Connections

Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA and California Community Foundation release survey of Los Angeles Latina/o residents

The Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs (PBI) at Cal State LA and the California Community Foundation (CCF) released a new survey of Latina/o residents in Los Angeles County, a community that will be a major factor in L.A.’s upcoming mayoral race and in other elections. The survey provides rare insight into the experiences and views of a community that makes up nearly half of L.A. County’s population and nearly a third of the electorate. Read more about the PBI and CCF survey.

Cal State LA to launch regional consortium as part of statewide #CaliforniansForAll College Corps program

Cal State LA has been selected to participate in the new statewide #CaliforniansForAll College Corps program that aims to engage undergraduate students in solving problems in their communities throughout California. Through the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, Cal State LA will launch the East Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Regional Consortium in partnership with Cal Poly Pomona, East Los Angeles College and Rio Hondo College. The consortium will offer meaningful civic and community engagement opportunities to at least 200 low-to-moderate income students, helping to reduce their college debt through financial support while addressing key challenges facing some of the most underserved communities in the eastern region of Los Angeles County.

Cal State LA celebrates 75th anniversary of the university

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Cal State LA. We’re celebrating the seven decades of our university—our rich past, our remarkable students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and our continued legacy of dedication to the public good in Los Angeles and beyond. We invite you to visit our events webpage throughout the year to stay up to date with our 75th anniversary celebration events.

Eagle-Con 2022 to honor legendary talents, celebrate diversity in science fiction and fantasy

This year’s Eagle-Con, a virtual sci-fi and fantasy conference hosted by Cal State LA and the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800), will honor concept artist and set designer Dawn Brown, graphic novelist and comics scholar John Jennings, science fiction and fantasy writers Jaymee Goh and K. Tempest Bradford, and the 501st Legion, a worldwide charitable Star Wars cosplay group. The theme of Eagle-Con 2022 is “Media Multiverses,” which will explore how science fiction stories are now created and experienced across platforms. Virtual sessions will be offered over a series of three days, March 10-12. Cal State LA students, faculty, and staff can also attend the March 10-11 sessions in person. To register and view the full schedule, please visit the Eagle-Con website.

Music professor delivers President’s Distinguished Professor Lecture

Cal State LA Professor John M. Kennedy explored the challenges of presenting unfamiliar music to listeners as part of his President’s Distinguished Professor Lecture. Kennedy, a professor of music composition in the College of Arts and Letters’ Department of Music, was one of two faculty members who received President’s Distinguished Professor Awards in the fall. During his lecture on Feb. 22, he discussed the difficulty of writing and performing music that is often perceived as outside the bounds of common sonic decency and described as “noise.” Through examples of recent compositions, Kennedy recounted his reactions to work that is sometimes described this way, and how a broad creative palette is used to transform these sounds into musical expressions. Watch Kennedy’s lecture on YouTube.

Cal State LA celebrates Black History Month with live art and art walk event

As part of Cal State LA’s celebration of Black History Month in February, the Educational Opportunity Program hosted a live art and art walk event. The program featured art demonstrations and classes with local artists, Darrell Mitchell II, Derrick Dzine and Enkone, who created visual works of art that celebrate Black history and excellence.

Four Cal State LA students earn prestigious Casanova pre-doctoral scholarships

Four Cal State LA students were selected for the 2021-22 Sally Casanova pre-doctoral scholar awards, which are granted each year to support the doctoral aspirations of students across the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Andy Aleman-Alvarez a master’s degree candidate in Latin American studies; Brian Moreno, a master’s degree candidate in Latin American studies; Bryan Cantero, a master’s degree candidate in Chicana(o) and Latina(o) studies; and Eduardo Carreon, a psychology graduate student, will each receive a $3,000 award to help fund graduate exams, fees for professional conferences, and other costs related to graduate school. Read more about the Casanova scholars.

Professor shares successful student-centered teaching strategies with ACUE

Charter College of Education Professor Deborah Oh was recently featured by the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) for sharing keys to success for scaling student-centered teaching strategies. Oh uses data and evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for thousands of students taking quantitative reasoning courses at Cal State LA. Oh created a space where she and her colleagues could report and track student progress at three different points throughout the semester. This gives Cal State LA instructors real-time progress data, which is utilized to follow up with students who could use additional support to complete the course successfully. Since 2018, Oh’s collaborative course design approach has ensured that all instructors work as a team to track student success and support students who need additional resources or guidance. As a result, the pass rates in these quantitative reasoning courses have increased from 79% to 85%. Read more and watch a video interview with Oh from ACUE.

