A panel on the acclaimed HBO docuseries “Exterminate All the Brutes” highlights the spring lineup of the longstanding Arts & Lectures series at Cal State San Marcos.   After the series took place in a virtual format for the last three semesters because of the coronavirus pandemic, Arts & Lectures is scheduled to take place largely in person this spring, subject to change based on developments related to COVID-19. This season boasts a diverse selection of nine events as the university hosts renowned guest speakers and performances.   Attendees can reserve tickets online via the Arts & Lectures website beginning Jan. 24.     Brazilian Music for Cello and Piano  Feb. 1, 7 p.m., Arts 111  Pianist Aline Alves and cellist Lars Hoefs will present a program of new arrangements of Heitor Villa-Lobos’ celebrated Bachianas Brasileiras series, as well as fascinating works by contemporary Brazilian composers. Alves maintains a private studio of talented students in Campinas, Brazil and teaches at the Suzuki Center. Hoefs is a professor of cello and music history at Sao Paulo State University in Campinas and is artistic director of the annual Villa-Lobos International Chamber Music Festival in Southern California, in its seventh year. As a duo, Alves and Hoefs have performed concerts for festivals and congresses at the Villa-Lobos Museum in Rio de Janeiro, the Rio International Cello Encounter, the Brazilian Association of Musical Performance and the Villa-Lobos Symposium.   CSUSM students: Free   Community: $10  Faculty/staff/alumni: $5    Ching-Ming Cheng Campus Concert   Feb. 4, 7 p.m., Arts 111  Ching-Ming Cheng, chair of the CSUSM music department, will be performing live on campus for the first time since the pandemic. She will be joined by Janet Kao, faculty pianist at Chapman University and Cheng’s longtime friend. They will present a two-piano concert featuring old-time favorite tunes like Carmen Fantasy and the Disney theme medley. CSUSM students: Free   Community: $10  Faculty/staff/alumni: $5    “Exterminate All the Brutes” Feb. 23, 6 p.m., USU Ballroom (and streamed online)  In April 2021, HBO released acclaimed Black Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck’s newest film, “Exterminate All the Brutes.” An epic four-part docuseries, the film is based on three critical historical texts by authors Sven Lindquist, Michel-Rolph Trouillot and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. “Exterminate” breaks new cinematic ground for the way it reframes not only the United States’ history of slavery, genocide and racism as stemming from European colonialism, but also these histories’ relationship to the Jewish Holocaust and the Haitian Revolution. In this Arts & Lectures signature event, the American Indian Studies department will screen the first episode of the series and feature a panel discussion with Dunbar-Ortiz, CSUSM faculty Joely Proudfit and Dina Gilio-Whitaker, and a special guest to be announced.   CSUSM students: Free   Community: $12 Faculty/staff/alumni: $6    Camarada presents “Baroque and Blue”  March 3, noon, Arts 111  Join one of San Diego’s premier ensembles, Camarada, for an all-embracing list of composers and merging of musical styles. The event will feature flutist Beth Ross Buckley, CSUSM faculty pianist Dana Burnett, percussionist Duncan Moore and CSUSM faculty bassist Mackenzie Leighton. Two pieces featured will be CPE Bach’s dazzling sonata for flute and keyboard, and selections from the beloved jazz suite by French composer Claude Bolling for flute, piano, bass and percussion. Grammy-winning John Clayton’s “Bach to Blues” for solo bass will be performed by Leighton.  CSUSM students: Free   Community: $10  Faculty/staff/alumni: $5    Voices of Our City Choir  March 17, noon, USU Amphitheater  Voices of Our City Choir is a nonprofit organization that is helping San Diego’s unsheltered neighbors reconnect with hope and possibility through the healing power of music. Founded in 2016, the choir serves as a safe space for mutual aid and community-building, and gives a voice to San Diego's unsheltered community, both past and present. In addition to its programs and advocacy work, Voices of Our City Choir serves as an inspirational musical ensemble. In 2020, the choir was introduced to a national audience when it reached the semifinals of the NBC show “America’s Got Talent.” The choir performs with an award-winning jazz group, and performance-generated funds help employ case management staff and provide food and resources to choir members.   CSUSM students: Free   Community: Free Faculty/staff/alumni: Free    Rose Schindler, Holocaust Survivor  April 11, 6 p.m., USU Ballroom  ​Rose Schindler (born 1929) was only 14 years old when she was deported to Auschwitz along with her parents, aunt, five sisters and two brothers. Her new memoir, “Two Who Survived,” chronicles her experiences in the Holocaust and her life afterward, including falling in love with another survivor and moving to San Diego. Schindler is one of the few survivors still able to speak about living through the Holocaust. Her signed memoir will be given to 50 audience members on a first-come, first-served basis so her story can live on.   CSUSM students: Free   Community: $10  Faculty/staff/alumni: $5     Jon Keith  April 12, noon, USU Amphitheater   Jon Keith is not your typical hip-hop artist, and that is immediately recognizable when you listen to his music. Join us as Keith talks about his musical journal and how he has managed to become a full-time artist. This will feature both a live performance and a question-and-answer session.  