Joseph Castro, vice chancellor of student academic affairs at UC San Francisco, was named by the CSU Board of Trustees as Fresno State’s new president.

The California State University Board of Trustees has named Joseph Castro, vice chancellor of student academic affairs at UC San Francisco, as Fresno State’s next president. The announcement was made on Wednesday morning.

Castro was among the finalists to succeed President John Welty – Fresno State’s longest-tenured president who has served for 22 years. Welty will remain on the job through the end of July to help with the transition process.

Castro will start his new position by Aug. 1, according to a CSU release.

“It is incredibly humbling that the CSU trustees have appointed me as the next president of Fresno State, and I truly appreciate this honor,” Castro said in the release.

“Dr. Welty has been successful in leading Fresno State over the last 22 years. I look forward to working alongside the faculty, staff and students at the university and with alumni and friends throughout the Central Valley and beyond to build on this strong foundation and to guide Fresno State to new heights of success.”

Castro is a Hanford native and received his bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public policy from UC Berkeley.

He earned his doctorate in higher education policy and leadership at Stanford and is the first person in his family to attend college, according to his official bio on UC San Francisco’s website.

Castro also served on as vice provost at UCSF from 2008-10 and associate vice chancellor for student academic affairs from 2006-08. He also has held leadership positions within the UC system at the Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Barbara campuses in his 23-year career.

“I add my congratulations to Dr. Castro,” Welty said in a statement. “I have known him for many years and he will provide great leadership for Fresno State in the coming years. I look forward to working with him over the next few weeks to effect a smooth transition.”

The search for Fresno State’s next president was conducted behind closed doors, with the university’s search committees withholding the names of applicants throughout the process.

The CSU system’s selection process was conducted publicly until September 2011, when the board of trustees elected to keep the selection process confidential, the reasoning being that it would attract a higher quality of applicants.

The CSU Board of Trustees also announced William Covino, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Fresno State, as president of CSU Los Angeles.

Covino will succeed retiring CSULA President James M. Rosser – who has served as the school’s president since 1979.

Covino is expected to begin his new position on Sept. 1.

After 22 years of serving as Fresno State’s president, John D. Welty will retire at the end of the semester. Since beginning in 1991, Welty has garnered a reputation for fundraising, academics, athletics and community involvement.
Photo by Dalton Runberg / The Collegian

After 22 years, Fresno State president John D. Welty is retiring.

His tenure has seen the creation of many programs and much infrastructure improvement.  He also initiated a spirit of community service among Fresno State’s student body.

Welty was hired in July of 1991, coming from the University of Indiana of Pennsylvania where he served as interim president. Before this he worked in administration at State University of New York at Albany, Southwest State University in Minnesota and Michigan State University, East Lansing.

The public university, Welty believes, is not only a place of higher education, but also a place that reaches out to the region in which it is located.

“What I was attracted to was I saw a university with tremendous potential and an opportunity to serve the region in which it was located,” he said.

At the time of his hiring, the California State University (CSU) system was in a financial crunch. Going into the position of president, Welty said he knew money and fundraising would be a big focus of his tenure.

Indeed, fundraising has been a significant mark of his time at Fresno State. Recently, the university celebrated the Campaign for Fresno State. Through this campaign developed by Welty and other administrators, Fresno State accumulated more than $214 million in donations.

Through the fundraising initiatives begun by Welty, the university has seen several significant building additions. These transcend anything seen within the CSU system.

Such projects include the building of the Save Mart Center, University High School, the Fresno State Winery and the Smittcamp Alumni House.

“I think the facilities we have really have added opportunities for more students. Certainly the library has become he focal point of the campus,” Welty said. “A number of other things that we’ve gotten support for — the winery — have linked the industry much more closely. Certainly, the Save Mart Center links this entire region. Instead of everyone leaving to go somewhere else for entertainment or a concert people now come to Fresno.”

Welty said the building projects and academics go hand in hand in creating a university experience.

“I think what we’ve been able to do is link people to the university through academic programs, through other facilities that we have so that there is a greater understanding of the role the university plays in this region,” he said.

