioned to directly strengthen the local workforce pipeline.

A Transformational Gift

The project has been made possible in part by a transformational $10 million gift from Hunter Industries, one of the largest contributions in university history.

“It’s an exciting moment to see this building coming to fruition,” said Greg Hunter, CEO of Hunter Industries. “We’re proud to support a project that will have both a lasting impact on students and be a source of talent in our community.”

The gift has helped propel CSUSM's Blueprint for the Future fundraising campaign to 82% of its $200 million goal, underscoring broad support for a university dedicated to student success, social mobility and community engagement.

“Hunter Hall creates the conditions for the kind of collaboration our students will experience in their careers,” said Jackie Trischman, dean of CSTEM. “We’re grateful to Hunter Industries and other partners for making this possible and for helping us prepare our students to contribute to innovation across our region.”

For more information on funding and naming opportunities for Hunter Hall, contact Mike Helé, director of philanthropy, at 760-750-8401 or mhele@csusm.edu.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Not only was Brandt able to resolve a longstanding problem for the Career Center, her solution will support Cal State San Marcos students for years to come.

Brandt is a transfer student from MiraCosta Community College, majoring in computer science and graduating from CSUSM this spring. Brandt enjoyed her time at MiraCosta but felt she wasn’t very involved. So when she transferred to CSUSM, she knew she wanted to change that.

She served on the Orientation Team during her first semester at CSUSM, creating many new friends while welcoming new students to the campus community.

With hopes of continuing her involvement on campus, Brandt applied for a technology student assistant position with the Career Center. This position had been vacant for a long time but was brought back in hopes of fixing a data issue that had been building up.

Through the Career Center every CSUSM student is automatically enrolled with an account in Handshake, a network for posting and applying to jobs. However, when students graduate or leave, their accounts remain active on Handshake, showing the university had around 80,000 accounts last fall. With hopes of clearing out excess data from students no longer enrolled, the Career Center posted a job application looking for a student to assist with this problem, and Brandt checked every box.

Brandt had two previous internships that made her a desirable candidate for the position. She worked for Renesas Electronics, a semiconductor manufacturer, as an applications engineer coding for various radio frequency parts and with Northrop Grumman, the global aerospace and defense technology company, as a systems engineer coding for the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a remotely piloted surveillance aircraft.

So when asked if she could aid the Career Center with its data problem, the answer was a clear yes. In fact, Brandt actually suggested her own procedure for doing so.

Cullwell, the Career Center’s technology coordinator, had originally proposed a method for cleaning out the excess data on Handshake by manually going through each account to review whether the person was still enrolled as a student. However, Brandt explained that would take significant time and suggested her own method to fix the problem.

“On her first day, we discussed the broader goals of what we hoped to accomplish,” Cullwell said. “By the end of her second shift, she confidently proposed developing a script to automate the exact process we had envisioned. Over the course of the semester, she coordinated testing efforts, collaborated with IITS and Handshake liaisons, and refined the solution. Once deployed, her automation cleaned our data in a single afternoon.”

Cullwell was so impressed by Brandt’s ingenuity that she gave Brandt “The Departmental Wizard” nickname.

“She doesn’t have the same experience in programming that I do, so to her it seemed like magic, but for me, that’s just how my brain works,” Brandt said.

Not only did Brandt get to use her computing skills to help the Career Center, she also fulfilled her goal of becoming more involved on campus. During her time working for the Career Center, Brandt met so many friends, gained valuable skills for interviewing, and was encouraged and supported in applying for jobs.

Using resources from the Career Center, Brandt applied to 85 jobs over the past year in anticipation of graduation. The work paid off. Brandt will begin working full time after graduation for Trabus Technologies, a small business in San Diego that specializes in technology solutions for government and private sectors. Brandt will be working as a full stack software engineer for the company’s weather and boat transportation services.

Brandt’s time working for the Career Center not only propelled her into her first post-grad job, it made her time at CSUSM feel special.

“Sierra has made a lasting impact on the Career Center,” Cullwell said. “The systems she built will continue to benefit our team long after her time with us concludes.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

She wasn't sure if her project would become a children's book, an animated series or something else entirely.

"I was thrilled to be accepted," Robinson says. “As a writer and illustrator, my business is different than the others. I came in knowing how to tell a story. REP taught me how to run a business, from unit pricing and supply chains to profit margins and trademark protection.”

Andreina Leal-Carrillo had a different reason for joining REP. Her business, The Repair Tech Inc., a heating, air conditioning and appliance services company, had already been running for 12 years. She could see where she wanted to take it. What she needed were the tools to get there and a way to show her business partner that expansion was worth pursuing. 

"I wanted to take it to the next level," Leal-Carrillo says. "I was hoping for affirmation that it was possible and for my business partner to believe in my vision as well.”

Today, both women give back as mentors to fellow REP participants, drawing on their own experiences to help the next cohort of entrepreneurs thrive.

Supporting entrepreneurs through every step 

Offered through CSUSM’s Innovation Hub, REP is a 10-month experience designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs from low-to-moderate income communities as they navigate the realities of starting and growing a small business. 

“At CSUSM, we see entrepreneurship as a pathway to opportunity,” said Paola Ometto REP faculty liaison and a management professor in the College of Business Administration. “REP connects entrepreneurs to the tools, networks and support they need to grow, strengthening both their businesses and the communities they serve.” 

Made possible in part through funding from Wells Fargo, REP begins with six weeks of business training covering the tools, concepts and principles relevant to launching and growing a successful venture. It is followed by a community connection event, where participants meet with community partners offering legal, financial and business support services. 

In later phases, CSUSM business students work alongside participants as part of a senior experience project, lending their skills in branding, marketing and operations. 

For Robinson, the students researched crowdfunding platforms and successful campaigns for other picture books.  

For Leal-Carrillo, a highlight of REP was mindset coaching, which helped her and her business partner align on a shared vision for growth.  

"Whether you're just starting out or your business has been running for a while, this program helps you see where your company is going and how you can take it further," Leal-Carrillo said. “It's so fun to come back to REP events and see other businesses thrive.”

Bringing the community together 

On April 18, REP will host its Community Connect Event at the CSUSM Innovation Hub, where the current cohort of delegates will have the opportunity to meet with local organizations offering services and resources tailored to small business owners.

“I am honored to represent Wells Fargo in sponsoring this impactful initiative,” said Laura MacKinnon Chapman, senior social impact & sustainability specialist for Wells Fargo. “Small businesses are the backbone of the economy. Whether they’re just getting started, looking to expand or need coaching to sustain, our initiatives, funding and grant programs help provide small business owners with the resources they need — because we know that when they thrive, communities thrive, too.”

Operation HOPE will be among those in attendance, bringing its expertise and resources directly to the entrepreneurs in the room. 

“At Operation HOPE, our mission is to expand access to opportunity through financial education and empowerment,” said Monica Carlos, financial wellbeing coach, Operation HOPE Powered by Wells Fargo. “We’re honored to support REP, as their commitment to entrepreneurship aligns with our belief that financial literacy is the foundation for building sustainable businesses and stronger communities.”

The event reflects what REP does throughout the entire program: create moments where the right people and the right resources find each other, so that every entrepreneur has a chance to make their mark.

Every contribution to CSUSM brings the university closer to its Blueprint for the Future campaign goal to raise $200 million in philanthropy and research funding.

About REP 

REP is part of the Urban Poverty and Business Initiative network, a model founded at the University of Notre Dame and now supported by 42 partner organizations across the United States and internationally. 

To learn more about the program or get involved as a guest speaker, community resource or participant, visit the Resilient Entrepreneur Program at the CSUSM Innovation Hub. 

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

As the kids had just come from lunch, cases of the wiggles were rampant, but it didn’t take long for the man in the middle (with the microphone) to grab their attention.

“If you look at the big screen up here, it says ‘Project Playground,’ and it’s a really cool project that I love to do with fifth-graders,” Howard Chan said as he weaved between the tables in the cavernous space that is the Hub, located on the ground floor of the Extended Learning Building.

“I’ve done like 40 of these, so I’ve seen a lot of different designs, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you all come up with today.”

Chan, the leader of a CSUSM initiative called the K-12 Collaborative, proceeded to explain that the students from Empresa Elementary School in Oceanside would be employing the five-step innovation process to design and create a prototype for a playground. Over the next 45 minutes, the kids used basic craft materials – chipboards, paper straws, popsicle sticks, string, markers – to make models of such classic equipment as swings, slides, monkey bars and seesaws.

As the students buzzed about eagerly – besides the design project and lunch, the day also included a campus tour with a scavenger hunt – Taresa McSpadden sat in the back of the room with a knowing smile. By the following week, all 49 fifth-grade classes across 14 elementary schools in the Vista Unified School District (of which Empresa is a member) would have participated in the same innovation experience, and McSpadden – an innovation teacher on special assignment – has attended every one of them.

“It has been phenomenal,” McSpadden said. “The students are excited. The teachers are excited. Even the parents who come are blown away by not just the Hub but also the experience for their kids. So many of the students have never been to a college campus before.