CSUSM students: Free   Community: Free  Faculty/staff/alumni: Free    D’FaQTo Life: An Entertaining Evening with D’Lo  April 12, 5 p.m., USU Ballroom   D’Lo​ is a queer/transgender Tamil-Sri Lankan-American speaker and performer whose work ranges from keynotes and workshops to stand-up comedy, from one-person shows to poetry and spoken word. Rooted in social justice, D'Lo brings the fierce with the funny through his presentations and stand-up comedy about being a queer/trans artist and activist raised within an immigrant family and community, as well as his stories about being an artist schooled by hip-hop, feminists and queer artist elders. D'Lo's acting credits include the HBO series “Looking,” the Amazon series “Transparent,” the Netflix series “Sense8,” the USA Network series “Mr. Robot” and NBC's “Connecting.”  CSUSM students: Free   Community: $10  Faculty/staff/alumni: $5    White Supremacy by Any Other Name: The Anti-Black Origins of Sexual Violence in the U.S.   April 19, 6 p.m., Zoom webinar  Ericka Hart is a black queer femme activist, writer, public speaker and award-winning sexuality educator with a Master of Education in human sexuality from Widener University in Pennsylvania. Hart’s work broke ground when she went topless, showing her double mastectomy scars, in public in 2016. Hart's voice is rooted in leading-edge thought around human sexual expression as inextricable to overall human health and its intersections with race, gender, chronic illness and disability. Both radical and relatable, she continues to push well beyond the threshold of sex positivity.    CSUSM students: Free   Community: Free  Faculty/staff/alumni: Free  Media Contact Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

As the first person in her family to graduate from college, Jennifer Ostergren could have been forgiven for thinking she had made it. Far more than a mere bachelor’s degree, Ostergren had earned a master’s and even a doctorate as well. She was a longtime professor of speech-language pathology at Cal State Long Beach, her alma mater. For four years, she had served as associate dean of the College of Health and Human Services at the same university. Ostergren, however, wasn’t finished on her road to self-improvement. In 2019, 23 years after completing her bachelor’s and 11 years after he doctorate, she went back to school. Specifically, she was chosen for the American Council on Education Fellows Program, a one-year fellowship that immerses participants in the study and practice of higher education leadership. And immerse herself she did. While being embedded with the president and provost of Arizona State University, which included a front-row seat to the administration’s response to the nascent coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020, Ostergren even lived in the dorms on the Tempe campus amid thousands of undergraduate students. “It was a convenience, but it was also a very calculated decision that would allow me to be fully present,” Ostergren said. “Every day I walked into a different building and said to people, ‘Hi, I’m Jenn, what do you do? What do you think about ASU?’ I can’t tell you how many interesting conversations I had with students in the laundry room and the elevator and other places. “If you have your head down and you trod the same path over and over again to your office, and you meet with the same people, you get isolated about the things that you should be focusing on.” Ostergren is now trodding a different path, with her head firmly up and her eyes focused on the horizon. She just completed her first semester at Cal State San Marcos as the new dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services, bringing a fresh vision to a college that stands to emerge stronger than ever from a pandemic that has caused a significant amount of disruption to its core disciplines. In addition to her background as a speech-language pathologist. Ostergren is also a futurist. A futurist is someone who practices an interdisciplinary methodology for thinking about signals of change in the present and how they might shape trends or future directions. Thinking about the future, of course, is not the same as predicting the future. Ostergren is quick to add that she’s not a prognosticator. She did not foretell, for example, that COVID-19 would ravage the world. “A futurist filters decisions and their worldview through an understanding that everything changes, we're constantly in a time of change, and there are signs of early change that are present now that will become a trend, that will become the future,” she said. “It's the idea of being aware, looking up from the now about what's happening and trying to think about, ‘If we're going to approach the future in an active, positive way, we really need to be thinking about what the shifting landscape is to best position ourselves for the future that we want to have as either an individual or as an organization.’ ” Ostergren stumbled upon futurist thinking by chance during her time at Cal State Long Beach and felt drawn to it almost immediately. She has received several certifications from the Institute for the Future, a Palo Alto-based group that serves as a consultant for companies and organizations that are pushing innovation. Among its clients is the state of California, which is partnering with the institute on a sweeping project about the future of work in the state. Ostergren became so well-versed in futurist thinking that she trained 66 people in the discipline at Cal State Long Beach, and she brought a futurist lens to her role as a leading member of the university’s comprehensive strategic planning team. “In a very weird, organically grown way, I was able to get the president and the leadership team at Long Beach excited about futurist thinking,” Ostergren said. “I think they, like many other leaders across the country, sensed a need even before the pandemic to look to the future in new and innovative ways.” She now is incorporating that same perspective at CSUSM. Just as the university is in the midst of formulating a new strategic plan, so too is the college that Ostergren leads, and she said the opportunity to shepherd CEHHS through that process was a major reason why the dean position so appealed to her. She has participated in initial meetings with the college’s shared governance committee as the parties work together to chart a path forward for CEHHS. “Jenn will be paramount in the building of a new strategic plan, as the dean provides the vision for the college, in consultation with the faculty and staff,” said Suzanne Moineau, chair of both the College Coordinating Committee and the Department of Speech-Language Pathology. “As we begin to solidify the new university strategic plan, CEHHS will be able to build our own plan to align with that of the university. I look forward to the process, as I see Jenn as a leader who can build community. She is an active listener and appears very dedicated to the missions of each of our departments and schools.” Ostergren also has watched with eagerness as the new hospital for Kaiser Permanente rises from the ground only blocks from CSUSM, dreaming about what it could mean for a college and many other health-related disciplines at its core. She believes that any fresh vision for CEHHS involves being even more enmeshed with the community than it already is. “When I think about us as a college, there's so much need for us to really engage with our community around health and education and human services,” she said. “We have this expertise in the things that have been so disrupted by the pandemic and are going to be forever changed going forward. “We're just in a really good place, I think, to step out and say, ‘We're here, we've got expertise, we're going to shape our programs and research to help our local community recover.’ ” Media Contact Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

When he transferred to Cal State San Marcos from Grossmont College in August, John W. Edwards III had no idea what service learning was. Even when he was exposed to the concept early in his EDUC 364 course, he understood it mainly as a 20-hour requirement to complete the class. But the experience of tutoring foster youth as part of his service learning project affected Edwards deeply, so much so that he’s bringing a decided spirit of giving to the holiday season. Edwards this month organized a toy drive with the student organization Brotherhood Alliance through the Black Student Center that netted 322 toys that will become Christmas gifts for local foster kids. If that weren’t enough, he also raised hundreds of dollars for a San Diego nonprofit that helps former foster kids transition to independent living. “I just thought, ‘It’s the holidays and there are so many kids in the foster system who are going without and who just want to get a sense of what it feels like to have Christmas or be supported through their journey of being in foster youth,’ ” Edwards said. “So I took it upon myself to go a little farther and do these acts to demonstrate that we can all be the change that we want to see in terms of helping foster kids.” Edwards embarked on the service learning project in a course taught by School of Education lecturer Sherry Freeborn called “The Role of Cultural Diversity in Schooling.” In that class and other education prerequisites like it, CSUSM partners with a program called Tutor Connection run by Michelle Bailow, who works in foster youth services for the San Diego County Office of Education. After teaching students about the effects of trauma and the ins and outs of the child welfare system, Bailow matches them with a foster youth from somewhere in the county for 20 hours of tutoring supervised by her. Edwards met for two hours every Monday with a seventh-grade foster youth who has special needs. Assuming at the outset that the sessions would revolve around classwork and other educational problems, Edwards soon discovered that was not the case. “When I started talking with the kid, it became clear that he just needed a friend, someone to lift him up a little bit,” Edwards said. “That's what I began to do, and that's what got me thinking about the fundraisers that I have been participating in.” Edwards derived so much inspiration from his weekly tutoring meetings that he volunteered to be paired with a second foster youth as well. And when he approached Bailow with his desire to do even more for the holidays, Bailow connected him with two local agencies.  