MEDIA RELEASE

Businessman Establishes CSUN Endowment to
Open Doors for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., July 2, 2008) — For businessman Tom Serrato, the endowment he and his family have established at Cal State Northridge is all about opening doors and presenting opportunities.

Serrato’s son, Michael, graduated from Northridge in May with a degree in political science. Serrato is convinced that college would not even have been an option for his deaf son if it had not been for the support and encouragement Michael received from mentors, teachers and interpreters while growing up.

"But for hundreds of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, that kind of support isn’t there. Just getting through the obstacles and lack of understanding they and their families encounter every day can be hard enough. College isn’t even on the radar," said the owner of the Highland-based Far West Meats, Inc. "My son was lucky. He had family and teachers and whole lot of people behind him. What about those who don’t?"

Serrato and his wife, Julia, have created the Serrato Family Endowment at Cal State Northridge to provide outreach and support to deaf and hard-of-hearing students and their families to encourage the students’ participation and success in college. The Diamond Bar residents established the endowment with an initial gift of $10,000 to the university earlier this year, and pledged to contribute an additional $40,000 over the next four years.

"The Serrato Family’s generous gift will make it possible for deaf and hard of hearing Cal State Northridge students to gain training as leaders and ambassadors as well as expertise in giving back to the community through outreach programs where they will serve as positive role models for young deaf students and their families," said Roslyn Rosen, director of CSUN’s National Center on Deafness. "We are grateful to the Serratos for this opportunity to further enrich the experiences of our students."

Cal State Northridge became the first mainstream university in the nation to provide sign-language interpreters for deaf students when it established its National Center on Deafness (NCOD) in 1964. The center has since become a national model.

NCOD has served more than 2,500 students who are deaf or hard of hearing in the past 44 years. The center provides communication access, leadership opportunities, scholarships, academic advisement, tutoring, and direct communication classes each year to approximately 200 students who are deaf and hard of hearing.

CSUN’s National Center on Deafness is also home to a variety of federal grants that provide outreach and training to educational institutions around the country. The PEPNet Resource Center, housed at NCOD, is one of the largest libraries and clearing houses dedicated to deaf and hard of hearing issues in the world. Its online catalogue includes 6,487 books, 1,700 videotapes and 58 periodicals in addition to a wide variety of dissertations, scholarly publications and other resources. The PEPNet dissemination center has distributed more than 8,800 products since October, 2002.

Michael Serrato said he realizes that he was very lucky to have the support of his family and others as he pursued his dream of a college education. He would love to see other deaf and hard-of-hearing young people get the same opportunities to attend college that he had.

"The endowment for NCOD for deaf youth is truly a great thing," he said of his parents’ gift to the university. "I know it means a lot to me. I want to see deaf youth have the opportunity to improve their quality of life by having access to education, to be able to socialize with one another and be part of recreational achievement programs. I had a good education and resources while growing up, and I want other deaf kids to have that too."

Michael, who currently works for his father but wants a career as an advocate for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, said he believes the endowment could have an impact beyond the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

"I hope the vision for this endowment would create awareness about the needs of the deaf community as well as encourage the hearing community to learn about and support efforts for social justice for the deaf community," he said.

For more information about the Serrato Family Endowment or programs for deaf students, e-mail CSUN’s National Center on Deafness at ncod@csun.edu.