“I think the most powerful thing we’ve heard from them when they leave is, ‘I think I want to go to college now.’ ”

Chan probably couldn’t have imagined a scene like this a couple of years ago. It was in early 2024 that he met with Scott Gross, CSUSM’s associate vice president for industry partnerships, who oversees the Hub. The meeting marked a reunion for two men who had first crossed paths a decade earlier on a field trip of local educators to Apple headquarters in Silicon Valley.

By 2024, Chan was a consultant for workforce development organizations in the life sciences and STEM industries, and a mutual friend urged Gross to reconnect with Chan.

“The Hub was very focused on CSUSM students and CSUSM faculty, and all of our programming – and frankly all of my thinking – was in that direction,” Gross said. “But we sat down and started having a conversation, which opened up some great ideas about how we could reach back in the pipeline and help K-12 students get exposed to innovation earlier, so that by the time they got to CSUSM, they might be a little more advanced in their experience with innovation and entrepreneurship.”

From that fortuitous get-together, Chan was hired away from his current job and the K-12 Collaborative was born. The first push that Chan and Gross made was in the space of work-based learning, an educational approach (which California is heavily investing in) that uses the workplace to provide students with the knowledge and skills to help them connect school experiences to real-life work activities and future career opportunities.

Work-based learning at the high school level often includes internships, but companies can be reluctant to take on teenagers because of liability concerns. So the Hub decided to leverage its relationships with industry partners to invite them to CSUSM and conduct sessions that incorporate interactive activities or challenges as well as insight into how they connect to the business and the work it does.

“That three-to-four-hour experience now counts as work-based learning because we involved industry,” Gross said. “So we’re meeting a need that the high schools desperately have, and it’s helping us expose these high school students to what college looks like.”

Starting with the launch around work-based learning, the K-12 Collaborative has since broadened into a multi-pronged effort as the Hub keeps innovating in response to needs expressed by its community partners. It now encompasses elementary innovation experiences (such as the design project involving the fifth-graders from Empresa), industry tours for educators, and summer academies and camps.

And the evolution continues. This week, the Hub is collaborating with the College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences and Mosaic Theatricals in Escondido to welcome about 100 elementary school students from the Escondido Union School District for hands-on learning activities led by CHABSS interns. It’s part of Pathways to Purpose, a career-readiness program that provides structured, paid internships for students in arts education and theater arts.

This summer, the Hub will host its first cybersecurity camp, which Chan developed in partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education. And it will bring back its popular Small Business Academy, which debuted last year with Oceanside High School and has grown to include multiple school districts and cohorts. During the week-long academy, students get to meet entrepreneurs, talk to CSUSM faculty and tour local businesses – while each day they make progress on a business pitch that, by the end of the week, they present to a panel for feedback.

“It’s definitely an inspiring week,” Chan said. “There’s a collective energy I'm seeing in this region, a hunger for these types of experiences, which has opened a lot of great relationships and partnerships for the Innovation Hub across industry, higher ed and K-12. This vision we've always had of those three entities, now we're seeing a lot of different folks coming out of the woodwork, collaborating, wanting to work together to better this region and our students’ experiences.”

It’s not just students’ experiences that the K-12 Collaborative is bettering, either. Carrying over an initiative from his previous work, Chan has been periodically gathering groups of educators – a mix of district leaders and classroom teachers – for tours of area industries. In the past year, stops have included such sites as Callaway Golf in Carlsbad, Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Dr. Bronner’s in Vista and an Amazon warehouse in Otay Mesa.

This semester, Chan is heading up a new cohort called “Leading in the Age of AI.” It’s a four-part series featuring almost 50 educators from about a dozen school districts, with assistance from CSUSM representatives including several professors and even Jackie Trischman, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The cohort already has visited the San Diego facility of Apple and done a webinar with Google, and this month it will hit Microsoft.

“We know that AI is top of mind and that nobody really has the answers, so we saw our role as being a convener,” Chan said. “Bring people together, give them some information from the companies, let them wrestle with it. I’m curious to see what will come out of it.”

Both Chan and Gross have been pleased with the support that the K-12 Collaborative has received across campus, from the Office of Recruitment and Outreach (which facilitates campus tours) to the Center for Research and Engagement in STEM Education (which assists with the elementary experiences) to academic departments like computer science and engineering.

Perhaps the biggest problem that the collaborative faces is that it almost has grown too quickly. As much as he has taken on, Chan is one person, and he will need help if the venture is to expand further. Gross has explored the possibility of student assistants (whether they take the form of STEM ambassadors or teacher credential candidates), but any long-term effort to scale likely will necessitate funding to hire additional staff.

“Some people might wonder why the Innovation Hub is engaging in this work,” Gross said. “I would say it's a no-brainer, because this is what we want CSUSM to be known for. We want to be known for being on the leading edge of innovation. We want to be known for being the place where students think about going to college. We want to be known as the anchor institution through which educators can grapple with tough stuff. So why wouldn't we do it?”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Yang is part of the Aspiring Scholars program, which helps students with intellectual disabilities fully experience campus life while building skills, confidence and a pathway to meaningful employment.

Launched in 2023 by CSUSM education professor Rebecca Brooks, the program has grown from four students to 19, offering participants an opportunity to learn and grow in the CSUSM community while earning a certificate in higher education academic and career studies. Last fall, the program reached another milestone by securing on-campus internships for students.

Yang has been honing his skills as a photographer and assisting with social media throughout the spring semester. We recently asked him to select some of his favorite images from March to share. All photos in the gallery were taken and edited by Yang. 

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

When, in February, the curious people asking those questions weren’t random strangers but rather elite athletes who had just won medals in the most storied sporting competition on earth, Miller-Wing knew that this was the assignment of his dreams.

That assignment: protecting members of Team USA during the recent Winter Olympics in Italy as a special agent with the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).

“It was a great experience,” said Miller-Wing, who graduated from Cal State San Marcos in 2022. “I lucked out. It was like winning the lottery.”

The DSS dispatches agents to many major international sporting events, and the Olympics opportunity came about only two years after Miller-Wing started working for the agency. One of a few agents chosen from the DSS Boston Field Office, he flew to Milan in early February for initial security briefings before making the trip to the Alps resort town of Cortina, where he was stationed for the rest of the Winter Games.

Miller-Wing was responsible for the Olympic Village that housed the athletes, and he also served as a flex agent, filling in for colleagues at competition venues after they had worked particularly long days. In that capacity, he spent considerable time at the curling center, where a highlight was watching Cory Thiesse become the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in curling as part of her second-place finish (with Korey Dropkin) in mixed doubles.

“I knew absolutely nothing about curling and then, in the Olympics, I think I saw almost 20 full curling matches,” Miller-Wing said. “I now feel relatively confident in being able to explain the rules and strategy. Just enough to be a Monday morning quarterback at the Games.”

Other memorable moments from Miller-Wing’s Olympic fortnight was seeing the famous Jamaican bobsled team – “that was on the bucket list” – and meeting U.S. star skiers Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn. After the Games ended and he was off the clock, he extended his time in Italy by exploring the country with his wife.

It all added up to an unforgettable experience in which the competition in the athletic venues was counterbalanced by camaraderie outside of them.

“All the athletes were phenomenal,” he said. “It didn’t matter if they had just won a medal or if they were really focused on a competition – they always greeted everyone with a smile.

“And working with the other countries was a pleasant surprise. It really reminded me of what we do in diplomatic security, in our normal job, which is working with other nations to enable the diplomats to focus on their job overseas.”

The Olympics have ended, but Miller-Wing’s fulfilling work with the Diplomatic Security Service continues. The law enforcement and security arm of the State Department, the DSS creates a safe environment for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy by protecting the department’s people, property and information. The DSS has the largest global presence of any U.S. law enforcement organization, operating at more than 275 American diplomatic posts in over 170 countries and more than 30 U.S. cities. Miller-Wing is among more than 2,500 Foreign Service specialists working and traveling worldwide (DSS agents are both sworn law enforcement officers and members of the Foreign Service).

A Carlsbad native, Miller-Wing was raised by a mother who worked for the federal government. In fact, her being reassigned is why the family left the San Diego area for Northern California. He was a standout quarterback at Folsom High School outside Sacramento and aspired to play college football, but a shoulder injury sustained at the local community college short-circuited his gridiron goals.

Unsure what to do next, Miller-Wing decided to join the U.S. Army in 2017. After switching over to the Army Reserve, he jumped at an opportunity to return to his hometown as a member of the 416^th Civil Affairs Battalion out of Camp Pendleton.

During his time with that battalion, Miller-Wing had occasion to go overseas and work with DSS agents, many of whom serve as regional security officers at diplomatic posts around the world. He thought the job sounded ideal for him, but he assumed that RSOs were political officers who specialize in national security.

“My mom was working at an embassy, and she said, ‘Hey, did you know that the State Department has special agents?’ ” Miller-Wing recalled. “So I looked into it, and I realized that this is exactly what I want to do.”

With that career track firmly in mind, Miller-Wing set out to revisit higher education. He earned an associate degree at Palomar College before transferring to CSUSM in 2019, six years after he had finished high school. He majored in global studies, receiving particular help along the way from political science professor Meshack Simati.

