MEDIA RELEASE
‘50 Years of Life-Changing Opportunity’—CSUN Celebrates an Anniversary
(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., May 19, 2008) — The year-long celebration of Cal State Northridge’s 50th anniversary is off to a festive start this week, with more than 200 red, white and black banners across campus to greet students, parents, friends and neighbors as Commencement Week attracts thousands of visitors to the university.
"California State University, Northridge—50 Years of Life-Changing Opportunity" is the theme for the campus-wide observance. It underscores, said President Jolene Koester, "the profound impact Cal State Northridge has had on improving the quality of life in the community and, particularly, on enhancing the lives of the students who are the primary focus of our mission."
CSUN has produced more than 180,000 alumni, 70 percent of whom still reside in the greater Los Angeles region. The continuing investment in Northridge’s students "has paid dividends many times over" as the university prepares an educated, committed workforce that gives back to the community "economically and socially," added President Koester.
The anniversary year begins with this week’s commencement and will conclude with the 2009 exercises. In between these "bookends," a number of events and activities will help mark CSUN’s first half-century of service.
Among the special events will be Founders Day, scheduled for Sept. 22, which will include a luncheon program for returning alumni, faculty and staff from the campus’ earliest days. At the luncheon, the Alumni Association will launch the "50-Year Club," inducting the club’s first members from the classes of 1956 and 1957—when CSUN was still a branch of what is now Cal State Los Angeles—as well as Class of 1958 members, who will be celebrating their 50th reunion.
The luncheon event will serve to inaugurate both Founders Day and the "50-Year Club" as annual Cal State Northridge traditions.
Other Sept. 22 events will include the opening of an important exhibition on CSUN’s history in the Oviatt Library’s Tseng Gallery, curated by head archivist Robert Marshall; and an evening dedication of James and Mary Cleary Walk, when the current Magnolia Walk will be re-christened in honor of CSUN’s second president and his wife. The unveiling of contents from a time capsule, buried just west of the Oviatt Library portico during the campus’ 25th anniversary celebration, also is planned.
Sept. 22 stands out in CSUN history as the day in 1958 when classes first commenced at what was then San Fernando Valley State College. In its infancy a satellite of the former Los Angeles State College, the Valley campus officially separated from the older institution in 1958, took a new name and launched its own educational journey.
A total of 2,525 students were enrolled at the young institution in its first year, a far cry from the 35,200 in attendance 50 years later. Members of the initial student class voted to call themselves Matadors, choosing red and white as their colors. According to historian John Broesamle, the freshmen in those days proudly wore red and white beanies.
But beneath the excitement of new beginnings was a seriousness of purpose expressed in the new college’s first catalogue. "Whatever the objective of each student’s specialized program of study," it stated, "…he is called upon to develop and test his abilities and values: personal, social, civic, and intellectual. The extent of such student endeavor will be the ultimate measure of our purpose and our program."
A second major event still in the planning stages for spring 2009 is a Grand Reunion at which CSUN will launch a new reunion program for alumni. Guests from on- and off-campus will be welcomed to the event.
During the course of the year, other anniversary events will be held, including a mid-year benefit concert featuring a top talent on the contemporary music scene.
President Koester commended the work of the 50th Anniversary Planning Committee, led by Library Dean Susan Curzon, which developed a set of recommendations for events, activities and strategies for the year.
Central to the yearlong celebration, the 50th Anniversary Web site—www.csun.edu/50/—debuted amid the swirl of commencement activities. The site, which will evolve as the year advances, features updates on anniversary events, a timeline of CSUN historical events, a special section highlighting many of Northridge’s notable alumni, and an opportunity for viewers to share their video CSUN stories.
Students, alumni or anyone who wants to share their memorable CSUN stories via video will be able to upload them to YouTube by following the link on the anniversary Web site’s entertaining and easy "Tell Your CSUN Story in 50 Seconds or Less on YouTube" feature.
On a parallel track, the Alumni Association and the Oviatt Library will collaborate on collecting written stories and memorabilia from students, faculty, alumni and friends of the university in a special 50th anniversary project.
A variety of divisional, college, departmental and unit salutes to the 50th also are on the drawing board. Information will be forthcoming as plans progress.