The 2022 Freshman Celebration

The 2023 Freshman Celebration

The 18th Annual Freshman Celebration will take place

on November 29 & 30, 2023 in the CSUN Northridge Center

The 17th Annual Freshman Celebration was held the week of November 28, 2022.

• VIEW DIGITAL PROJECTS HERE
• VIEW ON-SITE PROJECTS HERE

The Freshman Celebration is an annual CSUN event that showcases work created by first-time freshmen enrolled in University 100 during the fall semester at Cal State Northridge. This year, we are excited to return to our dual format with traditional projects displayed on-site at the showcase in the Northridge Center and digital projects displayed online in Canvas. 

2022 Freshman Celebration Awards

       Judges' Grand Prize Award for Best Overall Project*

• DIGITAL PROJECT

Professor Kim Bonfiglio’s U100 Criminology & Justice Studies class

If We Can Do it, So Can You!

• Class Photo

Judges' comments: "I nearly teared up at the end because of the encouraging overall message.", "This is one of the strongest projects I have ever seen!", "I would add this into my curriculum. Brave and inspiring work."

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)

• Professor Monicka Guevara's class (collaboration with Bridge to the Future: Canoga Park High School)
• Class Photo
• Professor Malinda Hackett's class (collaboration with GE Honors)
• Class Photo
• Professor Colette Meade's class
• Class Photo

• ON-SITE PROJECT

Professor Gigi McGuire’s U100 Black Excellence class

Matadors Forward: Black Excellence Edition

Judges' comments: "Thoughtful, beautiful, and many students were represented, Bravo!!!!!", "Beyond the visual appeal, the personal narratives were a pleasure to read and gain insight from."

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)

• Professor John LeJay's Bridge to the Future: Black Scholars Matter class
• Professor Debbi Mercado's class

 People's Choice Award for the Favorite Project

• DIGITAL PROJECT

Professor Monicka Guevara's class (collaboration with Bridge to the Future: Canoga Park High School)

A Day in the Life of a Freshman

• Class Photo

• ON-SITE PROJECT

Professor Sharon Lim's U100 class

Uprooting Food Insecurity

Judges' Grand Prize Criteria*

• Critical thinking (defined in the Information Competence Vocabulary list at the University Library as “The process of effectively examining and questioning information in order to weigh evidence and make choices and/or take action”.
  • Including appropriate credit to sources, if applicable

• Significance and importance of content and/or meaning
• Creativity, artistry, and aesthetic value

About the Freshman Celebration

The first Freshman Celebration at CSUN took place in 2006 with participation limited to Freshman Connection students. In 2007 the Celebration was opened to all students enrolled in a fall U100 class. As enrollment has continued to grow, so has the Celebration. 

Each fall, freshmen taking University 100 are invited to participate in a campus-wide celebration of their first-semester academic achievements. This showcase, the Freshman Celebration, is modeled on CSUN's Undergraduate and Graduate Student Research and Creative Works Symposium. The student projects often (but not always) are related to the current year's Freshman Common Reading (on hiatus for academic year 2022-23), or to their Information Competence Research Project or their Community-Based Learning Project.