“The biggest thing that I feared was going back as an adult with a full-time job and responsibilities where I had to take care of things that you don’t have to worry about when you’re 18,” he said. “But CSUSM was accommodating, all the professors were accommodating. And the environment was such that they focused on setting us up to be professionals in the future, not just college graduates. It was unique.”

Miller-Wing started applying for the DSS program almost as soon as he earned his CSUSM degree in May 2022, and he was a special agent stationed in Boston less than two years later. Besides Italy, he has traveled on official business to four other countries, and he hopes that his next posting will be in a foreign nation.

“I’ve worked a lot of jobs in the private and public sector, and this is by far the most rewarding,” Miller-Wing said. “One day you could be on a high-value target warrant, the next you could be on the foreign minister’s detail in Bahrain, the next you could be in Italy at the Olympics. Every single day is different.

“It’s definitely a different life experience than most people, but if you like to travel and want to experience different cultures, then I highly recommend it.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

But in January, one of those unknown callers left a voicemail.

The person said they were calling from the TV game show “Jeopardy.” Ayers had gone through the tryout process for the show, but that had been more than a year earlier, so it’s understandable that she was dubious when she returned the call.

“I said something like, ‘It sounds so crazy and paranoid, but is there any way for you to prove to me that this is not a scam?’ She said, ‘No one's ever asked me that.’ I must have sounded like a crazy person,” said Ayers, laughing.

The woman told Ayers that she would send her an email from her official “Jeopardy” account. The call and the email were real. “Jeopardy” wanted Ayers on the show as a contestant.

It would mean taking a day off from her job as a math professor at Cal State San Marcos, but Ayers had no trouble getting support from department chair Marshall Whittlesey and Jackie Trischman, the dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. And, needless to say, her students were ecstatic to learn about the appearance.

Ayers must remain tight-lipped about how she did on the show, but viewers will have a chance to see for themselves when her episode airs March 31.

“It’s hard not to talk about it, but my only goal was not to embarrass myself too bad,” Ayers said. “And I think I can confidently say that I didn't bring shame to CSUSM.”

Ayers watched “Jeopardy” growing up, but while many people dream of being on the show and spend endless hours prepping for its arduous audition process, she did it largely on a whim.

What followed was 18 months filled with tests, interviews and, most of all, waiting.

Ayers learned about the audition process when she received an email in her CSUSM inbox. She figures it was a bulk email sent to dozens of college professors encouraging them to apply.

“I think they like having college professors on,” she said.

Ayers visited the show’s website and took the “Anytime Test,” the first step for anyone hoping to become a “Jeopardy” contestant. The “Anytime Test” includes 50 categories and 50 clues, with just 15 seconds to respond to each. The results are never revealed, and participants only learn if they passed the test if they receive an email within one year of taking it.

Ayers received one of those emails inviting her to the first round of a video conference audition, which was a 50-question test on Zoom. Then it was back to waiting. As with the “Anytime Test,” participants who pass the first round may be contacted any time within a year to participate in the second round. Ayers learned she had passed when she received an invitation to the second round, which was a gameplay audition in which potential contestants play a mock version of “Jeopardy” in groups of three.

Passing that audition puts participants in a pool of potential contestants for two years. However, it doesn’t guarantee an invitation to appear on the show. And if the two-year window passes without an invitation, you have to start the process all over to be considered again.

“Apparently Ken Jennings has said it's like eight times easier to get into Harvard than it is to get on ‘Jeopardy,’ ” said Ayers, referencing the show’s host. “Because they have 70 or 80,000 people who take the online quiz and then they only invite 400.

“They said, ‘It's not about you, it's just a numbers game.’ People try to get on the show for years and years, so I kind of figured I’d never hear from them.”

But in January, 18 months after she first started the application process, Ayers received a call inviting her to Los Angeles to appear on “Jeopardy.” She spent the next month brushing up on her trivia and gleaning tips from a friend who had been on the show. That included watching episodes of “Jeopardy” at home and acting as if she was a contestant by standing up and using a pen to practice clicking in to answer questions, as timing is one of the keys to success.

“It goes so fast,” Ayers said. “You can only buzz in after the answer is done being read, but if you buzz in prematurely, you're penalized a quarter of a second, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. The whole thing is just so incredibly fast.”

Ayers had to complete a lengthy information sheet and answer questions to help determine what Jennings would chat with her about between rounds. “Jeopardy” films five episodes a day, so Ayers was also instructed to bring five different outfits in case she advanced.

The day of filming, Jennings came out to meet all of the contestants before taping began and encouraged them to have fun.

“He's such a nice guy,” Ayers said. “He said, ‘This is your victory lap. You got on the show, and that is an incredible feat in and of itself. Try not to stress too much about it and enjoy the process.’ ”

Ayers did just that. On March 31, her friends and colleagues will have an opportunity to see the results. Just don’t be surprised if Ayers isn’t watching.

“I may have a watch party, but it may be everyone watching the show while I go hide in another room,” she said. “We'll see what happens. But it was just such a crazy, cool experience.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The program began as an idea from Marilyn Huerta, the college's marketing, communications and engagement specialist. Huerta envisioned creating a student-led leadership and communications team to highlight the work and impact of CEHHS programs. She helped develop the program and guided the launch of its first group of student ambassadors.

The inaugural team includes four students who are helping expand the college’s visibility while building professional skills that will support their future careers.

Ariana Saenz hosts the college’s new podcast series, “CEHHS Unplugged,” in which she interviews health and education professionals about their backgrounds, programs they teach, career pathways and words of wisdom.

“Through the ‘CEHHS Unplugged’ podcast and the ambassador program, I’m proud to help amplify student voices and showcase the incredible community within our college,” Saenz said.

Daniel Lopez launched the CEHHS Student & Success Story Series, producing written profiles that showcase the journeys and accomplishments of CEHHS students and alumni.

Serving as the team’s lead ambassador, Natalya Taseveki helps coordinate student engagement efforts and supports events and activities across the college, including programming connected to Scholars in Wellness and Innovation Fast-Track (SWIFT) Health Programs, kinesiology, human development, social work, education, nursing, speech-language pathology and public health.

The team’s digital presence is led by Audrie Smith, who started the college’s TikTok account and helps manage CEHHS social media platforms, sharing content that highlights events, fundraisers, student life and college achievements.

The ambassadors support a wide range of initiatives across the college. They assist the CEHHS dean, Jennifer Ostergren, during events honoring students who earned dean’s list recognition and participate in outreach and recruitment activities such as Cougar Blue Day and Discover CSUSM.

They also contribute to campuswide efforts such as Giving Day and Cougar Crowdfunding. Last semester, they hosted a student engagement “Giving Tree” event to encourage philanthropy and community support.

Beyond large events, the ambassadors attend student organization meetings and departmental activities to photograph and document student experiences across CEHHS. The team collaborates with the college’s Committee for Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity (CIDE) to support outreach and networking opportunities for students.

Participation in the program also emphasizes professional development. Through the CSUSM Career Center, the ambassadors are building career portfolios, strengthening résumé and interview skills, participating in workshops and attending the university’s Etiquette Dinner experience.

In addition, they remain active across campus through initiatives with Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) and the university’s Orientation Team.

Huerta continues to mentor and supervise the team members as they develop leadership and communication skills while serving as ambassadors for the college.

College leaders hope the program will continue to grow in the coming years, giving more students opportunities to gain real-world experience while helping share the stories and impact of CEHHS programs.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Now, as the grant period nears an end, that project – called Unifying APIDA Communities Together, or U-ACT – has partnered with the University Library to bring its work and its culture to the campus community.

The library’s Context Exhibit Series this semester is titled “Wayfinding Community-Campus Vā.” It’s a mixed-media collection that, according to the website description, “imagines how an ‘oceanic orientation’ promotes cultural education, sustains community relationships and engagements, and advances social justice. With a basis in the ancient foundation of Austronesian language families, Vā is ‘connecting space’ that link islands and ocean together as an interconnected worldview.”

The collection includes traditional wooden instruments, a double-hulled canoe, community-created murals, linguistic maps and a series of language and cultural workshop videos. It’s on display in the library’s third-floor exhibit space through July 31.

“Partnering (with the library) on community outreach was an easy decision on our end,” said Theresa Suarez, a sociology professor who’s the project director and principal investigator for U-ACT. “Our goal is to create greater alignment between campus resources and community engagement, especially through the Stop the Hate grant program, to support recruitment and outreach – that indeed public higher education opportunities are available for all.”

A reception celebrating the spring context exhibit will be held Thursday, March 5 from 5-7 p.m. on the library’s third floor and Kellogg Plaza. It will feature a performance by the CSUSM student organization Pāsefika Islander Scholar Association (PISA), live mural creation by a local artist, live music and multiple speakers.

Anyone is welcome to attend, with no RSVP needed. Attendees will be invited to provide feedback by contributing to a large paper lei, created with the guidance and support of The Makery in the library. 

In addition to Suarez, other members of the U-ACT team who curated the exhibit are Grant Muāgututi’a, co-investigator and assistant professor of liberal studies and linguistics; Madeline Lee, co-investigator and professor of social work; Sara Constantinescu, project coordinator and Academic Senate analyst; Lia Mauga, community liaison and director of TRIO pre-college programs; Joshua Galea'i, community liaison and senior adviser in the Office of Academic Advising; and Cheryl Landin, director of strategic initiatives in the Office of Inclusive Excellence.