Promises2Kids, founded in 1981, is a San Diego nonprofit that annually supports more than 3,000 current and former foster youth in the county, and each December it holds the “Give from Your Heart” toy drive. In concert with the Brotherhood Alliance, Edwards stationed two drop-off boxes in the Black Student Center and several more at various locations around the county. Last week, he picked up the hundreds of toys and delivered them to Promises2Kids for distribution before Christmas.  At the same time, Edwards worked with Just in Time for Foster Youth, specifically its My First Home program, which assists former foster youth in furnishing their new apartments as they exit the system and begin to live on their own. Edwards visited all of the EDUC 364 classes to present his fundraising plan and ask students to chip in up to $5. He and his friends in the Brotherhood Alliance then teamed up to match what the students gave, which amounted to a total of $600.  Bailow has been a community partner of CSUSM for about 15 years, and she said Edwards’ level of initiative and generosity is rare in her experience.    “I have phenomenal students who are dedicated to their kids and become mentors,” Bailow said. “But the fact that he took on all this on his own because this class had such an impact on him and that he wanted to give back and do something special for kids in the foster care system, he definitely stands out as one of the shining stars from all my years of doing this.”  Edwards is on track to graduate in May 2023 with a degree in psychology. At 31, he also just became a licensed barber, having recently completed the required 1,500 hours of training and passed the California state exam. His career ambition is to fuse his two interests, bettering his clients’ mental state while cutting and styling their hair.   “A lot of men won't go and talk to a therapist, but they'll talk to their barber,” he said. “I also hope to continue to partner with Michelle and offer my service for free to foster youth who need haircuts. I want to use that skill of cutting hair to support my education and to tie it in with everything else that I do.”  Media Contact Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Sally Ride inspired a generation and beyond to pursue one’s dreams no matter the obstacles. The first American woman and youngest American in space, Ride made her journey into history on June 18, 1983 as a crew member aboard the space shuttle Challenger STS-7. About 25 years later, she inspired a fourth-grade girl from Escondido to pursue some science dreams of her own. “I have always been interested in learning about physical science,” said Cal State San Marcos physics senior Daria Bonds. “I met Dr. Sally K. Ride at the San Diego Air and Space Museum when I was in fourth grade. Seeing her talk about being a physicist, an astronaut and steward of the environment was inspirational.” That chance meeting, which came a few years before Ride died following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer, started Bonds on a science path that has led her to becoming CSUSM’s current Society of Physics Students (SPS) president. A graduate of Escondido High School, Bonds chose CSUSM for two reasons: the welcoming physics department and the supportive cross country and track coaches. As if being a physics major and campus leader didn’t keep her busy enough, Bonds is a runner on the cross country team. While continuing to improve her personal bests each season, she earned CCAA All-Academic honors in 2019 and ’20 and captured the Big Blue Award three times – fall 2019, spring 2020 and again in fall 2020. “I enjoy running and working out to maintain a mind and body balance,” said Bonds, who joined the cross country team at the same time as her brother David, who is a CSUSM junior majoring in software engineering. “I appreciate the leadership course that my coach Torrey Olson created to support student athletes developing leadership skills and positive team culture.”  Gerardo Dominguez is an associate professor of physics at CSUSM. He has worked extensively with Bonds as she is one of just two undergraduate students working in his lab this year. He is not alone in his reaction to Bonds being a collegiate athlete while studying physics. The science/running combination literally runs in the family as her other younger brother is planning on studying STEM at CSUSM next year and running cross country as well. Coincidentally, before Ride became a trailblazer in so many ways, she was a top juniors tennis player, even dropping out of college briefly to pursue a tennis career before returning to Stanford to earn two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree and a Ph.D. “It is impressive for any student to maintain the GPA that Daria has achieved as a physics major,” Dominguez said. “To do so while being a Division II athlete is very impressive in my opinion. Daria does her homework, comes prepared to meetings and pays attention to the details of her work. She asks great questions, asks for help when she needs it and communicates well. She is mature and committed and a joy to work with.” To prepare for her senior year and beyond, Bonds participated in a summer research program at Caltech. Her research project concerned the study of outflows of material from the disks of galaxies, analyzing sophisticated computer simulations of galaxy evolution to determine the direction of those outflows within the composition and structure of the CGM halo regions. “I had a wonderful time at CalTech (last) summer being surrounded by