President Berenecea Johnson Eanes displays a single stalk of cotton in her office at Cal State LA. It is her daily reminder to be resilient, to take advantage of available opportunities, and never to forget the sacrifices made by others that helped during her academic and professional journey.

“When I was a little girl, my grandmother would say when I thought I was having a bad day, ‘Necea, you didn’t pick no cotton today,’” Eanes said. “I keep that stalk in my office so that I will not complain when I’m having a bad day, but [also] to remind me that life is very short, and that my grandmother had a second-grade education. And here I stand.”

Where she stands is as the ninth president of Cal State LA, and the first woman to hold the position.

Eanes’ latest accomplishment was celebrated in a two-for-one ceremony that combined her belated Investiture, the official installation of a university president, and Cal State LA’s Convocation, the annual event marking the beginning of the new academic year.

More than 1,200 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community leaders attended the “We Are LA: Empowering Dreams, Transforming Lives” morning festivities at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex on Monday, August 18.

“Cal State LA,” Eanes said, “is not just a campus. It is a gateway, a bridge, a force for social mobility that not only changes the lives of our students, but the lives of their families, their communities, and generations that follow. Here, the neighborhoods of Los Angeles are not just represented, they are celebrated. Here, diversity is not just a statistic, it is our power. Here, access and excellence are not competing goals, they are our mission.”

The Investiture was originally scheduled for the spring semester. President Eanes, however, postponed it following the January wildfires that impacted thousands in Southern California, including members of the Cal State LA community.

“While it is important to mark the rituals of beginnings, endings, and transitions, our energy as a community needs to be focused elsewhere as we recover from the devastating LA fires,” Eanes said at the time.

The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees appointed Eanes to the presidency in January 2024. She succeeded Interim President Leroy Morishita.

Fittingly, CSU Chancellor Mildred García presented Eanes with the President’s Medallion, the official symbol of the presidency, during the investiture part of the double ceremony.

When García was president of California State University, Fullerton from 2012 to 2018, Eanes served on her cabinet as vice president of student affairs.

“Then, as now,” García said, “she was a shining star, displaying her keen intellect, her gift for inspiring and empowering others, her belief in the transformative power of higher education, her compassion, and her heart. To me, it was her destiny to one day lead a CSU campus to great heights as its president. Today, that destiny is fulfilled.”

Eanes previously served as president of York College, City University of New York, where from 2020 to 2023 she provided strategic leadership and counsel to about 1,100 faculty, staff, and administrators, while overseeing a $91 million budget. She also served as a professor in the Department of Social Work starting in 2019, the same year she was named the interim president.

From 2012 to 2019 at Cal State Fullerton, she delivered leadership and oversight for myriad student success programs, as well as new campus infrastructure and the university’s strategic plan.

Eanes earned a bachelor’s degree in public health from Dillard University; a master’s degree in social work from Boston University; and a doctorate in social work from Clark Atlanta University.

Much of her influence stems from family. In addition to her grandmother, Eanes credits her parents, educators Loretha and Frank Johnson, for valuable lessons that gave her the strength to be a leader.

She recalled how her mother, Loreatha, on a daily basis would start making phone calls at 6 a.m. to check in on community members.

“I was raised by a mother who built a community with the precision of a master teacher and the devotion of a mother of faith,” Eanes said. “Between lesson plans and lunch boxes, she had to be particular about what she was doing at 6 a.m. She would talk to friends, and I thought she was crazy. Why are you talking to people at 6 a.m.? Now, I talk to people at 5.”

Father Frank provided her strength and support. When Eanes was 10, a school counselor told her and Frank that they needed to make alternate plans because Eanes was not college material. Frank walked her out of the meeting immediately.

Years later following her graduation ceremony at Clark University, Eanes found Frank standing under an oak tree, separating himself from the rest of the family. He was proud of her, he said, and he wanted to revel in her success by himself as he recalled the counselor’s words.

The unmovable oak served as a symbol for Eanes.

“Sometimes leadership is a crowd; sometimes leadership is a single witness under an oak,” she said of the separate lessons from her parents.

Eanes’ leadership is built around her commitment to a strong, vibrant community that extends beyond the campus to include the city and the region the university serves. It is a value she shares with Cal State LA.

