Connections

Cal State LA guitar ensemble performs in Armenia for UN World Refugee Day

The Cal State LA Classical Guitar Ensemble traveled to Armenia this month, performing across the country leading up to a culminating performance for 2023 United Nations World Refugee Day on June 20. The ensemble is part of the Department of Music in Cal State LA’s College of Arts and Letters and led by faculty director Satik Andriassian. Read more about the ensemble. 

Cal State LA Executive Vice President Jose A. Gomez appointed interim president of Pasadena City College

Cal State LA Executive Vice President Jose A. Gomez has been appointed interim superintendent-president of Pasadena City College following a unanimous vote of the PCC Board of Trustees. Gomez, who served as executive vice president, chief operating officer and provost at Cal State LA, is set to begin in the interim post in late July, pending approval of his contract, and will serve in the role during Pasadena City College’s search for a permanent superintendent-president. Read more about the appointment.   

Cal State LA community marks Juneteenth holiday with celebration

More than 100 staff, students, and faculty gathered together in the Golden Eagle Ballroom at Cal State LA on June 15 to take part in a festive Juneteenth celebration hosted by Cal State LA’s Staff Working Group on Belonging, Community, and Diversity. 

Juneteenth, observed on June 19, commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. It is the oldest known U.S. celebration of the abolition of slavery and marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free. The day is also known by other names such as Emancipation Day, Liberation Day, or Freedom Day. Read more about the campus Juneteenth event. 

Cal State LA celebrates LGBTQIA+ community with first campuswide Pride event

Staff, faculty, and students celebrated Pride Month June 29 at the Cal State LA University Club. The celebration was the first campuswide Pride event at the university and was hosted by the Staff Working Group on Belonging, Community, and Diversity. Pride Month is a time when the nation acknowledges and honors the resilience of the LGBTQIA+ community in its struggle for equality and freedom. The month also commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, when a police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, resulted in six days of clashes between protestors and police, and marked the beginning of a movement that has changed the course of history. Read more about the campus Pride event. 

Cal State LA honored as ACUE inaugural Movement Maker

The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) has named Cal State LA a Movement Maker for demonstrating an enduring commitment to the success of all students. The University was presented a Movement Maker award along with the California State University (CSU) system and Cal State Northridge during the inaugural National Higher Education Teaching Conference that took place June 22-23 in New York City. Read more about the ACUE award.

Cal State LA research group joins Octopus Odyssey

The Ramírez eco-genomics group from Cal State LA, led by Dr. Gustavo A. Ramírez from the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Natural and Social Sciences, is participating in the Schmidt Ocean Institute oceanographic Octopus Odyssey expedition to explore the micro- and macro-ecology of uncharted seafloor habitats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. This scientific cruise is taking place on board SOI’s new ship, “Falkor (too),” carrying the underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Subastian that is staffed by an international team of multidisciplinary oceanographic researchers. This two-leg voyage, comprised of a month-long stay at sea this summer followed by a second cruise at the end of the year, is inspired by recently described octopus egg-brooding behaviors observed at seamounts. Read more about the research expedition.  

Cal State LA engineering students showcase senior design projects at expo

More than 100 seniors in the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology presented their culminating projects during the Capstone Senior Design Expo at Cal State LA in May. These projects were sponsored by corporate and university partners. The expo featured dozens of projects, including prototype designs and software applications for robotics, sustainability, transportation, public safety, and more. The projects aim to give students experience with tackling real-world problems for real-world clients. Read more about the expo. 

Cal State LA students take home awards at CSU research competition

Three Cal State LA students received first-place awards for their research during the 37th CSU Student Research Competition held at San Diego State this spring. Undergraduate student Hazel Carias-Urbina, a history major, took the top award in the Humanities and Letters category of the undergraduate session with support from faculty mentor Dr. Camille Suárez of the College of Natural and Social Sciences. Graduate student Katherine Lainez, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Latin American Studies, received first place in the Humanities and Letters category of the graduate session with support from faculty mentor Dr. Enrique Ochoa of the College of Natural and Social Sciences. Undergraduate student Kimia Lavasani, a psychology major, won first place in the Behavioral, Social Sciences, and Public Administration category in the undergraduate session with support from faculty mentor Dr. Alma Olaguez of the College of Natural and Social Sciences. Read more about the competition.  

Outstanding faculty, staff activities highlighted in University Reports

Explore the spring 2023 edition of University Reports, which showcases professional activities and published works, as well as awards received by Cal State LA faculty and staff.  

Citrus College, Cal State LA students harness the sun to support homeless

A College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology faculty member and graduate students have been collaborating with a professor and students from Citrus College and other volunteers to help design and build a solar-powered mobile shower trailer to provide services to people experiencing homelessness through Hillside L.A. Church in El Sereno. Samuel Landsberger, professor of engineering at Cal State LA, brought in two graduate mechanical engineering design teams to help design the showers. Read more about the collaboration.

Cal State LA alumna selected for emerging Black screenwriter mentorship program

Alumna Tanisha Quilter-Williams was among 12 emerging Black writers selected as part of the 2023 class of mentees for the Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative. The yearlong initiative provides pre-Writers Guild of America Black writers with a pathway to becoming established screenwriters in entertainment. 

The program is presented by writer Mike Gauyo (Insecure, Ginny & Georgia), in partnership with Stage 32, and with support from Culture Creative Entertainment, M88, and Final Draft. Quilter-Williams is a former entertainment reporter who enjoys writing dramedies about the experiences of women and their quest for self-discovery. Read more about the program. 

Cal State LA golfer earns second consecutive All-America recognition

In back-to-back years, Cal State LA’s Morgan Sjoerdsma has earned Academic All-America recognition as selected by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). Sjoerdsma, who earned second-team honors, is the only golfer in program history to earn the prestigious award, which recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and in the classroom. The Academic All-America award earned by Sjoerdsma is the 17th all-time for Cal State LA and she joins Christie Lau of women’s tennis as the only two Cal State LA student-athletes to earn the honor twice. She is the first woman honoree since Iona Lofrano in 2015 and the first to earn second-team honors since Samuel Croucher in 2018.