President Welty and the administration’s projects have received some criticism from community members, students and some faculty.

Fresno State political science professor Mark Somma is one such faculty member. He voiced acknowledgment of Welty’s skill for fundraising and promoting student involvement, yet questions the retiring president’s understanding of university culture.

“We have, for good or for bad, the Save Mart Center. We have Campus Point, whatever that’s going to turn out to be,” Somma said. “It’s not easy to do that stuff. However, it detracts from the mission of the university.”

Somma criticized the Welty administration for its seemingly overt focus on infrastructure improvement and public relations, saying the need is for financial priority on academics: class size, research, student jobs and highly qualified faculty.

“I see a brand new farm market. And I teach in a building that’s as old as I am, and I’m pretty old. So it’s clear where their priorities are,” Somma said.

Somma said the emphasis should be on academics first, then infastrucutre. That, he said, is how universities operate.

“I don’t want to leave the impression that [fundraising is] an easy thing to do, because I don’t think it is. But the buildings have to have a richer culture of academics, and they don’t,” he said.

In 2007, Welty challenged the student body to log more than 1 million volunteer service hours by the Fresno State Centennial celebration in 2011.

The university reportedly reached the 1 million hour mark by the 2009-2010 academic year. According to Fresno State’s university communications department, 1 million hours was once again met during the 2010-2011 year.

The distinction of this many hours has been recognized with a place on the Higher Education Community Service President’s Honor Roll with Distinction from the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Education.

For Welty, this volunteering has helped the university connect with the community in new ways.

“The fact students contribute over a million hours of community service every year is a great tribute to, not only students but also to the faculty that have worked on expanding service learning opportunities,” Welty said.

Community service from the student body has indeed set Fresno State apart from other schools, said Honora Chapman, director of the Smittcamp Family Honors College.

“Raising money is an expectation of all presidents across this nation, but setting the bar so high for community service is not typical of many presidents,” she said. “But President Welty embraced that as the hallmark of his presidency.”

As part of his legacy, Welty said he hopes academics will continue to expand.

“I would hope that the university continues to focus on students and particularly serving first-generation students, because I think we do a very good job of providing those opportunities for students, and a lot of students that take advantage of what’s here,” he said.

Welty said the greatest challenge facing the next president will be in the realm of academics and tuition cost.

“I think the challenge will be to try to engage faculty into looking at ways that we can deliver and structure more effectively,” he said.

Welty went on to say the other challenge will be keeping costs at a minimum for students.

Though he is retiring, Welty will be working as a trustee professor at the Palm Desert campus of CSU San Bernardino.

“I’m still working out specific assignment,” Welty said. “And I’ll probably work out with the president of San Bernardino some specific assignments to serve that area and that region.”

Welty sees Fresno State as place that has grown consistently for the last 102 years. For this reason, he forecasts a bright future for the university.

“I think that the sky is really the limit,” Welty said.

The Fresno State Dance Marathon was held Saturday evening in the Student Recreation Center. The marathon raised money on behalf of the Bulldog Pantry. Associated Students Inc. (ASI) as well as the Student Recreation Center, Administrative Services, Greek Life, Auxiliary Student Union, University Student Union, Student Affairs and Alumni Association.

With caution tape cordoning off the exercise machines, flashing lights and music blaring, the Recreation Center was transformed into a dance club.

Fresno State students participate in the first Fresno State Dance Marathon, sponsored by ASI. The event raised funds for the Bulldog Pantry.
Photo by Roe Borunda / The Collegian

The fundraiser gave students the opportunity to reach out to their friends, family and community for donations to the Bulldog Pantry.  For every hour a student danced, a sponsor pledged a certain amount of money.

Kris Wescott, a Fresno sate students majoring in kinesiology raised $200 dollars by pledging to dance for the full eight hours.  He is the chairman for the University Student Union board of directors.

“Once it becomes a tradition, its going to be amazing,” Wescott said.

That doesn’t mean students in attendance didn’t have fun. Yasmeena Alqatami, a Fresno State student majoring in recreation administration spoke with enthusiasm.

