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It would have been easy for Tayloure Richardson ’15 (Criminology) to succumb to the disadvantage she was given in life.

Born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a rare genetic disorder that makes bones brittle, Richardson said she came to California State University, Northridge with only two options.

“In high school it was a much smaller environment, but coming to CSUN with thousands of students, you either sink or you float,” Richardson said.

Richardson chose the latter. CSUN opened a host of doors for the South Los Angeles native, including volunteer opportunities, networking and the tools needed to help others.

But perhaps most importantly, the university gave her a sense of belief in herself. That confidence poured out this year when Richardson took part in — and won — the 2017 Ms. Wheelchair California pageant in Long Beach.

“CSUN helped me become more comfortable in my own skin,” Richardson said. “As someone with a disability, people will look at you with pity and want to speak for you. I’ve become more vocal, outspoken and confident.”

The Ms. Wheelchair California pageant aims to select the most accomplished and articulate spokeswoman to represent those living with disabilities. The Ms. Wheelchair California website [Hyperlink: https://www.mswheelchaircaliforniafoundation.org/] states that the competition isn’t a beauty pageant, but a competition based on advocacy, achievement, communication and presentation.

“I’ve always wanted to be in a pageant, but I never thought it would happen,” Richardson said. “I was shocked after I heard that I won. Now I have a huge responsibility and would definitely like to mentor young girls and women who are serious about entering the competition.”

Away from the stage, Richardson has dedicated much of her time to helping others. Through CSUN, Richardson has been able to volunteer at Operation Confidence, a nonprofit organization that helps veterans who suffer from physical or mental disabilities, homelessness and more.

“My counselor [at CSUN] asked if I wanted to do some volunteer work and I never say ‘no’ to anything because any opportunity is an opportunity to learn and grow,” Richardson said. “I have an uncle who was in Vietnam and I didn’t have the understanding when I was younger what was going on with him since he suffered from PTSD. Having the educational background from CSUN and going forward with graduate school [at USC], I understand these types of situations better.”

To Richardson, who also works as an instructor at the Independent Living Center of Southern California in Lancaster, helping others with disabilities is a way for her to provide a positive outlook, encouragement and motivation to others.

“I want to share with people that a lot of times things could be worse,” Richardson said. “I want those with disabilities to be able to fend for themselves, be successful and reach the goals set in place for them.”

As an instructor, Richardson assists those with disabilities accomplish everyday tasks, such as applying for a job, enrolling in school or using Paratransit, a nonprofit that provides transportation to the disabled.

With plans of completing her master’s degree in social work from USC next spring and eventually earning her doctorate, Richardson’s goal is to create a nonprofit for young girls with disabilities. She also plans to keep helping war veterans who suffer from mental illness by helping them look for jobs and assisting in the transition from military to civilian life.

“I know that my disability doesn’t disable me from doing things,” she said. “It doesn’t disable me from being successful or reaching my goals. There’s just other barriers I have to continue to knock down.”

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Internationally acclaimed composer and music professor emeritus at California State University, Northridge Aurelio de la Vega, has received his third Latin Grammy nomination in the category of best classical contemporary composition for his latest album, “Recordatio.”

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Aurelio de la Vega’s latest album cover for “Recordatio.”

Produced by RYCY Productions and published by DLV Music Publishing Company, the piece was written for soprano, woodwind quintet and string quintet and is based on a poem by the late Cuban poet Emilio Ballagas and performed by de la Vega’s wife, Anne Marie Ketchum.

De la Vega says he is delighted to be nominated for the third time.

“In the process of the Grammys, the nomination is the most important part because the nomination is the only time where a jury of peers looks at the music,” he said. “It’s an honor to be nominated. I’m glad that my peers decided that this piece was worth it.”

The piece highlights the soon-to-be 92-year-old composer’s many efforts to preserve the Cuban identity of his youth. Ricardo Pau-Llosa, professor of English at Miami Dade College and longtime admirer and friend of de la Vega, said the composer exemplifies the marriage of Cuban culture and American identity.

“Aurelio de la Vega is one of the true cultural champions of our time,” Pau-Llosa said. “He embodies the resilience of Cuba’s great tradition in music by continuing to compose brilliant works during his nearly 60 years of exile, and he embodies the flourishing cosmopolitan and generous character of America, his adopted home.”

De la Vega, born on Nov. 28, 1925, in Havana, Cuba, studied law at the University of Havana and music composition at the Conservatorio Ada Iglesias. He also studied independently with Fritz Kramer in Havana and Ernst Toch in Los Angeles from 1947-48. He served as cultural attaché in the Cuban Consulate in Los Angeles and toured the United States as a lecturer from 1952-54.

Decrying the rise of communism on the Caribbean island in the mid 20th century, de la Vega fled the tyrannical regime of Fidel Castro, resenting the shackles placed on the liberties of the people he had left behind.

“The people who came in the sixties were the people who left Cuba because they could not tolerate the lack of liberty,” he said. “One of the things that I am sad about with the situation in Cuba is the fact that art is politicized. When you look at the paintings coming from Cuba today, 80 percent of the things are always tainted. It’s a pro or a con, which is not a liberty situation. It’s not the painter, painting colors and forms on a canvas, it’s a statement. And I’m not interested in those statements.”

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Aurelio de la Vega at his home in Northridge. Photo by Lucas A. Wiggins.

Seeking asylum, de la Vega joined the faculty of what was then San Fernando Valley State College, now CSUN, in 1959, settling in Los Angeles and becoming a naturalized citizen in 1966.

He was nominated for his first Latin Grammy, best classical contemporary composition, in 2008 for his “Variación del Recuerdo (Variations of the Remembrance),” performed by the North/South Chamber Orchestra. He received his second Latin Grammy nomination for best classical contemporary composition for his piano piece, “Preludio No. 1,” performed by pianist Elizabeth Rebozo on her “Live in L.A.” album.

“De la Vega’s music is simultaneously profound and utterly surprising, an earnest rejection of the predictability and garishness that pervades all levels of contemporary culture,” Pau-Llosa continued. “His superbly crafted music offers a unique luxury to the listener — the sensation of immediacy and continuity, as if we were witnessing his ideas take shape and unfold. This is how the timeless takes up residence in our imaginations.”

Throughout his teaching years and in the years since his retirement in 1993, de la Vega has been an active composer and music lecturer. His list of compositions includes symphonic pieces, chamber music works, solo instrumental pieces, vocal works and piano, guitar, ballet and electronic compositions. Major orchestras and prominent soloists throughout the world have performed his works.

The composer has been the recipient of many prizes and distinctions, including having twice received the Friedheim Award of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2009, the Cintas Foundation in New York bestowed upon him the William B. Warren Lifetime Achievement Award “for his internationally acclaimed contribution to music composition.”

In 2000, the Library of Congress honored de la Vega when his graphic score, “The Magic Labyrinth,” was included in the library’s 733-page volume, “Music History from Primary Sources.” Among the music greats included with him were Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Gershwin, Handel, Liszt, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Puccini, Stravinsky and Verdi.

A documentary about de la Vega’s life, “Aurelio: Rebel with a Cause,” directed by Camilo Vila and narrated by Andy Garcia, was released in 2015.

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The wind picked up on what was supposed to be a calm, 95-degree September day on Castaic Lake, and suddenly no matter how hard Melony Varnado tried to steer her paddleboard left, it blew right.

Under normal circumstances, this could have been alarming for Varnado, who had never been on a paddleboard before. But a certified California State University, Northridge instructor was there to teach her how to lay down on the board and paddle herself to safety.

“It was the perfect circumstance for learning how to navigate bad weather,” said Varnado, a marketing professional in Los Angeles. “It’s very reassuring that someone is going to teach you these things and how to do these activities safely.”