During her speech, Eanes outlined her vision for the university:

• Access with momentum: Build a comprehensive strategic enrollment plan that centers on historically marginalized Los Angeles communities and a true retention mindset. The university will pair access with one-time completion, understanding that every semester counts for families and our region. “The most expensive degree is the one a student starts and cannot finish,” Eanes said.
• Affordability with support: Maintain among the lowest tuition and fees in the CSU. The majority of Cal State LA students receive aid, and hundreds of scholarships remove financial friction.
• Student success with measurable outcomes: Publish clear targets for graduation rates, verified career outcomes within 12 months, and seamless course access so scale becomes opportunity, not bureaucracy.
• Resilience with diversified revenue: Advocate for smarter state funding while expanding mission-aligned revenue—philanthropy, grants, corporate partnership, and entrepreneurial ventures that open doors without closing Cal State LA’s values.
• People with purpose: Invest in faculty and staff—in innovate pedagogy, technology integration, adult learner success, and operational excellence—so that the university is the employer of choice and the engine of transformation.
• Power with partnership: Strengthen a unified Cal State LA identity that amplifies the CSU’s excellence through coordinated advocacy, a connected alumni network for mentorship, and shared commitment to turning toward rather than away.
• Stewardship of place: “We Are LA” as a responsibility. Partnerships—from clinics to classrooms, city hall to neighborhood nonprofits—must be reciprocal and resilient, lifting entire communities.

As part of Convocation, Eanes, Provost Heather Lattimer, and Anureet Kaur, chair of the Outstanding Professor Awards Selection Committee, presented the President’s Distinguished Professor Award to David Blekhman from the Department of Technology. The Outstanding Professor Awards went to Devika Hazra, Department of Economics and Statistics; Eun-Young (Elaine) Kang, Department of Computer Science; Rupa Purasinghe, Department of Civil Engineering; and Patrick Sharp, Department of Liberal Studies. Dinur Blum, Department of Sociology, was the recipient of the Outstanding Lecturer Award.

Hiram Channell of Admissions and Recruitment was recognized for his 51 years of service to the university.

Also during Convocation, Lattimer announced the establishment of the Ron Vogel Endowed Scholarship in the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services. The scholarship is named after Vogel, who recently retired as the dean of the college following a 45-year career in higher education, and was made possible by the generosity of the National Rongxiang Xu Foundation.

The university’s slogan might say “We Are LA,” but the ceremonies brought touches of Midwestern spirituality, Mexican American mariachi girl power, New Orleans street jazz flair, and more.

Belen De Leon, meteorologist with NBC4 Today in LA and singer, served as the mistress of ceremonies and sang the national anthem.

Gwendolyn Alexis, Eanes’ longtime friend and a lecturer in the African American Studies Department at Cal State Fullerton, held a libation ceremony, the ritual of pouring liquid as an offering to honor ancestors, spirits, or deities. She encouraged audience members to call out the names of ancestors during her pour.

Brandon Baker, a Prison Graduation Initiative student, performed an original spoken-word piece honoring Eanes.

The president’s daughter, Victoria Eanes, read a poem written by her grandfather, and joked that she had been assigned the task because she was her mother’s favorite child.

Mariachi Las Mariposas, an all-female mariachi group from Garfield High School, which has close ties to Cal State LA, performed two spirited numbers.

Perhaps, CSU Board of Trustees Chair Jack B. Clarke, Jr. summed it up best when he said, “I ain’t never been to an investiture like this!” before starting his prepared comments.

And that was prior to world-renowned opera singer Jillian Ardelia Harrison-Jones, accompanied by pianist Michael Maxwell, entrancing the audience with her rendition of the gospel hymn Total Praise.

“It’s Monday but it feels like a Sunday. My mind is blown,” De Leon said of the performance.

Pastor Winterbourne Harrison-Jones, the opera singer’s husband, provided a heartfelt blessing for the new academic year. The couple was invited from Indianapolis’ Witherspoon Presbyterian Church, Eanes’ hometown congregation.

Vocalist Lena Marandi, a Cal State LA alum, and pianist Mitsuko Morikawa performed the University Hymn. The Second Line Jazz Band, which includes members of the Cal State LA faculty, led the recessional in a finale reminiscent of New Orleans celebrations.

Following the morning celebration, Cal State LA hosted a Benefit Luncheon in support of student scholarships and faculty research. The luncheon drew many donors and supporters.

The Convocation and Investiture are just the first of many celebrations planned for the fall semester.

On Wednesday, August 20, Cal State LA will host the Ultimate “We Are LA” Campus Celebration, a gathering designed to unite the campus community. It will feature live music, games, food trucks, and cultural programming that will highlight the creativity and diversity of Cal State LA.

Two days later on Friday, August 22, Cal State LA Day at City Hall will honor the university’s contributions to the community with a city proclamation presented by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado. Prior to that event, Cal State LA will host a breakfast for alumni and guests.

In October, the university will host the We Are LA—Community Weekend, which will be highlighted by a special event honoring Cal State LA alumnus, actor, philanthropist, Academy Award nominee, and activist Edward James Olmos.

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California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 24,000 students and has more than 250,000 distinguished alumni.