“Everyone is pumped up and dancing,” she said, while taking a break from the marathon.

Alqatami raised $40 for the Bulldog Pantry. Alqatami said she expected more student turnout.

Emceeing the event were Miss Fresno County Elizabeth Farr and Fresno State student Kenny Umeh.

Parmita Chourdhury, this year’s ASI executive vice president was executive director of the marathon planning committee.

“It’s a big fundraiser,” Choudhury said. “Its an exciting way to fundraise because who’s not going to have fun dancing at an event like this?”

She said the same type of events put on by Penn State and UCLA inspired the marathon.

Last year, Penn State raised $12 million at its dance marathon fundraiser, which lasted 40 hours. The marathon at UCLA was 26 hours long.

Fresno State student Evan Selander attended on behalf of his fraternity, Sigma Chi.

“Its definitely cool to see all of Fresno State get together,” said Selander. “Because we don’t really see events like this, as often as other campuses.”

The Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute (CVCHI) put the event together and Francine Oputa, the director of the CVCHI, said people shouldn’t be judged based on their outward appearances.

“I encourage you to appreciate all of the diversity around us,” Oputa said. “To not make assumptions because of how they dress or how they look.”

The theme of this year’s Diversity Awareness Week is “GOAL: Cross Cultural Interaction Increased on our Campus.”

The first of the performances was by the Aztec Dance Club. To the beat of a drum, the dancers jumped and spun to the music shaking rattles and spreading incense in traditional Aztec garb adorned with bright red and blue feathers and jaguar-patterned clothing.

Daniel Mejia, a senior majoring in art and a member of the Aztec Dance Club, said that he hopes students see their performance and want to get in touch with their roots.

“We hope that [students] are seeing that we are continuing the traditions now for 500 years,” he said. “For us, it’s a very spiritual ceremony. It’s a practice that isn’t followed very much in certain areas, especially if some families don’t choose to continue their traditions. We are hoping, by us being here, that it can be a bridge for individuals that didn’t grow up with its traditions, but are possibly looking to learn about them.”

After the Aztec Dance Club finished their performance, Oputa gave her opening remarks along with Paul Oliaro, the vice president of student affairs, who talked about how the campus can grow.

“We are about inclusion,” Oliaro said. “We are about appreciation. We are about growing as a campus. Being both domestic and international in our inclusion as we can be. You are very much a part of that.”

He said that diversity is more than what can be seen on the outside.

“Diversity takes on many forms,” he said. “It’s not just race or ethnicity. It’s not just different cultures, but it’s also different disabilities, sexual orientation, gender, age, personality, values.

“We’re all different in many different ways, and sometimes it takes a little bit of time and effort to understand those differences and to really appreciate those differences that we don’t like – things that are very different from us and we don’t like right away. How do we appreciate them and determine what we can learn from people who are very different from us?”

The American Sign Language (ASL) Club, founded in 1997, put on a presentation to the lyrics of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepson. Members of the club signed along with the lyrics to show that even students with hearing disabilities can not only enjoy music, but also interpret and present lyrics just as well by manipulating signs.

Mix Trix: Dance Club is two years old and was formed to provide students a recreational outlet that will enable them to develop and improve their creativity. The members of the club combined modern, contemporary, jazz and hip-hop dance styles to adorn their song choice, “Moves Like Jagger,” by Maroon 5, for the opening ceremony.

Rosemary Diaz, a faculty member in the Deaf studies program, gave a speech using sign language that was then translated for the crowd. She spoke about being deaf since her birth in Egypt. When she immigrated to the United States, she learned sign language, and has been using ASL as her primary language ever since. She also signed along with a song, “We Are” by Keke Palmer.

Music and dance were not the only things on display at the event.

Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc., a Latina sorority originally founded at California State University, Chico, had its members swinging machetes through the air, clanging them together as a way to symbolize strength and their direct cultural ties to their ancestors.

To close the ceremony, all of the performers began to dance together to symbolize the diversity of the school and that all cultures can live and work together.

“We know it would be a very boring world if we were all alike,” Oliaro said. “Fortunately, we aren’t. But our jobs throughout our life are to understand and appreciate those differences around us.