Varnado was participating in a CSUN program called Re/Connecting People with Parks. The idea is to provide a free, expert-guided introduction to outdoor activities for people in the Los Angeles area. Events are held at Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, Castaic Lake, Placerita Canyon and Topanga Canyon, including hikes and bird watching.

The program’s primary goal is to foster interest in the outdoors, especially among minorities and underserved populations who face barriers to outdoor activities such as paddling, due to transportation challenges and equipment rental costs. The program is coordinated by Mechelle Best, chair of CSUN’s Department of Recreation and Tourism Management.

“One of the goals is to break down the myth that minority groups don’t belong outdoors,” Best said. “We definitely want to get people interested in the outdoors. It’s also to show people there are careers in these fields. A lot of groups are not used to seeing people from their backgrounds in the outdoors in the first place, and are not used to seeing people from their backgrounds who have careers in these activities. By offering them opportunities to do [the activities] a couple of times, it helps to build interest.”

A key component of the Re/Connecting People with Parks program for the fall 2017 semester has been “Paddle Safe and Leadership,” a series of classes at CSUN’s Aquatic Center at Castaic Lake State Recreation Area, the program that attracted Varnado to the lake. From September through November, certified instructors have taught small groups of community members and students how to kayak, canoe or stand-up paddle. The goal was to get a group of students to progress through a series of classes, but it was also OK for community members to attend individual sessions (which often turned out to be the case). In addition to water sports skills, group members received leadership training to help them encourage their family, friends and community members to try water-based recreation activities. All activities on the lake are supervised by CSUN staff who are certified lifeguards.

In addition to funding by CSUN’s Center for Recreation and Tourism, the project has two outside funding sources: a California State Parks Foundation grant that lasts a full calendar year, and a grant from prAna, a lifestyle clothing company that offers sustainable gear for yoga, travel and outdoor adventure enthusiasts. The prAna Explorer Grant, which is dedicated to the Paddle Safe and Leadership activities, is administered by the Outdoor Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and growing future generations of outdoor leaders and enthusiasts. The prAna Explorer Grant targets community members age 15-25, and projects were selected based on their innovation, likelihood of increasing outdoor participation, number of youth impacted, sustainability, partnership potential and budget factors. (Participants in the Paddle Safe and Leadership activities outside the 15-25 age range are funded through other sources.)

To recruit participants, Best has connected with a group called Outdoor Afro, a national nonprofit that connects African Americans and the outdoors, and Southern California Black Outdoor Adventurers, which works to spur interest among blacks and other minority groups in outdoors activities. The Re/Connecting People with Parks program also has attracted Boy Scout troops, members of CSUN’s Pride Center, the CSUN Student Housing affinity group Latinas Rising and members of CSUN’s Bridge to the Future program.

The Paddle Safe and Leadership fall cohort will wrap up Nov. 18 with a community day celebration at Castaic Lake State Recreation Area. The event is open to previous participants as well as newcomers of all ages. During two sessions, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m., the day will include certified instruction, as well as leisurely paddling on the lake. Participants in previous fall events also can bring friends and family to enjoy the lake and water sports. Registration is required.

The course will resume in spring 2018, from March through May, and will be open to both returning participants as well as new participants.

On Oct. 7, CSUN Aquatic Center Manager Chris Whitesides led a canoeing session with a small group that included Linus John Abraham, a CSUN electrical engineering graduate student, and three CSUN exchange students from University College of Northern Denmark: Emil Buus, Trine Jacobsen and Niels Nielsen.

Before getting in the canoes and out on the water, Whitesides led some informal classroom training, including preparation tips — finding clothes that can keep water out and keep heat in, depending on the situation. He taught the students about the pros and cons of various life jacket styles, and how to throw a rescue rope to someone stranded in water. Preparation, he said, is the key to a successful recreational outing.

“Think about: ‘How can I go out and have the most fun possible?’” Whitesides said. “If the wind picks up, if you forgot sunscreen, it can get not fun real fast. I want to get you to think ahead, so you can have as much fun for as long as possible.”

The Re/Connecting People with Parks program benefits more than just the individuals who partake, Best said.

“We want to grow interest in our natural resources,” Best said. “We want to grow stewardship of natural resources. We have children who come to these activities. They’re more likely to want to protect our natural resources. The earlier you engage in it, the more you practice it as you grow up. By exposing young people to it, we’re encouraging a new generation of stewardship.”

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Hurricanes Irma and Maria cut a devastating swath of destruction across the Caribbean this fall. They upended vegetation, destroyed structures and left thousands of people homeless and without power for weeks. The extent of the devastation on the region’s fragile coral reefs is unknown.

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Peter Edmunds, left, and Howard Laker at St. John in 2013. Photo courtesy of Peter Edmunds.

California State University, Northridge marine biologist Peter Edmunds is co-leading a research team that is spending the next two weeks aboard a research vessel docked in the waters of the Virgin Islands National Park, part of the U.S. National Park Service, studying the impact Irma and Maria had on the coral reefs near the Caribbean island of St. John.

Edmunds has an idea about what he might find once he gets to St. John.

“I was there for Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and saw the devastating outcomes that come with the big waves and sand scouring that accompany hurricanes,” he said. “But the reefs that are there now are so very different from the reefs of 1989. Today, there is a lot less coral and the relative abundance of each species is different. The changes that have occurred are region-wide, so it’s not just St. John, but how St. John interacts with the other islands around it.

“What will be interesting to see is whether the resiliency of the reefs has degraded over the past 30 years or so,” he added.

Edmunds and University of Buffalo geologist Howard Lasker together are receiving $199,000 through the RAPID grant program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study just how the back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes impacted St. John’s coral reefs. The research team includes CSUN marine biology graduate students Ashley Potter and Sigfrido Zimmerman.

The hurricanes devastated the islands, including wiping out the land-based research facility that has hosted Edmunds and Lasker for many years. The NSF also is paying for the use of a research vessel from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Edmunds said he is curious to see if the hurricanes’ impact above land will be mirrored underwater.

“There is no doubt that there has been severe damage to the land, trees and all kinds of vegetation have been uprooted, and many, many people’s homes were destroyed,” he said. “But the destruction occurred in patches, and the notion that everything is gone is incorrect.

“I think we’ll see the same elements underwater,” Edmunds said. “When we get underwater, there will be all kinds of super-depressing stuff. There will be beautiful coral that have taken 50 years to grow flipped over and killed. There will be parts of the reef buried in sand. But, broadly speaking, when you look over a large area, I think there is going to be a lot of coral in place that survived adequately, and that can fuel the kind of recovery that can happen.”

Edmunds has been studying the coral reefs near St. John for 31 years. He said he will be closely looking at which coral survived, which coral were killed by the hurricanes and which were negatively impacted by the hurricanes but whose deaths may have been precipitated by pre-existing problems.

“Those were pretty darn big storms, and those were pretty big waves,” he said. “In a warmer ocean, you would expect microbial diseases, for example, to be more acute than they were 30 years ago, so we might expect another sizable faction to succumb to those events.”

Edmunds already had plans to return to St. John in the summer of 2018 as part of his long-term study of the coral reefs in the region. His visit next week provides a valuable opportunity to gather timely information about the storms’ impact on the coral reefs — information that would not be available if he had to wait until summer.

“Nothing brings more sharply into focus than an acute disturbance to underscore why we study these things for decades, so we can place these disturbances in context,” he said. “It emphasizes why you do the same thing year in and year out, and do it the same way. Only then can you truly evaluate what that disturbance has done, and objectively evaluate what will happen when you go forward.