Through U-ACT, CSUSM has partnering with various nonprofit organizations to help them offer free intervention and prevention services in communities and neighborhoods within the university’s service area. Two of the most prominent are ’Umeke, which is dedicated to the preservation, perpetuation and education of Hawaiian culture; and Save Our Streets (SOS), which focuses on reducing community violence by engaging all Oceanside youth through athletics and performing arts within a context of Samoan cultural values to promote healh, wellness, healing and safety.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Now in its third year, the program has grown from four students to 19, offering participants an opportunity to learn and grow in the CSUSM community while earning a certificate in higher education academic and career studies. Last fall, the program reached another milestone by securing on-campus internships for students.

This spring, one of those students, William Yang, joined the University Communications office. Yang has been honing his skills as a photographer and assisting with social media, capturing campus life in numerous photos during his first six weeks of the internship. 

We recently asked Yang to select some of his favorite images to share. The first gallery features seven of his picks, followed by a second gallery with seven additional selections chosen by our editorial team.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

That man is an Escondido resident named Elmer Royce Williams, a retired U.S. Navy captain, and the full story of his military heroism is housed in the Cal State San Marcos library.

The special collections department of CSUSM’s library features a filmed oral history of Williams – and a host of other local military veterans – that was recorded last year by Jason Beyer, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and double CSUSM alumnus (bachelor's in business management, master's in social work).

Beyer leads a localized version of the national Veterans History Project, an initiative by which the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so future generations can hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. It was founded through unanimous vote in the House and Senate, and became law in 2000.

Beyer’s project involves the oral histories being archived both at the Library of Congress and CSUSM’s special collections department. Last March, snippets from the interviews with Williams and five other local veterans were shown at an event on campus titled “Veterans History Project: An Unveiling of the Journey.”

The second edition of the event will take place on April 8, spotlighting the stories of seven other veterans.

Williams received the Medal of Honor during the State of the Union in the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday night. He’s one of only 63 living recipients of the highest military decoration in the U.S. armed forces and the only one from the Korean War era.

On Nov. 18, 1952, during the Korean War, then-Lieutenant Williams and three fellow Navy pilots encountered seven Soviet MiG-15 fighter jets while defending U.S. naval forces off the coast of North Korea. In a fierce 35-minute aerial engagement, Williams shot down four enemy aircraft. After his own aircraft was struck by enemy fire and severely damaged, Williams continued maneuvering to shield the ships below before successfully landing his crippled jet aboard the USS Oriskany.

For more than five decades, the full scope of Williams' heroism remained classified due to sensitive geopolitical implications. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, declassified records confirmed the details of the engagement. Williams was initially awarded the Silver Star, which was upgraded to the Navy Cross in 2023. His eligibility and consideration for the Medal of Honor came this year when legislative action in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 removed prior time limitations.

To advance his work visiting and recording interviews with veterans like Williams, Beyer has founded a nonprofit called Veteran Lore. The president is Marilyn Huerta, a CSUSM communications professional, double alumna and military-affiliated advocate. Beyer and Huerta have applied for grants that would allow them to travel outside the region to gather oral histories from other veterans. 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

But the team had never reached the summit – until last weekend.

The Cougars won a national title at the United Spirit Association (USA) Collegiate Championships in Anaheim on Sunday. They finished first in the “4 Year College Pom Div. II/III” finals, totaling 91.83 points out of 100 to edge second-place Chico State with 86.17.

They also finished second in the “4 Year College Jazz Div. II/III” finals, with their score of 88.67 points placing just behind Chapman University (92.17).

The pom title marked the first championship in program history. The best previous finish had been third place in both pom and jazz.

Adia Larsen is in her first year as president of the club, which features a record-high 23 dancers this season. The fourth-year student, who’s a nursing major (with a minor in dance studies) on track to graduate from CSUSM in May 2027, said she has been dancing since age 4.

“This achievement means so much more to our team than just a title,” Larsen said. “It represents the hard work, dedication and sacrifices we have all made to build this program and create something truly special. As a newly reestablished program of just five years, we have experienced tremendous growth in a short amount of time. During that span, we have worked to make a name for ourselves and represent our school with pride and integrity.”

Joining Larsen as club officers are Sophia Olvera, vice president; and Caryssa Cavanias, treasurer. The team’s coach is Nguyen Bui, who has led the club’s revival since 2021. Bui’s assistants are Casey Bui (fourth year) and Olivia Bradford, who’s in her first year after graduating from CSUSM last May. Bradford was a four-year member of the team and a two-year president.

The USA championships last weekend served doubled as good preparation for the team’s biggest competition of the season: the National Dance Alliance College Nationals from April 8-11 in Daytona Beach, Fla. Members of the campus community can support and send off the dance team when it hosts a nationals showcase in the Sports Center on April 4 at 12:30 p.m.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Women’s Herstory: Voting Rights

March 3, noon, USU 3500

Kick off Women’s Herstory Month with the Women & Gender Equity Center (WGEC) and Civic Engagement by exploring the powerful history of women’s voting rights. From the suffrage movement to ongoing efforts to protect and expand access to the ballot, reflect on the women who fought for political voice and representation and learn how civic participation continues to shape our communities today.

Women of Color Activists

March 4, noon, USU 3500

Join the WGEC to learn about women of color activists who have been catalysts for social movements and advocacy. Reflect on how their leadership and courage continue to inspire collective action and community empowerment.

Feminist Festival

March 5, 11:30 a.m., Forum Plaza

Celebrate community, empowerment and collective action at the annual Feminist Festival hosted by the WGEC. Connect with campus partners, engage in interactive activities and explore what feminism means across identities while enjoying music, resources and giveaways.

Understanding PMS & PMDD

March 10, noon, USU 3500

Join the WGEC and Student Health and Counseling Services for an educational conversation about Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Learn about symptoms, treatment options and how hormonal health intersects with mental and emotional well-being in a supportive, stigma-free space.

Drop the F-Bomb: Women’s Health on the Line

March 11, 1:30 p.m., USU 3500

Explore with the WGEC how gender and racial bias shape women’s health care experiences. Discuss systemic barriers to care and engage in conversation about advocacy and equity within health systems.

Zen Through It

March 12, noon, USU 3500

Take a mindful pause with the WGEC and SHCS by creating your own Zen garden. This calming, hands-on activity promotes reflection, stress relief and intentional self-care.

Consent Chat: Exploring Your Emotions in a Healthy Way

March 17, noon, USU 3500

Build tools for emotional awareness and communication at this interactive Consent Chat hosted by the WGEC and SHCS. Explore how emotions influence boundaries, relationships and healthy connection.

Spill the Tea: Mother-Daughter Relationships

March 18, 2 p.m., USU 3500

Join the WGEC, SHCS and APIDA for an intergenerational conversation centered on mother-daughter relationships. Through storytelling and dialogue over tea, reflect on cultural expectations, communication and shared experiences across generations.

Chisme Club: Cultura Sana

March 19, noon, USU 3500

The WGEC, SHCS and the Latinx Center invite you to engage in honest conversation about mental health within Latina communities. Explore cultural stigma, resilience and healing practices while building community and connection.

Women’s Leadership Summit

March 20, 10 a.m., USU Ballroom

Celebrate leadership in all its forms at the Women’s Leadership Summit hosted by the WGEC and the Student Leadership & Involvement Center. Engage with keynote speakers and interactive sessions designed to empower students to lead authentically and courageously.

Social Media, Colorism, and Beauty Standards

March 23, noon, USU 3600

Join the Cross-Cultural Center and the WGEC for a critical conversation about how social media shapes beauty standards and reinforces colorism. Reflect on the impact of algorithms, influencers and digital trends on identity and self-image while exploring strategies for cultivating healthier online spaces.

Older Sister Healing Circle

March 24, noon, USU 3500

Join the WGEC for a reflective healing circle exploring the complexities of being the eldest daughter. Through guided discussion and canvas painting, participants will unpack responsibility, resilience and community care.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

It was for a semester-long program in Washington, D.C., where students could earn up to 20 semester credits while learning from government leaders and policy experts from across the nation. One of the biggest selling points? All expenses would be covered by the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.

“I almost didn’t believe it,” Manassero said.

But Manassero started researching the institute and its Panetta Congressional Internship program, which has benefited California State University students for more than two decades.

“It’s just a very supportive program,” said Manassero, who is on track to graduate from CSUSM with a bachelor’s in history this May. “The Panetta Institute is very generous, and I'm very grateful for that. One of the reasons that someone like me could go out there – and pretty much most of us who were in the program could – is because the expenses are all covered. They want to provide this experience and get people interested in public policy, and that means involving people who normally wouldn't be able to get involved. I'm just very grateful for them.”

The Panetta Institute annually selects one student from each CSU campus as well as Dominican University of California, Saint Mary’s College and Santa Clara University to participate in the program.

Manassero was selected as CSUSM’s representative after a process that included a panel interview with the Career Center, a meeting with President Ellen Neufeldt and a final interview with the Panetta Institute.