That is what this week is all about. Learning, understanding and appreciating all of the differences that make up Fresno State so that we can, when you leave here – when you graduate – appreciate those differences that you will experience throughout your life.”

Immigration was the topic of discussion at the 2013 Roger Tatarian Journalism Symposium. The event took place at Fresno State’s Satellite Student Union on Wednesday.

The event was cosponsored by the Department of Mass Communications and Journalism, as well as the Fresno State ASI Readership Program.

Fernanda Santos, Phoenix bureau chief for the New York Times, was the keynote speaker at the anuual Tatarian Journalism Symposium.
Photo by Christopher Costello / The Collegian

Titled “Immigration: Now and the Future,” the symposium featured keynote speaker Fernanda Santos, the New York Times bureau chief in Phoenix.

Santos, a native of Brazil and a naturalized U.S. citizen, has covered many topics on the immigration front.

Her talk addressed the issues facing the immigrant community as well as the current immigration bill, being considered in Congress.

However, Santos’ specifically focused on the Latino immigrant community.

“When people think about immigrants in the United States — you know if you close your eyes — you don’t see an Asian face; you don’t see an Irish face in front of you; you see a brown face, because that has come to define ‘immigrant’ in this country,” she said.

Santos spoke of the importance of Latino voters in the November 2012 presidential election. By 2016, she said, the Latino voting bloc in the United States will account for 38 percent of voters.

Santos said that while many Latinos vote alongside Democratic Party ideals, many Hispanics in states like Colorado and New Mexico supported the Romney campaign. Many of these people, she said, are members of families that did not necessarily immigrate into the United States, rather they were absorbed via land annexations of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Still, her notation of this pointed to her larger argument that Hispanic people have always been apart of American society. That is, the United States and Mexico have shared a common economic bond for many years, even before the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994

She cited an experience in which small business owners on the Arizona/Mexico border were facing rapid declines in profit. The area, Santos said, was once a very profitable copper mining area, but since the mine closed several decades ago, the merchants in town rely on business from across the border.

“They all said they had been very successful up until the securing of the border became so intense,” Santos said.

Asked by an audience member if the United States’ history of immigrant discrimination would stop, Santos replied by talking about mankind’s innate sense of prejudice, citing the fact that many descendants of persecuted Irish immigrants are now the very people who frown upon immigration from Mexico and Central America.

“I think for that to change, we would have to change human nature,” Santos said.

After Santos spoke, a panel discussion took place.

The panelists included Chicano Latin American studies professor Annabella España-Najera, president of the Nisei Farmers League Manuel Cunha Jr. and moderator Juan Esparza Loera, editor of Vida en el Valle newspaper.

Talking for an hour, the panelists discussed the visa program and the need for reform.

Espana-Najera spoke of the new sectors addressed by the current immigration reform bill. She said beneficiaries of the DREAM Act are critical to helping pass this bill, as it encompasses more than agricultural guest workers.

The current bill, according to España-Najera, will create visas based both on merit and on familial ties.

“If you create a visa program that people can access easily, instead of having to pay someone to cross them illegally, in an unsafe way, in which a lot of people are dying,” España-Najera said. “Instead you pay for a visa, I think that’s an option most people would take.”

She also spoke of border security as a piece of the legislation that may affect the bill’s passage, since there are so many perspectives on the issue of enforcing, measuring and funding border security.

Cunha spoke mainly on behalf of the agricultural industry.

A supporter of immigration reform, Cunha has been involved in the process for many years. In 1999/2000, he worked with California senator Diane Feinstein to create legislation that benefitted both workers and farmers.

Cunha’s perspective comes from many years of working with agriculture. He gave the audience an anecdote regarding farm labor.

In the 1990s, when there was a shortage of immigrant labor, the Nisei Farm League worked with local welfare-to-work programs in order to provide recipients with jobs.

Of the 503 positions opened to these American citizens, three were filled. However, one person did quit after a half-day, another could not find the job location, while another never showed up for work.