“You could jump out of an airplane right now and parachute into St. John, and you’d be struck by the massive nature of the destruction all around you,” he continued. “The reality is, when you look more carefully at the event, you reach a more objective interpretation about the impact of the disturbance because you know what has come before it, and that helps you make an informed determination about what will come after.”

Edmunds said his trip next week will add to the knowledge he has gained over the past three decades about the health of coral reefs, like those at St. John, and help inform his research as he moves forward.

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Jo Anne Pandey’s husband roused her in the middle of the night. At first, she couldn’t believe the bad news he shared.

“My husband found out about the earthquake through Facebook,” said Pandey, a part-time faculty member in the Department of Child and Adolescent Development at California State University, Northridge.

It was April 25, 2015, and a 7.8-magnitude earthquake had just rocked Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and its surrounding areas. The temblor had killed thousands of people, destroyed homes, schools and infrastructure. Desperate for information, Pandey and her husband, who is Nepalese, turned on their television, while simultaneously trying to contact their family in Kathmandu.

“It was devastating to think of all the temples that had been there for hundreds of years [now being demolished],” Pandey said.

“Living in California and knowing the destructive power of an earthquake, I knew that this magnitude was going to be disastrous,” she continued. Her husband’s family lived right near the epicenter, where aftershocks went on for several months. “My mother-in-law got motion sickness, because there were so many [aftershocks],” Pandey said.

Pandey combined her relation to Nepal and her professional expertise to set up a research project which could be useful in responding to similar situations, helping children to cope with trauma. In the face of recent quakes such as the one on the Iran-Iraq border, her work gains particular relevance.

Pandey visited Nepal for the first time in 1992. She studied abroad for one semester as an undergraduate from Pitzer College in Claremont, studying psychology and anthropology. During her stay, she got to know her future husband.

“I really connected with the culture and learned the language,” Pandey said. “I became interested in going back and in engaging.” After graduation, she returned to Nepal and taught English for a year. During that time, her husband was studying in Nebraska.

When the 2015 earthquake struck, Pandey felt deep concern and compassion for the Nepalese. “I traveled there just a few months after the earthquake and saw the devastation, and how people were living in temporary shelters,” she said. “I knew that we needed to do something.”

Pandey harnessed her teaching experience in Nepal and familiarity with the local education system to reach out and provide help. She contacted the National Center for Educational Development in Nepal and organized a training for Nepalese teachers, educating them on how to help students and colleagues cope with trauma.

“At first, I contacted the Nepalese government to find out about earthquake relief help for children. They told me that schools were handling it,” Pandey said. “To me, it seemed to be a difficult task that was passed on to teachers in that situation.”

Nepalese teachers, as far as she knew, had not received training in mental health issues or the social and emotional development of children, Pandey said. She set up a training program to educate teachers about writing therapy.

“The idea was to find something that would help [children] coping with emotional trauma from the earthquake, but also have strong ties to an academic context,” Pandey said. By writing in a journal about their emotions and feelings, she said, people can relieve stress after traumatic experiences.

She continued her educational work with the Gorkha Foundation, a nonprofit, grassroots organization supporting underprivileged people in Gorkha, Nepal. In the aftermath of the earthquake, the foundation was rebuilding 15 schools and organized a training session with Pandey for the school’s teachers.

“It was very rewarding,” Pandey said. “The teachers told me, ‘We really need this. We never had any idea that we would need this, but as you talk about it, it resonates so much.’”

“People were hiding their feelings, until they were really asked to talk about it,” said Bijaya Devkota, founder and director of the Gorkha Foundation.

Pandey was happy to contribute, but she was not quite satisfied. She wanted to do more, she said.

To expand her training program, Pandey applied for a Community Engagement Interdisciplinary Grant from CSUN’s Office of Community Engagement, which supports faculty members in creating service-learning projects.

Pandey linked the project to her Applied Cognitive Development Class in fall 2016 and, with her CSUN students, created a discussion and activity guide for Nepalese teachers.

“We conducted and compiled research on different developmental ages of children,” Pandey said. The final product was a teacher’s manual on how to support children coping with trauma from natural disasters. A professional translator is currently working on translating the manual into Nepali, and then the Gorkha Foundation will distribute it to teachers in that country.

Taking her research a step further, last spring Pandey applied for the CSUN Research, Scholarship and Creative Award (RSCA), a grant that supports faculty research. She wanted to investigate whether her efforts have been effective. Pandey won the grant and is currently collecting data at three schools in Gorkha. About 200 students from fourth to eighth grade participate in the research.

“The goal is to find out if there is any reduction of psychological issues after engaging in writing therapy,” Pandey said. The project also aims to gather general mental health information about Nepali children and study the long-term mental health effects of significant natural disasters, she said.

“Without research, it is hard to justify what needs to be done,” Devkota said. “The research helps a lot to urge the government to take action.”

“The data could also be very helpful in case of other events like this,” Pandey said, referencing the recent, devastating quakes in Mexico. “I would like to see if the manual and the writing therapy are effective. If so, it would be great if more schools would adopt it.”

For more information about the Gorkha Foundation, please visit their website: http://www.gorkhafoundation.org

Jo Anne Pandey’s children Akash and Harmony started a crowdfunding campaign to support children in Nepal. In August 2016, the project was acknowledged by then-President Obama. For more information, visit http://www.bykids4kidsofnepal.org/

Each month, California State University, Northridge faculty and staff receive funding from outside organizations to support unique programs and cutting-edge research facilitated on campus. Below are a list of the individuals who received awards in October 2017.

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Marianne Link and Susan Krikorian (Klotz Student Health Center) received $3,000 from University of Tennessee, Knoxville in support of a project entitled “Get Fruved.”

Yohannes Shiferaw (Department of Physics and Astronomy) received $181,250 from Northwestern University in continuing support of a project entitled “Atrial arrhythmias and Ca2+ waves in HF: simulation and experimental studies.”

Danielle Bram (Department of Geographical Studies) received $48,000 from CSU Chico in support of a project entitled “Broadband Field Testing.”

Shari Tarver-Behring (Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling) received $19,500 from Friends of the Family in support of a project entitled “Friends of the Family Subcontract for Relative Support Services.”

Ivor Weiner (Department of Special Education) received $135,668 from the North Los Angeles County Regional Center in support of a project entitled “Van Nuys Family Resource Center and Library 2017-2018.”

Tara Fahmie (Department of Psychology) received $7,992 from Pacoima Charter School in support of a project entitled “Taking Steps Together Partnership with Pacoima Charter School.”

Shiva Parsa (Department of Educational Opportunities Programs) received $232,265 from the U.S. Department of Education in continuing support of a project entitled “CSU, Northridge Student Support Services Program.”

Eli Bartle (Department of Social Work) received $556,884 from University of California, Los Angeles in support of a project entitled “University Consortium for Children and Families (UCCF)”.

Nancy Burstein (Department of Special Education) received $229,527 from the US Department of Education in support of a project entitled “TQP Evaluation Extension for A Teaching Residency Program in Special Education: Improving Achievement of Students with Disabilities in High-Need Schools.”

Nancy Burstein and Sue Sears (Department of Special Education) received $229,527 from the US Department of Education in support of a project entitled “TQP Evaluation Extension for A Teaching Residency Program in Special Education: Improving Achievement of Students with Disabilities in High-Need Schools.”

Edith Chen (Asian American Studies) and Lawrence Chu (Health Sciences) received $437,030 from the National Institutes of Health in support of a project entitled “Is Assimilation Costing Asian Americans Their Health? Type 2 Diabetes in California’s Asian American Populations.”

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When the question was: Why do you give back?

The answer was: Why not.

The advocates, givers and volunteers who were honored Nov. 15 at California State University, Northridge’s Volunteer Service Awards in Woodland Hills paid tribute to CSUN as the university honored them.