driven scientists and kind people,” said Bonds, who will also graduate with a minor in math. “I learned so much about my field of interest – astronomy and astrophysics. I made memories with other undergrad students exploring the L.A. area and memories with my lab group analyzing new data.” In the spring, Bonds plans on bringing back Rocket Car Races with the SPS chapter. After the difficulties of being isolated during the pandemic, she is proud of the study and socialization opportunities she has helped create so far this school year. She is also the president of the Women in Physics organization on campus. It’s easy to see her future is headed toward making a positive impact on the world. Much like the hero she met in fourth grade. “I want to be an advocate for science education and encourage other students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue studies in STEM,” Bonds said. “I’m looking forward to competing during the spring track season. I also plan to continue to run on my own time after I’ve graduated.” For now, that means pursuing a Ph.D. program in astrophysics to do computational and theoretical astronomy research. “I’m really happy for her to come out of being an undergrad and understanding what Ph.D. level research at a top R1 institution entails,” Dominguez said. “Beyond that, I think Daria will chart her course, do the homework and be successful. I’m excited to see how she develops as a scholar and I look forward to seeing her publish her first authored papers in a few years, maybe even sooner. Honestly, I find her inspirational.” Media Contact Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

A team of Cal State San Marcos faculty and staff have collaborated on an article that recently was published in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education.   The article, titled “Examining Field Experiences of Teacher Candidates During COVID-19: Systemic Inequities Unveiled for Underserved English Learners in K-12 Grades,” was published on Nov. 18. The authors are School of Education professors Ana Hernandez and Annette Daoud, psychology research faculty Anna Woodcock, and Kyle Landin, an assessment specialist in student services for the College of Education, Health and Human Services.   The article marks the first collaborative publication to emerge from Project ACCEPT (Aligning the Common Core with English learners, Parents and Teachers), a five-year U.S. Department of Education grant that provides professional development to improve the education of English learners.   The study supporting the journal article confirmed that, in the wake of COVID-19, K-12 English learners lacked access to online learning, active engagement with peers/teachers and differentiated instruction due to rapid changes and uncertainties in their programs.     Professors published in journal  Communication professors Michelle Holling and Dreama Moon have written an article that was recently published in the Quarterly Journal of Speech.   The article is titled “20/20 in 2020?: Refractive Vision, 45 and White Supremacy.” It’s part of a forum on the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign focused on division, discord and democracy.  Founded in 1915, the Quarterly Journal of Speech is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the National Communication Association.   Media Contact Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Following more than a decade as a university-level Spanish instructor in Washington, D.C., Maribeth Bandas moved to Carlsbad, where she quickly saw an opportunity that could benefit bilingual individuals throughout her new commmunity. “We moved to California (in 2008) and I said, ‘I’ll translate. I’ll interpret. I’ll do other things, but I’m not going to teach,’ ” Bandas said. “And then I saw a huge resource of bilingual — especially Spanish — speakers in North County San Diego. But there were also Tagalog, Chinese, Arabic — all kinds of bilingual speakers. Many were being used as interpreters in medical settings without being trained, which is so dangerous.” Bandas was convinced of the need to bring professional standards, ethics and support to individuals who were tasked — officially or unofficially — to serve as interpreters at work or for family members. She went back East to become licensed to teach The Community Interpreter® training program, working directly with program founder Marjory Bancroft. After earning her license, she approached Cal State San Marcos and in 2016 found a home in Extended Learning to teach bilingual individuals how to become professional interpreters. While the training course gave Bandas the licensing she needed, she had been preparing for this role her entire life.   A love for language  Both of Bandas’ parents were professors who taught English as a foreign language. When she was 10, the family moved to Peru so her mom could gain experience abroad. In a bilingual school for five years, Bandas was quickly at ease communicating in both English and Spanish. Later at university in the United States, she earned a BA in liberal studies, with independent study on the history of the Spanish language; an MA in Spanish and Latin American Studies; and an MPhil (Master of Philosophy) in the human sciences, with a focus on translation. Over the course of her career, Bandas has served as a bilingual translator and editor, a university Spanish instructor and a consultant in Spanish curriculum development. She also worked as a translator in the Washington, D.C., Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs and as director of translation services for the Hispanic Link News Service. Currently, she is the owner and vice president of BEAM Translations.   