Public Health student receives CDC equity award

Cal State LA Honors College student Melina Rodriguez is a recipient of a 2021 Williams-Hutchins Health Equity Award presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rodriguez, a public health major in the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services, was recognized for her project on addressing mass incarceration through a public health lens. As part of her project, she worked as an intern at VenaVer Events, a community and food advocacy organization that develops and operates certified farmers’ markets and community events throughout Los Angeles County. The equity award honors exceptional CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars program student projects that advance health disparity science and minority health.

Cal State LA faculty member researches beachgoer safety after Huntington Beach oil spill  

A broken pipeline caused approximately 28,000 gallons of oil to contaminate the Huntington Beach water, sand, and wetlands last fall. Just 10 days after the spill, the beach reopened to the public, and Petr Vozka, assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Natural and Social Sciences, had a straightforward question: Was it safe for beachgoers? Vozka developed a new analytical process to compare the contamination levels to those at beaches not affected by a spill and to better understand the dangers posed by oil-contaminated sand. “The ocean is washing these sands over and over, so we’ll be focusing on monitoring the concentration levels over the one-year period, if the concentrations of some of these [toxic or carcinogenic] compounds are getting lower or disappearing,” Vozka said. “It’s not easy to mimic these situations in the lab. This happened very close to my university, so we could start collecting the samples immediately. We are hoping to see what is happening in real life if there is an oil spill and how that actually affects the beaches.” Read more about the CSU response to the Huntington Beach oil spill.

Undergraduate, graduate Cal State LA students present at transportation, global health conferences

College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology student Christopher Rocha presented his research on the opportunities and challenges of additive manufacturing of cementitious material at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), a program unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Rocha, a civil engineering graduate student, participated as part of the TRB’s Minority Student Fellows program. The conference draws thousands of transportation professionals together from around the world to focus on research. At the 5th Global Public Health Conference, psychology undergraduate students Lauren Rostholder and Isabel Osorio-Flores presented research investigating social connection and mental health outcomes of Cal State LA undergraduates during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their research was conducted with College of Natural and Social Sciences professors Pamela Regan, Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Minas Michikyan, and is part of an ongoing, multi-site investigation exploring adjustment and resilience among first-generation and continuing-generation undergraduates.

Graphic design students combat hate through Los Angeles art PSA campaign

Cal State LA students created anti-hate public service announcement art posters that promote inclusion and hate crime reporting as part of the city of Los Angeles’ LA for All campaign. LA for All is an anti-hate campaign running in 18 languages and more than 4,000 ad spaces across greater Los Angeles. “We launched LA for All to address hate in our city and to stand up for diversity, inclusion and belonging in LA,” said Cal State LA alumna Capri Maddox, who serves as executive director for the city’s Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department. The students participated in the project during a graphic design class taught by Zachary Vernon, an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Letters. “As we see what happens around us, it is important to look out for one another and stick together,” student Valeria Olvera said. “I wanted to create an image that captures the simplicity and beauty of helping each other in our community.” Read more about the LA for All campaign and explore the students’ art.

Join us for the Alumni Awards Gala on April 8

Cheer on the LA Kings at Cal State LA Night

Join us for Cal State LA Night at Crypto.com Arena on April 16, when alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends, and family can come together to celebrate Golden Eagle pride and support the NHL Los Angeles Kings. Each ticket includes a limited edition LA Kings + Cal State LA jersey shirt, and a portion of each ticket will be donated back to the Cal State LA Alumni Association Scholarship. Learn more and register on the Cal State LA Night webpage.

Golden Eagles women’s basketball finishes season strong

Cal State LA women’s basketball made history in 2022 with the team’s best conference finish since 1998-99. The Golden Eagles competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament for the first time since 2018. The team earned its first playoff victory since 2014, beating Sonoma State in the tournament’s opening round. CCAA Freshman of the Year Lily Buggs was named to the five-player All-Tournament team, a first for the Golden Eagles since 2013. Nicole Flennaugh, Jada Johnson, and Anai Washington also earned All-CCAA recognition in 2022.