“The reward they get will far [outweigh] the time they’re putting into it,” said Francine Oschin ’84 (Journalism, Speech Communication), M.A. ’85 (Mass Communication), the recipient of the Dorothea “Granny” Heitz Award for Outstanding Volunteer Leadership, on why she felt Matadors should give back to CSUN. “I’ve met wonderful people. It’s a wonderful thing to be a part of something this important. I’m part of this.”

Oschin and professor emeritus Tung-Shan “Tom” Chen received the top honors at the luncheon. Chen was honored with the Dean Ed Peckham Award, which goes to an emeritus/emerita or retired member of the faculty or staff who is loyal to and supportive of the university.

CSUN also honored 15 individuals for their service and dedication to the university’s colleges and programs and 12 more for their tireless work with the CSUN Alumni Association’s chapters.

Beginning in 1997,  for nearly two decades Oschin has served on the Alumni Association board and as a leading volunteer for the university. From 2013-15, she served as the CSUN Alumni Association president.

Oschin represented CSUN on the 23-campus State Alumni Council for more than a decade. She traveled the state as the Alumni Association’s lead issues advocate and frequently joined former CSUN President Jolene Koester and an alumni delegation in Sacramento to meet with elected officials, encouraging lawmakers to support measures that enhance higher education.

She served as co-chair of the University’s Grass Tops Advocacy team, and she is a member of The Soraya Ambassadors Committee. She also is a donor to numerous campus causes, including student scholarships.

Oschin was recognized with a Volunteer Service Award in 2006 and was named as CSUN’s 2010 Advocate of the Year.

“I share [this] honor with a lot of other people who have gone before me,” said Oschin. “It’s singular to me. It’s the perpetuity of Granny Heitz for everybody who got this [award] all these years in her honor — because she was such a Matador, because she was giving back. That’s what it means to me — that I’m joining a group of people who are all a cut above, who all think of the same thing. I got a public education. I owe it to somebody to make sure they get a public education.”

Chen began teaching at San Fernando Valley State College (now CSUN) in 1969 and was a faculty member in the College of Health and Human Development until he retired in 2001.

In 1989, Chen worked with then-CSUN President James Cleary, then-Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Chair Audrey Clark and Philip Magaram to establish the Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics. The center, which opened in 1991, is known nationally as a Center of Excellence, and its purpose is to support research, community service and education specific to food science, nutrition and dietetics.

Chen retired from CSUN in 2001, but continued as founding director of the center. In 2009, he left the Magaram Center in an official capacity, but has continued to stay involved by attending events, visiting the center and participating in the awarding of the Tom Chen Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to a full-time student and member of the Student Dietetic and Food Science Association who is actively involved in programs and services hosted by the center.

“It’s an inseparable feeling with CSUN and the Marilyn Magaram Center,” said Chen. “CSUN and the center are part of me, so it’s hard to separate. Wherever I go, wherever I travel, I’m always part of the CSUN community.

“To me, CSUN is a community,” he continued. “Everyone is so wonderful. I feel all these friendships made during my tenure at CSUN, that’s what life is all about.”

That inseparable feeling was echoed by Joanne Udeochu-Tillman ’09 (Sociology), M.P. H. ’12 (Public Health) ( who received an Alumni Chapter Award for her service to the Public Health Alumni Chapter. Tillman grew up in Los Angeles, but decided to pursue a degree from CSUN because it was close to home, yet far enough to be away from home, she said. After earning a second degree from the university, she has stayed and continues to impact students — as a faculty member in the Department of Health Sciences — and her fellow alumni as chapter president.

“I volunteer for CSUN because it’s had a major impact on my life,” said Udeochu-Tillman. “When people or things pour into you, it seems right to give back and contribute in any way so that another student can be affected positively.

“I’m a young African-American woman, and I think when younger generations see people who look like [them], it inspires them to want to come back and participate,” she continued. “I feel like when you do your part, you open the door for others and you might not even realize you’re doing that.”

Professor emeritus Jim Dole has maintained close ties with CSUN by volunteering for the Biology Alumni Chapter. When he was department chair in 1999, he originally tried to help start the chapter as a faculty member, but it didn’t take off, Dole said. After he retired, he finally helped get the chapter up and going, and he has been a vital member ever since. Dole said he’d like to see the chapter grow in alumni membership and activity.

“A lot of our alumni have been very, very successful,” said Dole. “We just need to find them.”

There are numerous ways to volunteer for CSUN, including joining an alumni chapter. For more information, please visit www.csun.edu/alumni/volunteer.

The 2017 Volunteer Service Awards Honorees:

University

Arts Council: Dorothy Fabricant

Athletics: Bruce Lemmerman ’69

College of Engineering and Computer Science: Felix Rabinovich

College of Health and Human Development: Diane Manzella ’71

College of Humanities: Ralph Courtney

College of Science and Mathematics: Linda Conlon ’76

David Nazarian College of Business and Economics: Marc Wolf ’79

Delmar T. Oviatt Library: Jim Parker

Heritage Society: Thomas Christopher ’90

Michael D. Eisner College of Education: Joan Vitale ‘77

Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication: Robert Bassler

President’s Associates: Cherry Henricks ’69

Student Affairs: Stan ’70 and Phyllis Gilson ’70,’75, MA’82

The University Corporation: Louise Adams ’06

Alumni Chapters  

Alumni and Friends of the Armenian Studies Program: Vahram Shemmassian

Attorney Networking Group: Damon Martin ’94

Biology: Jim Dole

Black Alumni Association: Rashawn Green ’94, MA’02

Child and Adolescent Development: Ana-Lidia Jimenez ’17

Communication Disorders and Sciences: Dennis Ducham

Environmental and Occupational Health: Jack Arouchian ’13

Journalism Alumni Association: Ross Goldberg ’75

National Center on Deafness: Michelle Nemetz ’88

Nursing: Tracy Kinell ’15

Public Health: Joanne Udeochu-Tillman ’09, M.P.H. ’12

Radiologic Sciences: Corey Hidalgo ‘10

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More than 200 students, faculty and community members lined up around the University Student Union (USU) Theatre at California State University, Northridge on Nov. 15, to attend a free special presentation on the upcoming animated feature film Coco, by Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. The film is set to be released on Thanksgiving Day.

The hour-long presentation featured guest speaker Byron Bashforth, Disney-Pixar’s character shading lead and texture shading artist. As a character shading lead, Bashforth helps manage and support the team of technical artists who are responsible for creating the overall look of all animated characters used in the film.

The event was the Animation Student League of Northridge’s (ASLN) second free Disney event for animation students and the CSUN community. The group is a club of students who are passionate about art, specifically in animation, 3-D modeling, lighting, visual development and character design.

During the presentation, Bashforth shared advance behind-the-scenes clips, while explaining the in-depth process of character development and the elements that are required when working on a computer-animated film for a major studio.

“[Presentations like these] provide windows of opportunity that help our students realize that a career in the world of animation exists beyond graduation,” said faculty advisor Robert St. Pierre, who has helped lead the organization since joining CSUN’s Department of Art in 2013.

The club prides itself on providing the necessary industry knowledge and expertise to students interested in a career in the competitive animation industry, according to St. Pierre.

Disney offered “swag bags” that featured guitar pics, posters and other merchandise in support for the upcoming film as guests entered the 224-seat theatre. Following the presentation, St. Pierre moderated a Q&A session between Bashforth, students and other guests.

“From the questions that I’ve gotten, I think a lot of people are introduced to this idea that there are all types of jobs in the animation industry,” Bashforth said of the importance of educational visits from major studios. In addition, Bashforth added that he enjoys talking about the particular creative aspects of his job to undergraduate students.