From bilingual to interpreter The biggest misunderstanding Bandas sees is that employers often believe their staff need only be bilingual to interpret. Sometimes, even the staff members believe it. But in fact, they need much more than that. “If you want to be an interpreter, you need to train to be an interpreter,” she said. “There are ethics you have to follow. It is taxing on the brain, and we talk about what happens when you get tired. There are so many skills that go into interpreting.” Professional standards in interpreting were recognized in the Affordable Care Act (Section 1557, effective July 18, 2016), which requires healthcare providers and health insurers to provide qualified translators (for written language) and interpreters (for spoken language) to individuals with limited English proficiency. They need to be professionally trained and they need to follow a strict code of ethics, principles and conduct. The Professional Certificate in Interpreting at Cal State San Marcos prepares students to become qualified interpreters who can facilitate communication and access to services in schools, healthcare settings, nonprofit agencies, social service agencies, government settings and more. In addition, new technologies are accelerating the opportunities for remote interpreting, allowing interpreters to work from home. Students in the program quickly see its value. “As soon as they understand there’s a structure that supports them and that they are professionals, it changes their perspective,” Bandas said. “There’s a huge population [of individuals] in the United States who are ad hoc interpreters for their parents, and that’s now illegal. The more people we get qualified as interpreters in the healthcare system, the less that will happen.”   A steppingstone  The two 14-week certificate programs at CSUSM — Community Interpreting and Healthcare Interpreting — share the same core lessons on consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, sight translation, interpreting skills, ethical principles, protocols and more. Lessons in specialized subject-matter knowledge and vocabulary vary between the two programs. Students must have proficiency in English and at least one other language. In addition, students must achieve an advanced mid-level score on an online language proficiency exam. “This course is a first step for interpreters in the workforce, and it’s a steppingstone to better work on every level,” Bandas said, noting that students who meet language proficiency standards and complete the course can then go on to take national or industry certification exams. For Bandas, finding her way back to teaching through interpreting has been more valuable than she could have imagined. “To me, teaching students to interpret is more important than interpreting myself,” she said. Through CSUSM, “I’ve put more than 100 students out there who can interpret professionally. My reach is much broader. I saw the resource of bilingual people here and thought, ‘This is great. Let’s get them trained.’ ”   For more information on the Professional Certificate in Interpreting, visit csusm.edu/el/interpreting. Media Contact Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

CSUSM broke Giving Day records last week, raising $457,193 in just 24 hours – making it the highest single day of collective giving in university history. “I am awestruck by the generosity of so many,” said Jessica Berger, vice president for University Advancement. “We are grateful for everyone who helped make Giving Day such a resounding success, one that will have an immediate and lasting impact on our campus community.” Now in its seventh year at CSUSM, Giving Day is part of Giving Tuesday, an international day focused on philanthropy. This year’s Giving Day surpassed the previous record in 2018, when Fox Russell surprised the university with a $100,000 gift in honor of his late parents, bringing the total that year to $448,955. On Tuesday, Nov. 30, nearly 1,500 people – including alumni, employees, students, parents, friends and sponsors – rallied to support 104 campus projects and initiatives. Presenting sponsor North City jumpstarted the day with a $25,000 Power Hour, which was met within an impressive 30 minutes. SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union provided a $10,000 employee match, and 17 funds were able to accelerate their giving thanks to frontline matches. Foundation Board chair Steve Wagner, his wife Laura, and director Nathaniel Keifer-Wheals (‘09, ‘21) generously funded 23 challenge gifts and bonuses. A unique and beloved part of CSUSM’s Giving Day, challenges add a friendly competition to the day, as donors strategize to hopefully turn their gift into a $1,000 or even $2,000 surprise donation to the fund that they support. CSUSM’s Dreamer Resource Office and women’s cross country and track tied as the biggest challenge winners with each receiving $4,500. Enthusiasm surged in the afternoon when an anonymous donor, inspired by the spirit of Giving Day, pledged a $50,000 dollar-for-dollar match. Two new endowed scholarships were established on Giving Day: the Marilyn J. McWilliams Spirit of Inclusive Excellence Scholarship and Dorothy Igei Endowed Scholarship, a $50,000 scholarship honoring the late mother of Tina Bell, who serves an associate vice president in University Advancement, is a proud parent of a CSUSM alumna, and will be retiring at the end of the year. Additional highlights from the day included: CSUSM received 2,149 total gifts. One in five gifts was made by alumni. Students continued to show their love for CSUSM by making 360 gifts. 