The program matches interns with a member of the California congressional delegation based on their interests. Manassero worked in the office of Congressman Kevin Mullin, who represents the state’s 15^th district, which covers an area south of San Francisco.

Manassero joined other program participants in Monterey last August for a rigorous two-week orientation at the Panetta Institute, which was founded in 1997 by former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his wife, Sylvia. Then it was off to Washington for a 2½-month assignment on Capitol Hill.

“It was really transformative to talk to constituents on the phone and be that first line of support for them,” said Manassero, who plans to attend law school. “Every intern's experience is different, but for me, I really felt like I was making a difference by talking to people and making sure their concerns were heard. It was very exciting.”

The experience was life-changing, and Manassero hopes other CSUSM students consider applying for 2026. The program is open to upper-division students of all majors. Students can apply through the Career Center website by submitting a two-page essay, a resume, academic transcripts and a copy of a recently graded paper. The Career Center will host virtual information sessions about the program at noon on Feb. 17 and 26. Complete details on the sessions and applying for the internship are available on the Career Center’s Panetta Congressional Internship website.

Manassero emphasized that students shouldn’t be hesitant about applying.

“We had people who were child development majors in D.C. with us, we had finance majors, we had accounting majors, global business majors. We had all these different majors, so anyone who’s interested should apply,” Manassero said. “And no matter what degree you have, there is probably a place in government for you. If you have a child development major, maybe you'll work in the Department of Education or Health and Human Services one day. You never know, so why not apply?

“Meeting the Panettas, my time in Monterey Bay, my time in D.C., all of it was just such a wonderful experience. And I'm very grateful to the Career Center, to President Neufeldt and to the Panetta Institute.”

Learn more about the Panetta Congressional Internship by visiting the Career Center’s  website.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

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 career.

She thinks about the version who set off for UC Davis as the first person in her family to attend college, but who couldn’t find the support that she needed and ultimately failed out.

Most of all, though, she thinks about 12-year-old Shanelle, a Black girl from southeast San Diego (the “hood,” as she proudly calls it) who had her whole life ahead of her but also had already experienced her share of pain. Watkins even dedicated her doctoral dissertation to that Shanelle.

“That’s when things started to click for me and a lot of questioning started to happen,” Watkins said. “That little girl, I just want to take and hold and heal.

“I think that she probably would think I was really cool. I think she would really like me.”

Now 36, Watkins is devoting her life to ensuring that other young girls – or, more precisely in her case, young women of color – can receive the mentorship that she sometimes got but occasionally eluded her, can achieve the success that she has attained despite the obstacles that dotted her path.

Two years ago, Watkins left her job as assistant director of the Black Student Center at CSUSM – the university she had returned to almost a decade after graduating – to become director of the Chancellor’s Associates Scholarship Program at UC San Diego. CASP, as it's known, awards scholarships to and nurtures during their time at the university local and high-achieving students who come from low-income families – students, in other words, like young Shanelle.

While she was working full-time at CSUSM and now UCSD, Watkins also was studying at both schools part-time, as an Ed.D. candidate in their joint doctoral program. Her dissertation, inspired by her experience running the Black Student Center for three years, explored the challenges faced by Black women student leaders at Hispanic-Serving Institutions within California State University.

“I wanted to know what leadership meant to them,” she said. “How did it come about? Where was it rooted from? Through those questions, I heard very rich stories about the stress of code-switching or feeling like you need to assimilate to fit in or not being seen or being the token Black person in whatever organization or group you belong to.”

She defended her dissertation and officially became Dr. Watkins, but she wasn’t finished with the subject. As an outgrowth of the project, last September she started a company called Leading While Becoming. The leadership organization offers quarterly group coaching cohorts and one-on-one coaching for women of color. She has built a roster of about a dozen clients, most of whom are women in their 20s who are trying to launch their careers.

“I didn't foresee it happening this way,” Watkins said. “I thought my dissertation might be a toolkit to inform college leaders. I didn't think it would be a full-fledged coaching program. But I am glad, because it gives me the opportunity to meet with folks and empower them and watch them grow. It’s doing a lot of the things that I wish I had had.”

What 12-year-old Shanelle did have was a love of education and a thirst for knowledge. What she didn’t have was financial resources or the most stable home life. Her mother, Augusta, was a stay-at-home parent who Watkins said did the best she could to raise her despite confronting personal challenges. Her father, Aaron, struggled with substance abuse problems before he got clean in a drug rehabilitation program and turned his life around.

Aaron Watkins became Shanelle’s rock. After going sober, he got a job in facilities management at UCSD, where he worked nights cleaning science labs and offices for the next three decades. During the day, he worked (and still works) as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut. But he still found time to drive Shanelle to school every day, and to pick her up between his shifts.

“Through his dedication to remaining sober and his hard work, I think he definitely instilled a lot of that in me,” Watkins said.

In contrast to his other two children (Shanelle has an older sister and younger brother), who both played sports, Aaron Watkins recalls Shanelle being laser-focused on academics and ancillary activities – from being part of a radio broadcast with a classmate to serving on a drill team to doing a ride-along with the local police department.

“She was involved in everything she could be,” Aaron Watkins said. “She was almost always self-motivated.”

Her passion for learning, however, didn’t always come with a sense of belonging. When Watkins reached middle school, her family took advantage of a city program that allowed kids from disadvantaged neighborhoods to attend schools in wealthier communities. She went to Correia Middle and Point Loma High School, which both feature predominantly white student populations.

“I questioned if I fit in there or if my family had the money to provide me with the things that I needed to thrive,” Watkins said. “For a little bit, it did kind of dim my light.”

That light grew brighter in high school, when the canceling of her elective choir class because of low numbers led her to the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, which is designed to prepare underrepresented students for college. On the first day, her teacher, Kellie Larson, told Watkins she would have to go to study hall and turn in notes every week. Watkins, feeling uncharacteristically rebellious, was less than enthused.

“I was like, I’m not doing any of that,’ ” she said. “That whole first semester, her and I beefed so bad.”

Larson persisted, pushing Watkins, encouraging her to take AP classes and sign up for clubs, handing her the tools to succeed that her parents didn’t know existed. By the time she graduated from Point Loma, Watkins had amassed more than $35,000 in scholarships.

“Mrs. Larson and I are still in touch to this day,” she said. “If it weren’t for that choir class not having enough people, who knows where I would be now?”

The appearance of mentors at just the right time would become a pattern for Watkins. After her academic withdrawal from UC Davis – “I was up against a lot of first-gen struggles,” she says – she returned home to attend MiraCosta College, then transferred to CSUSM. As a senior in fall 2012, she gave birth to her son, Seiji, and thought she might have to drop out, again derailing her academic ambitions.

But a group of sociology professors – Watkins called out Karen Glover, Kathy Shellhammer, Sharon Cullity, Mary Roche and Gary Rollison – rallied to her side, pointing her toward maternal services, helping her postpone certain courses, letting her bring her baby to class. One even made a quilt for Seiji.

“The faculty in the sociology department loved on me in places that I needed to be loved on,” Watkins said. “It made me really grateful for my CSUSM experience.”

And when she came back to CSUSM as a staff member eight years later, in 2021, she discovered another invaluable mentor in Gail Cole-Avent, the university’s interim associate vice president for student health and wellness. Watkins says Cole-Avent, her supervisor, taught her how to occupy a leadership role without sacrificing her identity or sense of authenticity.

Watkins’ return to CSUSM was the first in a series of gratifying full-circle moments that have marked the last few years. Her hiring at UCSD brought her to the place where her father worked for a generation before his retirement in 2019 – where she first learned what college was and how life-changing it could be. Even now, she encounters former colleagues of her dad, professors whose labs he cleaned, and they urge her to reach out if she ever needs assistance.

Also, when Watkins decided that she wanted to add a board membership to her expanding resume, she sought out a San Diego nonprofit named CRASH (Community Resources and Self-Help). CRASH happens to be the organization that helped her father kick his drug addiction and begin his life anew way back when. In December, CRASH hosted a holiday party at one of its houses, and Watkins went with her dad, who had been invited as an alumnus of the program.

“Everyone who he ran into, he was like, ‘This is my daughter, she’s on the board, she’s a doctor,’ ” she said. “My dad doesn’t smile a lot, but I could see the pride on his face.”

And here’s one more full-circle moment. Watkins is a business owner, she’s a higher education administrator, she’s a leader. Above all, though, she’s a mother. Seiji is 13 now, almost the same age as the young Shanelle who Watkins often reflects on. He’s in seventh grade, he’s an ardent athlete and, like most teenagers, he thinks he’s too cool for his mom.

“I was a single mom from the time he was three months old, and I would say I think I did a good job,” Watkins said. “He’s a wonderful kid and he’s my best friend. I see a lot of me in him. I always tell him, ‘You’re the greatest thing I’ve ever done.’ ”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Last year, Ellis was a student in AMD 409: Advanced Graphic Design and Visual Arts, an upper-division class taught by Ghazal Foroutan. The assignment: Using only typography, create a promotional poster for a hypothetical California architecture conference being hosted by CSUSM.

The twist: Some of the posters that resulted would be displayed as part of a new student art gallery in Kellogg Library. Ellis made a poster about acclaimed Israeli-Canadian-American architect Moshe Safdie, and hers was one of 19 selected for the exhibit.