Bashforth joined Pixar Animation studios in 1999 as a render technical director for Toy Story 2. Since then, he has worked as shading technical director on award-winning films such as Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Ratatouille, Brave, Up and The Incredibles. Bashforth shared with attendees that his passion for animation and film grew from his advanced technical experience with computer science and technology.

The colorful characters and bright visuals featured in Coco are inspired by real-life Mexican culture and folklore. Disney-Pixar films typically take four to six years to create a feature before it’s released in theaters. Coco was originally pitched in 2010, and production began in spring 2016.

​​The Nov. 15 program was part of an ongoing partnership between CSUN and Disney called the Making of… series, which St. Pierre initiated in 2015.

The ASLN, Department of Art and Department of Cinema and Television Arts previously hosted Making of Moana and Making of Inside Out, which featured informational sessions and expertise from working professionals.

From 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 28, the ASLN will host a Pitching to Studios program with story board artist Robert Souza at the Department of Art, room AC 331 of the Art and Design Center.

To learn more about the ASLN, please visit https://www.asln-csun.com

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Farrell J. Webb, dean of CSUN’s College of Health and Human Development. Photo by Lee Choo.

Before he rose to helm the College of Health and Human Development at California State University, Northridge and served as associate dean at its sister campus, Cal State LA, Dean Farrell J. Webb sojourned in much colder climates. He earned his doctorate at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and taught for many years at Kansas State University. And though he has spent several years as an academic leader back in his native sunny California, his Midwestern alma mater called Webb “home” to Minneapolis this month for a warm reception, to accept one of its highest alumni awards.

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Student coaches are needed for a new California State, Northridge program that will help military veterans — including those with spinal injuries — learn how to hand cycle, improving quality of life and cardiovascular fitness.

To participate as a coach and be eligible for one of six paid coaching positions, students must attend two workshops — the first is 7 p.m. on Dec. 4 at CSUN’s Brown Center of Achievement through Adapted Physical Activity. Student veterans are preferred, but any student can be a coach.

The workshops are part of a new program, named Valley GO!, which is a collaboration between the Center of Achievement through Adapted Physical Activity and the Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing, as well as the Triumph Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide individuals who have spinal cord injuries and disorders opportunities for exercise, sports and fitness. Valley GO! is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Following the two workshops, beginning in February student coaches will participate in four monthly clinics at Balboa Park to teach veterans how to use hand cycles, which are propelled by arm movement, strengthening upper limbs and improving cardiovascular fitness.

To participate in the workshops or for more information, contact Terri Todd, associate professor of Kinesiology and a director of the Center of Achievement through Adapted Physical Activity at teri.todd@csun.edu.

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Declaring a major in the humanities — whether philosophy, English, a classical language or cultural studies — often elicits a skeptically raised eyebrow from friends and loved ones, and the suggestion that the only career you’ll be prepared for is as a barista at the local coffee shop.

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Scott Kleinman

Research sponsored by the WhatEvery1Says Project, co-directed by California State University, Northridge English professor Scott Kleinman, may provide you with new data to counter those skeptical looks. The WhatEvery1Says Project, based at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has recently been awarded $1.1 million by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Along with professors Alan Liu and Jeremy Douglass at UC Santa Barbara and professor Lindsay Thomas at the University of Miami, Kleinman will spend the next three years studying how the public views the humanities, and provide those in the field with the tools to counter negative stereotypes.

Kleinman is partnering with the UCSB-based WhatEvery1Says project for this study. The researchers will mine digital media – newspapers, magazines, and blogs – to learn what pundits, politicians, scholars, students, and even the media itself think, say, and write about the humanities.

“The reality is, we don’t know which perceptions predominate, and in what contexts,” said Kleinman.

To find those answers and others, Kleinman and his colleagues will employ “topic modeling” – a method of using sophisticated computer algorithms to search vast digital archives of media — from newspapers and magazines to blogs — for words related to the humanities and liberal arts. The computer sorts the words from these materials into groupings of identifiable topics or themes that the researchers can then analyze for answers to their questions about how the public perceives the humanities or liberal arts.

The research program includes three years of summer research by teams of students and faculty at CSUN and UCSB. Undergraduate and graduate students will assist in collecting and analyzing thousands of documents. In addition, the project will create open protocols and tools for performing humanities research with computers that can analyze large amounts of data. As part of the project, the three-campus team will develop a system that allows researchers to generate their own topic models with an interactive browser for studying their implications. The system will be easily reproducible by other researchers and adaptable for use with other types of data and analytical tools.

The data collected will be used to formulate strategies and narratives to counter the perception that the humanities are irrelevant in today’s tech-driven world.

“There are time-honored narratives such as if you get a degree in the humanities you are going to work at Starbucks,” Kleinman said. “Politicians frequently dismiss the humanities because they can’t see how they contribute to the economy. Those perceptions of the value of the humanities are not born out by the data. But what we need are the tools so we can effectively counter those misconceptions.”

An approach to computational research that draws on the humanities critical tradition is itself a new way to demonstrate how the humanities can address twenty-first century problems. But there is still a need to overcome barriers in communication.

Kleinman pointed out that studies show that in business, employers say they want “critical thinkers, though they may be applying it differently than we do in the humanities. They probably think of critical thinking as ‘problem solving’,” he said, and humanities majors excel at this. “When we just look at a narrow focus — will students who study humanities subjects get jobs? — there is pretty unequivocal evidence that they do”, Kleinman said. “And, over the course of their careers, they prove themselves to be more flexible and more capable of adapting to new employment situations so that they tend to rise to managerial status faster.”

“Critical thinking is one of the cornerstones of the humanities but we often use it in the context of a much broader array of inquiries in the historical, ethical, and imaginative records of human cultures. Because we’re using different words and concepts, we may not realize that we’re talking about the same thing.

“We need to re-think how the humanities are portrayed in the public, and give those of us in the humanities and liberal arts better tools to explain what we do and why it’s important.”

More information about WhatEvery1Says can be found on the project’s website: http://we1s.ucsb.edu.

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Following in the footsteps of her grandfather, dad, mom and several other family members, Erin Oxhorn-Gilpin always wanted to be a teacher.

“I come from a family of teachers, so I guess you can say it’s in my genes,” she said.

Oxhorn-Gilpin ’05 (Liberal Studies/Multiple Subject Teaching Credential) started working with children when she was 14. Today, she’s a first- and second-grade teacher (she teaches a “split class,” where two age groups are combined) at Northlake Hills Elementary School in Castaic, north of Los Angeles. This October, state officials named her as one of California’s 2018 Teachers of the Year.

“There are so many great teachers out here who don’t get that recognition. The fact that it happened to me is still kind of surreal,” Oxhorn-Gilpin said.

Oxhorn-Gilpin was born and raised in Granada Hills. In 2002, she transferred to California State University, Northridge from Moorpark College and joined the Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP), which allowed her to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential.

ITEP is designed for students who want to pursue a career in elementary education or special education. The program offers subject matter courses leading to a degree in liberal studies, combined with field experience in teaching. Students learn from in-classroom observations and get to apply their teaching skills in a classroom environment.

“She’s joining an elite group of five former teachers of the year from our college,” said Shari Tarver-Behring, interim dean of CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education.

To receive the state honor, Oxhorn-Gilpin had to master several stages of a thorough and difficult application process. She was nominated School Teacher of the Year for the 2016-17 school year by her colleague Allison West. After that, she was selected District Teacher of the Year and then Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year. For the next step, the statewide accolade, Oxhorn-Gilpin had to write several essays, and participate in online and in-person interviews.

“A state committee also came to observe me teaching,” said Oxhorn-Gilpin, recalling one of the most stressful moments during the nomination process. “They called to say that they were moving my late afternoon visit to earlier in the day and that they would be arriving in 30 minutes. But it went great.”

