The ceremony, scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to noon in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union, will honor 45 CSUN students, faculty members and community partners who have worked together to assist older immigrants and refugees seeking to learn English and navigate the complex path to U.S. citizenship. The University Student Union is located on the east side of the campus off Zelzah Avenue.

"SHINE gives Cal State Northridge students opportunities to work with elderly immigrants to help them learn English and make progress on the path toward citizenship," said Maureen Rubin, director of CSUN's Center for Community-Service Learning, which oversees the campus' participation in Project SHINE.

Rubin said Project SHINE provides "a wonderful opportunity for both our students and the people they work with. Our students learn about other cultures and make lasting relationships that will make them more effective professionals in our multicultural society. And the elderly people they work with get some valuable help in becoming U.S. citizens."

Students taking part in the culmination ceremony have invited the elderly people they work with to join them in the celebration.

Project SHINE is a national service-learning initiative that builds partnerships among community colleges, universities and community-based organizations to benefit older immigrants, refugees and college students. The project links college students with older immigrants and refugees interested in becoming U.S. citizens.

For the past two years, Cal State Northridge students have tutored elders in English at community centers and in classrooms across the San Fernando Valley. The students have helped their older counterparts become more actively engaged in their communities and taught them the U.S. history and civics needed to pass the citizenship exam. Montañez's office helped connect the CSUN students to elders in the community.

Assemblymember Cindy Montañez serves the communities of San Fernando, Pacoima, Sylmar, Panorama City, Sun Valley, Mission Hills, Arleta and Valley View. She was elected to represent the 39th District in 2002 at the age of 28--becoming the youngest women ever to win a legislative seat in the state of California. Montañez was appointed chairperson of the state assembly's Rules Committee in February 2004, becoming the first woman to be appointed to that influential post.