“I was thrilled and honored to have my work chosen to be displayed in the library and kept in the archive,” said Ellis, an art, media and design major who’s scheduled to graduate this spring. “It gave a greater sense of purpose to the project.”

The 19 posters compose the first installment of the Cougar Gallery, which is located on the library’s second floor, occupying the wall space between the Makery’s entrance and the stairwell down the hall. Foroutan said the idea came from a conversation with fellow art, media and design professor Kristin Moss, and it was brought to fruition through a collaboration with multiple employees of the library: associate dean Char Booth, outreach librarian Irma Ramos Arreaga, arts and humanities librarian Torie Quiñonez, and administrative coordinator Arely Ayala.

The initial exhibit has adorned the library’s walls since the start of the fall semester.

“Seeing the students’ work displayed in a prominent campus space has been incredibly meaningful,” Foroutan said. “As a professor, I am proud to share their work with the broader campus community and to see it recognized by the department and the library.

“For students, the exhibition validates their efforts beyond the classroom. Many have already photographed their posters and plan to list the show as a group exhibition on their CVs, as well as include the work in their portfolios.”

The Cougar Gallery, Booth said, fulfills a longstanding desire to increase the presence and visibility of student art in the library. As a prominent display of creative student work, it joins the Data Stacks on the library’s fourth floor.

"By establishing this new gallery, we are showcasing the creative talents of CSUSM student artists and designers and dedicating a highly visible area of the library to School of Arts students and faculty as a much-needed supplementary gallery space,” Booth said.

Once she was assigned Safdie as her subject (other famous architects featured include Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry), Ellis set out to make a poster that would promote a hypothetical discussion with the architect at the conference while also channeling the style and philosophy of that architect. In researching Safdie’s life and work, Ellis was drawn to his design theory, “For Everyone a Garden.”

“He envisions architecture as a living, evolving environment, integrating gardens and green space into almost all of his designs,” she said. “That phrase became my guiding concept and tagline for the poster, inspiring my color palette and imagery.”

Ellis incorporated both physical art and digital design in the creation of her poster. She also designed an accompanying booklet in the same style as the poster to round out the promotional material.

“Over the weeks of working on the project, we all watched each other's concepts evolve in the studio, so seeing them printed professionally and displayed in a space where so many students pass through was very meaningful,” said Ellis, who plans to apply for the CSUSM teaching credential program, with a goal of becoming an art educator.

Foroutan hopes to work with the library to rotate the exhibition at least once a year to showcase as many as much student artwork as possible.

“While the overall framework of the project will remain consistent, I plan to subtly revise the assignment each year to introduce new constraints, tones or conceptual directions, allowing the exhibition to evolve over time,” she said.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Black Excellence Month Kickoff

Feb. 2, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., USU 2310

The Black Student Center (BSC) will kick off the celebrations with a brief presentation discussing the history of the Pan-African flag, a raising of the flag and a live drumline performance. Food will be provided at the event, which is open to all students.

Def Jam Open Mic Night  

Feb. 5, 5-7 p.m., USU Amphitheater

The BSC, in collaboration with the Cross-Cultural Center, invites students to enjoy a night of poetry, spoken word and music. The event is open to all students.

Professional Styling: How to Tie a Tie

Feb. 9, 1-2 p.m., USU 3300

As part of the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, the BSC will host a session of professional styling to teach students how to tie a tie. The event is open to all students.

Sista Fest

Feb. 10, 5-7 p.m., USU 2310

In collaboration with the Women and Gender Equity Center, the BSC will host an event to celebrate Black women on campus. This year’s theme, “Rooted and Radiant,” is focused on providing mentorship to young Black women looking to navigate professional spaces. The keynote speaker is Wendy Stewart, MiraCosta College’s chief diversity officer. The event is open to all students.

Black Jeopardy Game Night

Feb. 13, 5-7 p.m., USU Ballroom

Students are welcome to join the BSC for a night of culturally relevant games. Food will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

Carnaval

Feb. 18, 5-8 p.m., USU Ballroom

Join the BSU and the Latinx Center for a celebration of dance and heritage from various communities across Latin America and the African diaspora. The event will feature live music, cultural foods and mask painting inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval and New Orleans’ Mardi Gras festival.

Ebony Fashion Show

Feb. 20, 5-8 p.m., USU Ballroom

The inaugural Ebony Fashion Show will provide a space for students to showcase their elegance on the runway. The event will highlight the creative expression of students across CSUSM student centers to showcase cultural displays through fashion.

Black Org Fair

Feb. 25, 5-7 p.m., Forum Plaza

All students are invited to learn about the various Black student organizations at CSUSM. Representatives will be featured from various academic, social, faith-based and national Panhellenic Council organizations.

2/27 Black Excellence Gala

Feb. 27, 5:30-8:30 p.m., USU Ballroom

As the finale of Black Excellence Month, the BSC will host an inaugural event in collaboration with Tukwut Life to celebrate and highlight the Black community. The evening will showcase achievements and inspiring stories from the community, followed by a student performance and live DJ. Guests are encouraged to dress in their finest attire to honor the occasion and the remarkable accomplishments being celebrated.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Ching-Ming and Friends Chamber Concert

Jan. 27, noon-1 p.m., Arts 111

Joined by CSUSM music professor Ching-Ming Cheng, the 11th annual Villa-Lobos International Chamber Music Festival will take place on campus to bring music composed entirely by Latin American composers. The program aims to celebrate Latin American chamber music across Southern California.

CSUSM students: Free 

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5 

Community: $10

Sponsored by the Funes Fund

Gila Goldstein Piano

March 10, noon-1 p.m., Arts 111

Internationally acclaimed pianist Gila Goldstein will perform a lunch-time recital on campus. The performance will include works by Vivaldi, Bach, Mendelssohn, Guastavino, Villa-Lobos, Lecuona, Ronn Yedidia and Gershwin. Before the event, there will be a piano master class on March 9 at noon in Academic Hall 104.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

Sponsored by the Funes Fund 

Stories From Home

March 13, 6:30-8 p.m., Arts 111

“Stories From Home” is a series of dances embodying the oral traditions of Nuevomexicano, Chicano and Mexican American communities in the American Southwest. Choreographer Yvonne Montoya and a diverse cast of dancers draw upon personal histories as well as ancestral knowledge. The performance is a vessel for personal and specific tales, while also offering a broader look at various cultural traditions throughout the Southwest. 

An artist meet-and-greet will take place March 10 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Cross-Cultural Center.

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

A Marriage of Art and Science: Entwined Research in a Nuclear Family

March 23, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., USU Ballroom 

Art and science intersect with elin O’Hara slavick’s art, which maps radioactive residuum, and David Richardson’s epidemiological studies of radiation’s human impact.

Slavick, who wrote “Bomb After Bomb: A Violent Cartography and After Hiroshima,” is an internationally exhibiting artist who captures the lingering effects of radiation with audiographs and creates contact prints of tree rubbings and architecture exposed to atomic bombings of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima. Richardson, an epidemiologist who’s conducted studies of cancer among U.S. federal nuclear workers and Japanese survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is the lead writer on the United Nations Committee of Epidemiological Studies of Radiation and Cancer (UNSCEAR).

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

Co-sponsors: Center ARTES STEAM ambassadors

Peter Sprague Group Featuring Allison Adams Tucker

March 24, 7-8:30 p.m., Arts 111

Masterclass 2:30-3:45 p.m. in Arts 111, open to the public

Guitarist Peter Sprague loves jazz, but he also dips deep into musical history and unearths some sonic gems from the Beatles, Jimmy Webb and Antonio Carlos Jobim. For this concert, he connects with vocalist Allison Adams Tucker, pianist Danny Green, drummer Duncan Moore and bassist Mack Leighton for an evening of good sounds, good vibes and good times. The group recently released three albums: “All You Need Is Love” (Beatles), “Christmas Time Is Here” and “Peter Sprague Plays Jobim.”

CSUSM students: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

Veterans History Project II: The Journey Continues

April 8, 5-8 p.m., USU Ballroom

This event, which showcases recorded oral histories of military veterans, offers an intimate look into the personal experiences, challenges and triumphs of veterans from diverse backgrounds. Stories shared will be archived at CSUSM’s Kellogg Library and the U.S. Library of Congress, preserving their legacies for future generations. The keynote speaker will be Jim Gruny, a retired colonel in the Marine Corps. The formal program begins at 6 p.m., preceded by a reception and veteran resources and career fair.

CSUM students/military-affiliated guests: Free

Faculty/staff/alumni: $5

Community: $10

For more information, including ticket information, visit the Arts & Lectures series website.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The change in focus was shaped by her deep involvement in Associated Students, Inc., where she serves as the chair and chief of staff of CSUSM’s student government. Through ASI, Chavez joined Lobby Corps, an advocacy-focused volunteer group, and later traveled to Sacramento for the California Higher Education Student Summit, where she met with state legislators alongside students from across the CSU system.

But the final realization of where her career was headed came from an internship opportunity. It was through ASI that Chavez met Zach Bunshaft, CSUSM’s director of government relations at the time.