“Erin was thrilled about every step she reached, but also pursued the next level with determination,” said Erin Augusta, principal of Northlake Hills Elementary School.

Out of the five teachers nominated for the state honor, Oxhorn-Gilpin is the only elementary school teacher. She loves working with younger students, and she likes to see their achievements and development into stronger readers and writers, Oxhorn-Gilpin said.

“It’s a gift that I get to work with children, and watch them grow as a person and academically as a student,” she said.

The teacher has been with most of her current students since kindergarten. “I don’t know how to part with some of them, but at some point I will have to say goodbye,” she said. “We spend so much time together. It’s always kind of sad when the school year ends.”

The pride is mutual in her classroom. “One of my girls wrote me a note with flowers on it, saying that I’m the teacher of her dreams,” Oxhorn-Gilpin said. She tells her students that Teacher of the Year is not just her title, but theirs as well. “I tell them they are my Students of the Year, and that I wouldn’t have the title without them,” Oxhorn-Gilpin said. “Everybody is part of the puzzle. A teacher is only as strong as fellow colleagues, administrators, students and the community.”

Oxhorn-Gilpin is active beyond teaching, as well. She’s part of her school’s leadership team, representing the second grade. She also works on the district’s curriculum and serves on the school site council — which consists of the principal, a group of teachers and parents, and meets bi-monthly to discuss school issues. She also mentors new teachers who just started their careers in the classroom.

“Erin is a teacher who never stops learning what’s best for her and her students,” Augusta said. “She also shares her experience with other teachers, mentoring them and helping them grow.”

Oxhorn-Gilpin credited CSUN for the valuable skills she learned about how to be a better teacher.

“The College of Education was incredibly supportive and guided me very well,” Oxhorn-Gilpin said. “When you start teaching, it’s kind of scary, because you’ve never done it before. CSUN taught me how to be a transparent and reflective educator.”

David Kretschmer, interim chair of the Department of Elementary Education, stressed the importance of a good education for teachers. “People think that anyone can teach,” he said. “But it’s not at all easy to get kids engaged, motivated and learning together.”

Oxhorn-Gilpin said she is committed to classroom teaching for the long term. “I love working with kids, so I don’t want to be out of the classroom,” she said. As she teaches her students reading, writing, math, science and social studies, the teacher said she could imagine taking on a specialist position, such as working with struggling students or serving as a reading specialist.

“I don’t ever take for granted that I get to do this job,” Oxhorn-Gilpin said. “When I think of the parents — [their children] are their most prized possession, and I’m helping them grow.”

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CSUN Professor Has Artistic Photograph Series on Display at Autry Museum Through August 2018

One night in 1991, after having dinner with friends, Harry Gamboa Jr. got into his 1966 Volkswagen Beetle, turned on the radio and heard an announcement: “Be on the lookout for a Chicano male. He is dangerous.”

Gamboa, a photographer, essayist, performance artist and lecturer of Chicana/o Studies at California State University Northridge, still reflects on that moment.

“I immediately thought, ‘Wow … this kind of broadcast puts all the Chicano males I know in danger — my father, my brothers, my uncles, my son, myself, all my colleagues and my friends,’” he said.

The moment sparked a question for Gamboa: What is the psychology behind a negative stereotype? To combat the negative stereotype of men of Mexican descent, Gamboa began to photograph Chicano males he knew personally or professionally for an ongoing series titled Chicano Male Unbonded.

The series has garnered international acclaim, most recently from The Autry Museum of the American West, which mounted the first comprehensive exhibition of Chicano Male Unbonded. The exhibition is currently running through August 2018.

The black-and-white portraits, Gamboa said, call into question the assumptions the media has about men of Mexican descent. The Autry exhibit includes recent work as well as photographs on view for the first time. More than 90 images are featured.

Gamboa used a film noir style in his images, with backdrops “in an urban space to present the Chicano male as they might be encountered on the street,” he said.

“I wanted to use people that I knew, people that were closest to me,” he added. “So, I started off with family, other artists I worked with, writers and faculty at CSUN, including Richard Corona, Ramon García, Gerard Meraz, Gabriel Gutiérrez and Rodolfo Acuña.”

Gamboa recalled how, in the 1990s and early 2000s, in certain parts of the country where there weren’t large numbers of Chicanos, people would look at the photos and ask him which gang the subject belonged to.

“Each photograph is titled [with] the name of the individual, as well as their self-defined occupation,” Gamboa said. “And they are all lawyers, doctors, faculty, artists or writers. The stereotype that Hollywood tells us of the Chicano male is not the Chicano male at all.

“Chicano Male Unbonded is about men whom I have witnessed living their lives and exhibiting some level of intellectual, creative, cultural or personal strength,” he said. “I believe that simply by standing and being pictured in this way, we exude a positive influence on the way people might think of Chicanos.”

Gamboa’s series “provides a unique lens for thinking through society’s perceptions of men in the Chicano community,” said Amy Scott, the Autry’s chief curator and Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross Curator of Visual Arts.

“Through Gamboa’s aesthetic choices, the series deftly opens up conversations around race and identity in Los Angeles, and the West at large,” Scott said. “What’s also fascinating about Chicano Male Unbonded is how Gamboa calls attention to these issues through the traditions of photographic portraiture.”

The project dates back to 1991, but Gamboa’s passion for art, photography and social justice predates his initial idea for the series.

“The idea came very early on to put my friends on the screen,” Gamboa said. “I always wanted to create iconic images of people I knew.”

For more information about the Autry exhibit, please visit here.

Gamboa’s most recent work is a photo-stories series called See What You Mean: Fotonovelas, for which he served as the Getty Artists Program 2017 resident. For more information about this event, please visit here.

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It cost a lot of sleep and time and incited a few nerves, but in the end, all the effort paid off. Six California State University, Northridge students won the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) 2017 “Haunt Couture” award in the “animation” and “people’s choice” categories.

The winning CSUN team in the creative competition was made up of interior design seniors Shadi Ahmadizadeh, Nicole Esper, Ana Leon Martinez and Shahrzad Rabat, and apparel design and merchandising seniors Estefany Gallegos and Maria Juarez.

The students based their design on the fire-breathing Pokémon character Charizard, an orange dragon with blue wings.

“Being original was very important to us. That’s why we picked an animation topic where no costumes existed yet,” said Esper. The students created a “dragon lady” costume, which included the design of a yellow-and-orange dress and big, colorful wings.

“I’m very proud of the students,” said Farrell J. Webb, dean of the College of Health and Human Development. “They did incredibly imaginative and innovative work. It shows that they can not only do fabrics, but can also put together something that has appeal to the fashion world.”

The IIDA is an association for commercial interior design professionals; it runs a campus chapter for student members at CSUN. The annual Haunt Couture is a design competition hosted by the Southern California chapter of IIDA. The idea of the contest is to create outfits with materials used in interior design.

Fourteen teams of professionals and student teams from three schools — CSUN, California State University, Long Beach and College of the Canyons — competed for this year’s awards with the theme, “From Hollywood to Bollywood.” During the show, every team had 90 seconds to present its work on the runway.

“We were up against professionals such as architectural firms, so it was a huge deal,” said CSUN psychology senior Ali Griner, who served as the model presenting the design students’ creation on the runway.

The students started their work at the beginning of the fall semester and didn’t finish until the morning of the competition, Oct. 25.

“We still had so much to do the night before the event,” Esper said. “So we met at Shadi [Ahmadizadeh]’s house and were sewing and glueing everything together on the living room floor.”

“My husband cooked for us, and we didn’t sleep all night,” Ahmadizadeh added.