90% of all gifts received were less than $250. 68 ambassadors helped spread the word and brought in a collective $36,386 from their personal networks. More than 2,500 students cast their vote through the CougarBot challenge, crowning the ASI Cougar Pantry with an additional $1,000 award. Did you miss your chance to donate during Giving Day? You can still make a meaningful impact on the program you love. Give today! Know a CSUSM project that needs funding? Connect with the Office of Annual Giving to launch a Cougar Crowdfunding project. Media Contact Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

In its return to the court after an 18-month hiatus because of the pandemic, the Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team has gotten off to a 4-2 start this season, including a 2-1 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. One of those victories was especially noteworthy. The Dec. 2 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills at The Sports Center was the 200th in the career of coach Renee Jimenez.  If you haven't seen the Cougars in action yet and are playing catch-up on the team, here's the schedule for the rest of the season.  Media Contact Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Cal State San Marcos’ University Police Department is accepting donations for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign until Dec. 16.  New, unwrapped toys can be brought to the lobby of UPD, which is at 425 La Moree Road. No donation is seen as too small and all gifts make a difference. Camp Pendleton Marines will be picking up the donations on Dec. 16. Coordinated by Sgt. Herman Hernandez, this is the second straight year that UPD has been a designated drop-off site for Toys for Tots. To make an online donation, visit the Marine Corps Toys for Tots website.  Media Contact Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Stanley Rodriguez, a lecturer in American Indian studies at Cal State San Marcos, has been appointed to the California Native American Heritage Commission by Gov. Gavin Newsom.   Rodriguez was one of six appointments announced by Newsom last month. Five of them were to the Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC).  The NAHC is a nine-member body created in 1976 that identifies, catalogs and protects Native American cultural resources – ancient places of special religious or social significance to Native Americans and known ancient graves and cemeteries of Native Americans on private and public lands in California.   Rodriguez, 63, of Santa Ysabel, has been a lecturer at CSUSM since 2017. He also has been director of Kumeyaay Community College since 2018, Kumeyaay language instructor at Kumeyaay Community College since 2005, and instructor and adviser at the Navy Drug and Alcohol Counselor School since 1995.   Rodriguez served as an E-5 in the U.S. Navy from 1985 to 1991. He is an enrolled member and serves as a council member of the Santa Ysabel Band of the Iipay Nation.   Rodriguez earned a Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership from UC San Diego and a master’s in human behavior from National University.     History professor lauded for book  History professor Alyssa Sepinwall was a 2021 honorary mention recipient of the Haitian Studies Association’s biennial Haiti Book Prize for her book, “Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games.”  “Slave Revolt on Screen” is Sepinwall’s third published book, following “Haitian History: New Perspectives” (published in 2012) and “The Abbé Grégoire and the French Revolution: The Making of Modern Universalism” (2005).     Equity champion in transfer  CSUSM was recently among the California colleges and universities honored as 2021 Champions of Higher Education and Equity Champions for Excellence in Transfer by The Campaign for College Opportunity.   The university was recognized as a “2021 Equity Champions for Excellence in Transfer for Black & Latinx Students” for being an institution that works with intentionality to support Black and Latinx students through the Associate Degree for Transfer.    Among nation’s safest  CSUSM ranks 50th on SafeWise’s list of “The 50 Safest College Towns in America of 2021.” SafeWise, an online resource for safety and security, said it analyzed the latest FBI crime data for 422 cities to rank the 50 safest college towns in the country.  SafeWise states that the rankings are based on college towns with populations of 15,000 or more that report the lowest violent crimes and property crimes per 1,000 residents.    Alumna publishes third book  Alumna Antoinette Chanel, who graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s in literature and writing studies, recently published her third book, “Connecting the Dots,” which is an affirmation book and adult coloring book designed to help people struggling with their mental health.  Media Contact Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306