“Interning with Zach and seeing how higher education policies at the state level affected our campus was so impactful,” Chavez said. “These opportunities, being part of ASI and interning with Zach, changed the trajectory of my life and what I want to do.”

CSUSM’s emphasis on internships proved transformational for Chavez. It not only prepared her for the professional world, it helped her discover the type of work that she’s truly passionate about.

During her time as a government relations intern last spring, Chavez researched legislative officials to strengthen CSUSM’s advocacy efforts, engaged with policymakers at key events and explored ways to enhance student support across the region.

As the internship was nearing its end, Bunshaft met with Chavez to review the experience. When Bunshaft asked about Chavez’s future goals, she told him how much she enjoyed the internship and how the experiences she had were the types of spaces she wanted to be in.

The timing was perfect. Bunshaft had just learned about another internship opportunity with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. Bunshaft mentored Chavez throughout the hiring process, and she was hired as an external affairs intern for Newsom’s San Diego regional office. Her responsibilities included everything from supporting outreach efforts to drafting briefs and assisting with newsletters.

“Illeana is a thoughtful, driven and reliable leader with an incredibly bright future,” said Bunshaft, who left CSUSM in December to become Newsom’s Southern California regional director of external affairs. “She has the innate ability to see the big picture and work together with others to inspire and achieve common goals.

“I’ve had the pleasure of watching her confidence and skills grow with each new opportunity she enthusiastically embraces. I’m excited to see all that she will continue to accomplish in her academics, career and public service journey.”

Chavez completed the internship with Newsom’s office in December. As she begins her final semester at CSUSM, she’s already looking ahead to the fall. She’s in the process of applying for graduate school to pursue a master’s in public policy or public administration (Cal State Fullerton, Sacramento State and San Diego State are her top choices).

She’ll take the lessons she learned in her internships with her to grad school and beyond. She knows the internship process can be intimidating for students, but she has seen firsthand how it pays off.

“The connections that we make in these internships, you never know where they're going to lead you,” she said. “I never imagined that doing an unpaid internship with Zach was going to lead me to the governor's office.

“Whether it's paid or unpaid, there are so many opportunities. No matter what, even if it seems like you are the most unqualified person in the room to do that job, just go for it. You never know what can come of that opportunity.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

But before putting the finishing touches on your list of New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a look back at some of the most-talked-about stories of 2025.

Hunter Industries Gives Transformational $10M Donation for ISE Building

In September, CSUSM announced a transformational $10 million philanthropic investment from Hunter Industries, one of the largest gifts in university history. The donation is supporting the construction of CSUSM’s new Hunter Hall of Science and Engineering, a cornerstone of the university’s commitment to preparing the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Perfect Chemistry: Campus Wedding 16 Years in the Making

If getting married at one’s place of employment seems unconventional, it shouldn’t to those who know biology professor Elinne Becket and chemistry professor Robert Iafe. The passion they have for their students is the same passion they have for the university, so it makes sense that the tied the knot on campus at the McMahan House on campus.

CSUSM Kicks Off Historic $200 Million Fundraising Campaign

Through the largest fundraising campaign in university history, CSUSM is aiming to raise $200 million to support student success and power the region’s future. The university officially launched its “Blueprint for the Future” campaign on Sept. 19. It’s an effort that combines philanthropy with grants and research funding. The campaign’s theme reflects both the physical growth on campus and the forward momentum building at CSUSM. 

Professor Elevates Samoan Language, Culture as Consultant for "Moana 2"

Professor Grant Muāgututiʻa never could have dreamed that linguistics would take him to the shores of Oʻahu as he rubbed elbows with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and other stars of the Disney glitterati before the world premiere of the animated film “Moana 2” in 2024. Indeed, Muāgututiʻa was more than a little caught off guard when the filmmaking team behind the sequel to the wildly popular movie “Moana” from 2016 contacted him out of the blue two years ago.

Construction of New Wellness and Rec Center Underway

CSUSM held a Construction Kickoff on Nov. 12 to celebrate construction being underway for the Student Wellness and Recreation Center (SWRC), which is expected to open by summer 2027. CSUSM is partnering with Sea Breeze Properties – developers of North City, which includes CSUSM’s North Commons, The QUAD and the Extended Learning Building – on the SWRC, which will be the latest addition to campus life.

Faith, Resilience Help Athlete Through Life-Threatening Crisis

It all started with a headache. A seemingly normal ailment, but Malachi Wright doesn’t get headaches. And he definitely doesn’t get headaches that force him to leave work early or have him confined to the couch and throwing up for three straight days. That's when his mom, Ivonne Mancilla, knew this was something more. Wright spent the next 40 days in the hospital, undergoing three brain surgeries with no idea what the future would bring. But Wright defied all odds. 

Alumna Finds Purpose in Advocacy for Native Children and Families

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. Little did she know that she was meeting mentors that day who would help her achieve the career she has today. Goodblanket, a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, serves as an Indian Child Welfare Act court advocate for the Valley Center-based Indian Health Council, which provides health and wellness services for American Indian communities in north San Diego County. 

Ask the Expert: A Scientific Perspective on the L.A. Fires

When the hills above Los Angeles exploded in flames early last month, Matt Rahn snapped into action. Rahn, though, isn’t a firefighter who was called into duty to help battle what became one of the biggest and most destructive fires in California history. Rather, he’s a wildfire researcher at Cal State San Marcos who, in 2019, created a unique degree program called Wildfire Science and the Urban Interface. He’s also the executive director of the Wildfire Conservancy, a nonprofit research foundation dedicated to serving the state’s firefighters and protecting its communities.

Cougar Care Network Marks 10 Years as a Campus Hub for Connection

Built on listening first and guiding without judgment, the Cougar Care Network enters its second decade as a trusted stop for students seeking practical help, community and a path forward. The Cougar Care Network (CCN) launched in fall 2015 as part of Cal State San Marcos’ Early Support Initiative within the Student Outreach and Referral (SOAR) program. 

Chronic Illness a Journey of Strength, Self-Discovery ... and Salt

The first time Emmi van Zoest rode in an ambulance was in May 2024. She was in the middle of her 10:30 a.m. Communication 200 class when she realized her vision and hearing were failing. She couldn't keep her legs or arms straight and she couldn’t speak. The full memory is hazy, but she found herself sitting outside of Crash’s Market in the University Student Union with a handful of salt packets and on a Facetime call with her parents, who live in Tennessee. This experience didn’t come out of nowhere. She has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, a chronic condition that she has lived with since her junior year of high school.  

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Barring a disastrous outcome of her finals, she will finish as a member of the College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences dean's list in six of her seven semesters. And the one semester she didn’t earn it – fall 2024 – she was a bit preoccupied by having a baby.

“And I was really close,” she said of her near-perfect dean’s list record.

Aquino will walk in fall commencement at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside during the CHABSS ceremony next week, knowing that she accomplished her goals while allowing nothing to get in the way of her path.

And her life journey has been winding.

Born in Guam, Aquino has lived in Kentucky, Germany and California. She resided in Germany with her parents after her high school graduation before returning to the U.S. and beginning her undergraduate studies.

She maintained the life of a normal college student, working and earning exceptional grades while living with her boyfriend and his family.

Then came the surprise.

While some students will naturally take a break – her mom was a college student when she got pregnant with her and her brother and never returned to finish her degree – Aquino was determined to not let baby Phoenix be the reason for her slowing down her journey.

“Since finding out I was pregnant, I knew I wasn’t going to fall,” she said. “I knew I was going to keep going.”

In fact, the preparation and ensuing birth of Phoenix, who turned 1 in November, drove Aquino to quicken her pace. To reach higher to prove to herself, her daughter and her support system that she can accomplish anything.

Her near-perfect placement on the dean’s list and overall GPA of 3.67 says otherwise, but it wasn’t easy.

“It was a lot of planning,” said Aquino, who commuted from Murrieta throughout her time at CSUSM. “I went through the previous semester and the whole fall semester pregnant, so I had to plan ahead for a lot of things like taking exams early and completing homework assignments early to give myself a cushion. It was a lot of planning with logistics, but I think we made it work.”

After the arrival of Phoenix – Aquino wanted a unisex name for a girl just like her own – she went to school mostly in the mornings while her boyfriend attended in the evenings. Gabriel Madrigal is an accounting major who plans to graduate in May. They received help from his parents as well as friends.

Aquino is also quick to point out how much CSUSM faculty has helped her in various ways. In particular, Kathie Sweeten, a lecturer who taught an infant and childhood development course while Aquino was pregnant, was influential. Lecturers Neal Dykmans (psychological science) and Melissa McGuire (history) went a long way toward providing an understanding environment.

Exactly one week after giving birth, she returned to campus to take a history final. Within days of finishing her finals, she took classes in the subsequent winter session.

Aquino said she derives her strength and dedication from her parents.

“I get opportunities they never got to pursue higher education,” she said. “Now that she’s born, I want to provide her a better life and a better future than even I had.”

Aquino plans to apply for the new Master of Science in clinical counseling psychology program that will start next fall.

She has talked to psychological science professors Lisa Graves and Francisco Flores Ramirez about graduate school as she charts a course to eventually earning a Ph.D. in neuropsychology. She wants to work with military veterans.