The morning of the competition, the students were exhausted but ready to show off their creation. With the help of Paula Thomson, professor and dance coordinator in the Department of Kinesiology, they had prepared choreography to music — produced for them by musician Brian “Frawsty” Foster.

“The show needed to contain some element of surprise or transformation, so we included a poké ball that breaks apart to reveal the model,” Esper said.

“The students really wanted to do something they could be proud of,” said Kristin King, assistant professor and coordinator for the interior design option in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. “It was great for us to see how dedicated they were and how they worked together as a team.”

Sponsors 2010 Office Furniture supported the students’ work financially, and Mayer Fabrics donated the materials.

“Ryan Uy from 2010 Office Furniture designed the powerful digital image which served as a background to the performance,” said Rodica Kohn, professor in the interior design option and faculty advisor for the IIDA campus chapter. “And we were extremely lucky to have Terri Burkhart from EPIC Contract Group, who was one of the Haunt Couture event organizers, come to our meetings and inspire our team with her endless energy and optimism.”

To watch video of the students’ runway presentation, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv97amMS72E&feature=youtu.be

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Students and faculty gathered to attend the Biannual Men and Women of Color Enquiry and Student Research Poster Session on Nov. 17 in the University Student Union’s (USU) Northridge Center at California State University, Northridge.

The Department of Africana Studies and the DuBois-Hamer Institute for Academic Achievement sponsored the session, which gives undergraduate students of color an opportunity to participate in and present research in a formal educational setting.

The program, themed Black Saga and Regulation: Primer for Black Empowerment, is an ongoing collaboration between Africana studies professor Cedric Hackett, who teaches the course Africana Studies 325: The Black Man in Contemporary Times, and Professor Marquita Gammage, who teaches Africana Studies 324: The Black Woman in Contemporary Times.

“It is important for us to focus on a space where students can unapologetically be who they are and be empowered to continue to grow,” said Hackett.

The free event spotlighted student research relating to the course subjects, which the students worked on collaboratively all semester. Students worked together in groups to create research topics and projects.

CSUN students Elder Guix, Miguel Limon, Zoey Spraglin and Bryant Basilio, who are enrolled in Africana Studies 325, presented their research poster, Do It For The Culture: Migos-Media Informing Great Oppression in Society, which analyzed the mainstream media portrayal of black males and their ongoing battle for social justice in America. The group said their project name was inspired by the popular hip-hop rap trio Migos and their 2017 Grammy-nominated album, Culture.

“From working as a team with my group to learning about a new culture that is part of my community, I have learned new knowledge that will help me in years to come,” said Guix, a mechanical engineering major. “As a future engineer, I know that working in teams is crucial to one’s success, and being well informed and educated [about] different cultures is useful when helping out my community.”

Following the students’ poster sessions, guests enjoyed free refreshments and live music by the CSUN Matador band.

With the biannual sessions, organizers said they hope to provide racial uplift for students and help others gain knowledge and appreciation of black culture from a scholarly perspective. The November session was the 10th session in five years, with the first occurring in 2013.

Keynote speaker and attorney Kyron L. Johnson spoke to students about his own experience overcoming adversity as a first-generation college student without proper support. Johnson, who met and played football alongside Hackett at Ventura Community College, shared with the CSUN students his experience navigating the educational system with no role models.

“Be prepared, be bold. Don’t let fear take you over, and believe that you can do it,” Johnson said. “Utilize professors as a foundation.”

Johnson went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from the University of the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton, and then his Juris Doctor from UOP’s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

During the session, CSUN students and alumni of all ethnicities also performed Black Man-ologues, soliloquies addressing common themes in the characters of black men.

For more information about the Men and Women of Color Enquiry session, email Hackett at cedric.hackett@csun.edu.

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It was a night to honor exceptional mentors at California State University, Northridge, but the five recipients of the 2017 Don Dorsey Excellence in Mentoring Awards just wanted to talk about their students.

“It’s the students who keep me here,” said Elizabeth Riegos-Olmos, director of the Student Services Center/Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) in the College of Science and Mathematics. “They’re just amazing individuals, and they have such challenges and obstacles that I’m in awe that they’re here and they’re fighting for their education. I feel fortunate they trust me enough to allow me into their lives and give me the opportunity to share in this journey.”

The annual awards were founded by staff in the Faculty Mentor Program and EOP, and the accolades are named for educational psychology and counseling professor Don Dorsey, who helped develop CSUN’s first mentor training program. They recognize faculty and staff who have made exceptional contributions to mentoring past and present students; who take a holistic approach to mentoring, including academic and personal support; and who demonstrate proactive involvement in the university’s commitment to the success of students of diverse backgrounds and communities.

This year’s awards ceremony was held Nov. 29 in the Delmar T. Oviatt Library. Riegos-Olmos was honored alongside Curt Dommeyer, professor of marketing; Adrian Pérez-Boluda, professor of modern and classical languages and literatures; Samir Hamawe, peer education coordinator, University Counseling Services; and Harry Hellenbrand, professor of English and provost emeritus.

Fittingly, it was the words of students — those touched by CSUN’s community of mentors — that gave the ceremony its emotional punch. The students’ stories were shared in excerpts from letters, web presentations and in tearful speeches given by the students themselves. The testimonials highlighted the extraordinary efforts of CSUN faculty and staff who had acted as educators and as human beings, inspiring students to improve academically and in life.

Glenn Omatsu, EOP Faculty Mentor Program coordinator, also read notes of praise for mentors who were nominated but not selected, demonstrating the stiff competition for the awards.

Elizabeth Riegos-Olmos

For 15 years, Riegos-Olmos has advocated for first-generation, low-income students from historically underrepresented communities. She knows every one of her students’ names and their stories, said Christina Espinoza-Guzman, science and mathematics graduation and retention advising specialist, who shared students’ testimonials. For example, Riegos-Olmos once accompanied a student who didn’t know anyone on campus to a Thanksgiving dinner for foster youth.

“No matter how busy she is, she finds time for students, and she makes you feel important,” another student wrote. “She makes me feel like I matter, [that] whatever I say or think, whatever I do, all my hard work will pay off in the end.”

Curt Dommeyer

Dommeyer, in his last semester of teaching after nearly 40 years at CSUN, could not personally accept his award because of his commitment to teaching. He had to leave the ceremony early because, he said, he had “a classroom of marketing research students waiting for me to start class.”

Barbara Gross, chair of the Department of Marketing, who nominated the professor and accepted the award on his behalf, said Dommeyer deserved the award because he immerses his students in real-world research projects and provides them with opportunities that students — especially undergraduate students — do not normally get. He has co-authored papers with 45 individual students, Gross said, including 41 undergraduates, resulting in 12 peer-reviewed journal articles and six full papers published in conference proceedings.

Testimonials from former students spoke of Dommeyer as the “catalyst” to a successful career, someone who encouraged them to persevere until they reached heights they didn’t know they could reach. One former student was touched that Dommeyer wrote him a letter of recommendation for a job, and then followed up to see how things were going.

“This is the mark of a true mentor,” the former student wrote. “Someone who not only offers direction during a pivotal time in one’s life, but who also follows up once decisions have been made and paths have been chosen.”

Samir Hamawe

Heidi Rodas Escobar was one of three students who nominated Hamawe, who coordinates four University Counseling Services projects dealing with depression education, sexual assault prevention and eating disorder awareness.

“Had it not been for his involvement and passion, we would not have grown to reach thousands of CSUN students,” said Rodas Escobar, a peer educator in the Joint Advocates on Disordered Eating (JADE) program. “As a cohort, we support one another throughout our difficulties, and Samir has always provided us with a space to be proactive within our campus and beyond. He has given us the opportunity to create a home away from home.”