Her parents are coming from Germany to share in her celebration on Monday. Her brother had a baby just last week and he’ll be there, too. Madrigal and his family also will attend.

The marking of the moment will be large, no doubt. But to Aquino, there was never an option of not finishing at the highest level she possibly could.

“I feel very proud,” she said. “But I also feel like it’s doable. Life just kept throwing things at me left and right all throughout my college years. But it’s nothing you can’t get past or you can’t overcome. It’s just life, and it happens. You take it and you adapt and you do your best with it.

“It’s the system of values I’ve had my whole life. No matter how hard it is, life just keeps moving. You’ve got to move along with it.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Few would guess that he is the CEO of Hunter Industries, a global organization and the largest private employer in San Marcos – or that the company is also a longtime philanthropic partner to CSUSM and is recognized on the campus founders’ seal.

To them, he’s just Greg, a student who slips into class with the ease that comes from sharing four semesters with his classmates.

“Greg is effortlessly humble, which is so refreshing,” fellow student Travis Bourdon said. “We knew he was a professional but had no idea of the scope. He fits right in, has made friends and encourages us to think about complex concepts differently.”

A lifelong learner and Cornell University graduate, Hunter enrolled at CSUSM to challenge himself and strengthen his analytical skills. But the experience quickly became something more as he found himself inspired and motivated by the students around him.

“Their grit, backgrounds and excellence impress me, as does the passion and engagement of the faculty,” Hunter said. “CSUSM is a special place with a clear commitment to advancing social mobility and student success across the region. It means a great deal to continue my family’s legacy of support.”

This experience, combined with the family’s longstanding commitment to CSUSM, inspired a transformational $10 million gift to fund a new STEM facility. Recently approved by the CSU Board of Trustees, the building will be named Hunter Hall of Science and Engineering and is scheduled to open in fall 2027. Hunter Hall will boost engineering enrollment from 500 to nearly 2,000 students, strengthen the region’s workforce pipeline and support economic growth.

“We are deeply grateful to the Hunter family and Hunter Industries for this extraordinary gift,” President Ellen Neufeldt said. “Greg’s experience in the classroom gives him a unique perspective on our students, many of whom are the first in their families to graduate from college. Hunter Hall will be a landmark addition to campus, providing state-of-the-art STEM facilities, fueling regional innovation and strengthening pathways for future graduates.”

The Hunter family has helped shape CSUSM’s history for three generations – including Greg’s grandparents, parents and aunt, Ann Hunter-Wellborn, who served on CSUSM's University Council before the campus was founded and has continued to advocate for many student success programs. Over the years, Hunter Industries has supported several pivotal projects, including the Clarke Field House, University Student Union, Hunter Design Lab and state-of-the-art physics laboratories. The company also provides internships, mentorship and faculty support, and employs many CSUSM alumni.

As for balancing coursework and running a global company, Greg approaches his studies with the same focus and dedication that define his leadership.

“Greg is an exceptional student,” mathematics professor Hanson Smith said. “He even makes time for office hours, which is remarkable for someone who is also a CEO. Students are typically career-focused. Greg already has an extraordinary career, yet he’s here because he loves learning, which is likely what makes him such an effective leader.”

With the Hunter gift, CSUSM’s “Blueprint for the Future” campaign – the university’s most ambitious fundraising effort – has raised nearly 80% of its $200 million goal. The campaign reflects the university’s continued growth and its commitment to advancing social mobility across the region. Explore Blueprint for the Future to see how CSUSM is different by design.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

When she was growing up, her mother always made dentist trips a positive experience for Johnson and her brothers by offering them rewards for doing well in the office. Those positive childhood moments led Johnson to dream of working in health care and dentistry. 

Today, Johnson is one step closer to fulfilling that dream.

“I’m so excited. I feel like the finish line is right there,” said Johnson, a fifth-year general biology major and pre-dental student who's graduating from Cal State San Marcos this month. “I’m really excited to navigate the world outside of school, spend time with my family and husband, and start working as a dental assistant during my gap year.”

Along with a gap year to gain experience, Johnson plans to move to North Carolina with her family. She hopes to attend her top choice, the University of North Carolina, to study dentistry and become a dentist.

Johnson was an active member of the Pre-Dental Society at CSUSM. She joined the campus organization in spring 2024 and became the social media officer during the 2024-25 academic year. Her efforts in the club helped her achieve the role of senior president this fall.

“Being a part of that club taught me a lot about confidence and allowed me to be really comfortable speaking with other students,” she said. “I loved the leadership roles because of what they brought out in myself, and I loved being able to help and support others.”

Not only did the Pre-Dental Society give Johnson a place where she belonged, but it also helped her understand the path to dental school.

As club president, Johnson has tried to make clear to newer members that they should take their educational journey at their own pace. She often talks about her experience as a fifth-year student and how that extra time has benefited her academically.

“I feel like a lot of members think they need to graduate within a certain time, because in high school that’s what we’re told,” Johnson said. “We’re told, ‘You have to graduate college in four years,’ and sometimes that can be a little discouraging. I think it's nice for the members to hear that I’m a fifth-year and see that I’m not defeated by it. I’m enjoying the ride.”

Johnson also works hard to make the Pre-Dental Society a welcoming place for students. She encourages members to ask questions, informs them about volunteer opportunities and helps them connect with academic resources and see what lies ahead on the path to dentistry.

Her passion for creating and fostering a loving environment is evident to her peers and professors. James Kezos, an assistant professor of biology, has worked closely with Johnson in the classroom and lab.

“She is a very determined, hard-working and compassionate individual who has set high goals for herself,” Kezos said. “She is willing to learn and help with any task, showing exceptional levels of initiative and dedication. She excels at whatever responsibilities she undertakes, including her classwork, her research and her extracurriculars such as being president of the Pre-Dental Society.”

In the Fly Lab with Kezos, Johnson began studying the physiological adaptations to chronic high-sugar diets in Drosophila (fruit flies) and how these diets affect their heart health and lifespan. Johnson explained that because Drosophila share many genetic traits with humans and have such a short lifespan, they’re ideal subjects for biological study.

Alongside the study on high-sugar diets, Johnson has analyzed the Hedgehog signaling pathway in Drosophila heart function.

“If we’re discovering new things that could help someone else’s future research, if it could be applied in any way and help the human population, I think that’s really neat,” Johnson said. “I love that we’re taking steps forward to potentially help people. That’s what I want to do in my future, help people.”

As the Fly Lab’s sole data analyst, Johnson works closely with the flies’ heartbeats – noting that, in some cases, the flies have a fluorescent heart – by watching videos and turning that information into data through programs like Microsoft Excel.

“The biggest impact she has made has been her efforts in implementing a large statistical code to process and analyze our fly cardiac videos,” Kezos said. “Without her help, we would not be able to analyze any of our data, and probably would be struggling with fixing the code.”

Creating the code was a challenge that Johnson felt confident in tackling. She had data analysis experience from EOS Fitness, where she worked as a data coordinator. She also took a class on biological data analysis, so when Kezos mentioned that he had code that needed fixing, Johnson was quick to take on the project.

It took Johnson roughly two months to go through the nearly 3,000 lines of code. She watched thousands of videos, quantified the data and made it possible for the lab to analyze all of their hard work. Johnson referred to the project as the ultimate puzzle.

“It was so frustrating but also really rewarding,” she said. “That went beyond what I thought I was capable of, and just having the belief in myself that I could achieve that, it was such a rewarding feeling. It also strengthened my confidence in myself; I am capable of doing something like that. That was super empowering for me.”

Johnson has used these new skills to teach other students in the lab how to use the code to analyze data.

“Quetzalli has been an integral member of my lab, and has been a tremendous help in establishing the data analysis process,” Kezos said. “Without her efforts, initiative and care, we would not be as productive as we are today.”

When looking back on her time at CSUSM, Johnson said her biggest advice for future students is to get involved.

Transferring from Palomar College, Johnson thought she could handle everything on her own at CSUSM. She wasn’t thinking about joining clubs or finding community. But as she delved deeper into her coursework, she realized there was much she still needed to learn about the path ahead.

She first heard about the Pre-Dental Society in a Biology 101 class, and the timing felt right. She decided to go to a meeting, and the organization ended up giving her the guidance and support she hadn’t realized she was missing.

“I attended a meeting and thought, ‘This is so helpful,’ ” Johnson said. “Then, while I was at these meetings, I saw this community and the relationship between officers and members. I was like, ‘I really want to be a part of this,’ which was new for me. I had never felt like that before.”

Being a member of the Pre-Dental Society and volunteering with the Fly Lab helped Johnson grow as a student. The knowledge she gained from both, combined with community support, helped her see how she could give back.

Johnson’s newfound desire to get involved led her to participate in events such as the Student Poster Showcase. She presented a poster on the physiological responses to chronic high-sugar diets in Drosophila, the research she had done in the Fly Lab.

“Get involved, because it doesn’t hurt; it only helps. You build such a great community and you learn so much. You’re able to meet like-minded people and grow as a human being,” she said. “Enjoy the ride. Enjoy where you’re at in the moment. Enjoy the people around you. Slow down and just enjoy where you’re at.”

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