Hamawe ’12 (Psychology), M.S. ’15 (College Counseling and Student Services) said he was grateful to be around his student volunteers, and he admired their resilience while completing their degrees. As a CSUN alumnus, he said he learned from his own mentors about how to help his students.

“I never really make a decision without asking 20 people first,” Hamawe said. “Coming in to graduate school, I would finish a presentation [by] asking, ‘How did I do?’ I think that self-doubt is still there, but it has also aided a lot of my success. I’ve let my students know it’s OK not to know, it’s OK to find things difficult, it’s OK to fail, it’s OK to be stopped and have to return again. Your circumstance isn’t who you are — it doesn’t define you. It’s only one little piece of the puzzle that you’ll eventually look at in the grand scheme of things.”

Adrian Pérez-Boluda

Professor Adrian Pérez-Boluda, chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, was nominated by five of his students. Two of them, Matilde Fuentes and Gloria Oliveri, introduced him at the event, with Oliveri giving a speech in Spanish and Fuentes translating.

“Just like us, professor Pérez-Boluda arrived in America with dreams, some of which have already become a happy reality,” Oliveri said, choking up with emotion while Fuentes translated. (Pérez-Boluda grew up in Sant Vicent del Raspeig, in the Spanish province of Alicante.) “Obtaining an education definitely has a positive impact on people and their society. Here at CSUN, it is a relief to know that diversity is an institutional value and that we should all be proud about it. For such a diverse group of students, there is nothing greater than knowing we can count on a professor who understands and empathizes with us.”

In accepting his award, Pérez-Boluda reflected on the meaning of mentorship.

“Being a mentor is not only about offering our students individualized guidance in academic matters, but it is also about knowing and defending their right to receive the best education possible — as well as listening to the challenges they face in different aspects of their lives, and letting them know that they are not alone during their journey through the university,” he said.

Harry Hellenbrand

Every year beginning in 2004, former EOP Director José Luis Vargas personally selected one recipient of the mentorship awards. Vargas passed away in 2016, but his legacy was honored with an award presented to Harry Hellenbrand, English professor and provost emeritus, for his years of service to EOP and EOP students. Shiva Parsa, director of EOP, spoke of the mutual trust and respect between Hellenbrand and Vargas.

One of Hellenbrand’s mentees, Frankie Augustin ’95 (Cellular and Molecular Biology), M.S. ’05 (Health Administration), now the interim chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, said she would not have risen to her current status without his help, comparing Hellenbrand to the first domino in a line.

“People will take hundreds of pieces of dominoes and stand them up around in the room in some intricate pattern, and spend countless hours doing this, only to watch it fall, and people are thrilled by this,” Augustin said. “The most important piece is that very first one. It’s the piece that has that impact and creates this chain reaction for all the other pieces. And for me, that’s Harry.”

Hellenbrand couldn’t hold back tears as he accepted his award and remembered his lost colleague.

“I remember I had a baseball coach once who told me, ‘Every challenge is a mountain, and what you have to remember is there are hundreds of ways up the mountain — you have to figure out which is the best way for you,’” he said. “The job of the mentor, I’ve come to believe over the years, is to provide the confidence that anybody can make it up that mountain. You have their back, and you provide them with confidence. That’s our job as mentors and teachers, and I think that’s what José Luis did so well.”

The California State University, Northridge campus is closed and classes have been canceled for today, Dec. 7.

High winds and smoke from the fires in and around the San Fernando Valley have affected air quality on campus and traffic conditions. University officials are closely monitoring the situation and will post updates as necessary.

Students, faculty and staff should not come to campus today. Students should consult with their instructor if they have questions regarding their coursework.  Employees scheduled to work this day will be granted administrative leave (with no deduction to personal hours accrued) due to the campus closure.

Physical Plant Management employees are asked to report to campus in accordance with their work schedule and to contact their supervisor if they are unable to do so.  Employees designated as “essential personnel” by their supervisor should also report to campus.

CSUN students, employees and others should monitor the university’s homepage and the following dial-in numbers for further information: 1-866-535-2786 for faculty/staff and 1-866-515-2786 for students and the community.

With improved air quality, travel conditions and weather forecasts for the area surrounding CSUN, the campus will be open and operational Friday, Dec. 8.

The California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District have consistently indicated air quality within the moderate to good range today, and the campus is outside of any fire evacuation zone. University officials will monitor conditions and will post an update to CSUN.edu by 6 a.m., Friday, Dec. 8.

While classes will be back in session Friday, given the continued and ongoing threat of fires in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, students, faculty and staff should continue to stay vigilant. The health and safety of the campus community remains CSUN’s top priority. Students unable to attend class Friday should notify their instructors, and employees impacted by the fires or needing assistance should contact their manager.

Faculty and supervisors are asked to provide accommodations to students and employees affected by the destructive fires and unprecedented weather conditions. CSUN’s finals schedule and academic calendar are not affected by today’s closure.

CSUN students, employees and others should monitor the university’s homepage and the following dial-in numbers for further information: 1-866-535-2786 for faculty/staff and 1-866-515-2786 for students and the community.

Each month, California State University, Northridge faculty and staff receive funding from outside organizations to support unique programs and cutting-edge research facilitated on campus. Below are a list of the individuals who received awards in November 2017.

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Annette Besnilian (Department of Family and Consumer Sciences) received $60,000 from the Northeast Valley Health Corporation in support of a project entitled “WIC-based Dietetic Internship Program.”

Elena Miranda (Department of Geological Sciences) received $24,999 from the Southern California Earthquake Center in support of a project entitled “Constraining the rheology of brittle-ductile transition rocks during the seismic stress cycle.”

Steven Loy (Department of Kinesiology) received $20,000 from the American Council on Exercise in continued support of a project entitled “3 WINS ACE.”

Regan Maas (Department of Geography) received $26,680 from Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in support of a project entitled “Operational Evapotranspiration for the State of New Mexico.”

Juana Maria Valdivia (Department of Student Outreach and Recruitment) received $277,134 from the U.S. Department of Education in support of a project entitled “Upward Bound – San Fernando Valley North Central.”

Juana Maria Valdivia (Department of Student Outreach and Recruitment) received $291,264 from the U.S. Department of Education in support of a project entitled “Talent Search San Fernando Valley Northeast.”

Juana Maria Valdivia (Department of Student Outreach and Recruitment) received $291,264 from the U.S. Department of Education in support of a project entitled “Talent Search San Fernando Valley Northcentral.”

Rafi Efrat (Department of Accounting and Information Systems) received $16,750 from New Economics for Women in support of a project entitled “The CSUN VITA Clinic @ NEW Van Nuys.”

Rafi Efrat (Department of Accounting and Information Systems) received $85,000 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in support of a project entitled “The CSUN VITA Program.”

Andrew Ainsworth (Center for Assessment, Research, and Evaluation) and Ellie Kazemi (Department of Psychology) received $83,132 from the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation (AARBF) in support of a project entitled “Evaluation of the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation Fire Prevention and Safety Program.”

Juana Mora (Department of Chicana/o Studies) received a continuation award of $959,455 from the U.S. Department of Education in support of a project entitled “Developing California’s Workforce: Creating Pathways for Latino Transfer Students in High Demand Careers.”

Teri Todd (Department of Kinesiology) received $45,016 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in support of a project entitled “Impact of a Hand-cycling Program.”

MariaElena Zavala (Department of Biology) received $26,465 from the University of North Texas Health Science Center in supplemental support of a project entitled “National Research Mentoring Network for a Diverse Biomedical Workforce.”

Peter Edmunds (Department of Biology) received $73,296 from the National Science Foundation in support of a project entitled “RAPID: Effects of repeated severe storms on shallow Caribbean reefs and their changing ecological resilience.”