It has been proven time after time, Cunha said, that American citizens do not want to do the difficult work offered by the agricultural sector in positions requiring pruning, picking and the myriad of other laborious tasks.

Right now, Cunha said, he and others in agriculture want to make sure the family members of guest workers are protected. That is, those who have traveled to this country with a guest worker have the option to work legally in the United States or at least, live here legally.

The panel discussed immigration’s effects on the high-tech and service industries, yet the overwhelming focus was on its influence — positive and negative — on agriculture.

Fresno State student Bradley Miranda, who is majoring in agricultural education, spoke of Santos’ speech as timely and accurate.

“The keynote speaker was spot-on. Americans just don’t want to do the hard labor that it takes to be able to feed not only this country but the world.”

Fresno State alumna Veronica Stumpf has found a new hobby: blogging about the businesses and sights of Fresno.

Stumpf, a 21-year-old economics graduate, began That Fresno Blog in summer 2011 after she graduated.

“I have this bad habit of keeping myself busy, and I figured the blog would be a good way to keep myself busy as well as a good way to push myself to be more outgoing and to discover Fresno,” she said.

Originally from North Fresno, Stumpf’s venture out into the urban wilderness has yielded new experiences.

“It has led to a lot of discoveries,” she said. “It has led to me meeting a lot of people. I never knew people would have recognized me, nor did I ever know I would be so involved with downtown – so interested in it.”

Before, Stumpf typically only visited downtown Fresno for ArtHop. Her drive to discover the city has made noticeable personal changes.

“It’s made a big impact because I have made so many new friends,” she said. “I’m actually a lot more outgoing. I’m more sociable, so that alone – I like that; it’s good.”

One of the first stories she wrote detailed her visit to the Fulton Mall on a quiet Sunday.

In another early blog post, Stumpf said she and a friend interviewed homeless people.

Stumpf said she gets ideas for stories from paying attention to social media, as well as simply keeping her ears open.

“I think the biggest success in marketing is word-of-mouth in Fresno,” she said. “That’s how I learn about businesses in downtown or in Fresno in general.”

Stumpf says that people who believe that Fresno is not worth exploring, have yet to discover its many gems.

“If you think that Fresno is boring, that there’s nothing to do here, just go to places like Fresno Brewing Company, and you’ll realize it’s a fun place,” she said.

The 22nd annual First Nations Fresno State Powwow took place at O’Neil Park on Saturday. Fresno State’s First Nations American Indian Student Organization organized the celebration.
Photo by Christopher Costello / The Collegian

The 84-degree weather on Saturday set the perfect scene for a cultural celebration from at O’Neil Park. The event was the 22nd annual First Nations Fresno State Powwow.

The American Indian Studies Program, the anthropology department of the College of Social Sciences and Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) cosponsored the free community event.

Some who know very little about Native Americans or the culture would wonder what exactly a powwow is.

“The powwow is a celebration of Native culture and wellness,” said Julian Garza, the club’s vice president.

Surrounded by tents of arts and crafts vendors, attendees watched and ate as the powwow began with the Host Southern Drum provided by the Hummingbird Singers. Also provided was the Host Northern Drum by the Young Wolf Crew. The drum groups sing at the start and end of powwow sessions and are essentially the musical provision for the dancers throughout the procession.

The Southern Drum is described as more of a bass drum to which gourd dance songs are performed, and the Northern Drum is more high-pitched singing, Garza said.

Also on Friday, Garza said the club had another important event. It hosted its first annual Native Family Education Gathering in the Peters Auditorium. More than 200 Native youths in grades 6-12 and their parents traveled from Bakersfield, Lemoore, Visalia and Fresno, he explained.

The event featured the governor’s tribal adviser Cynthia Gomez as the keynote speaker, program tours of engineering, education, business, nursing, math and science and a student panel with four current and former Native higher-education students. The day closed with a presentation from local spiritual leader Keith Turner.

Next year, the Gathering and Powwow will run together as a two-day event on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12.

A graduate student in the social work, Garza works for the Owens Valley Career Development Center Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) site on Shaw Avenue and Sixth Street and is a member of the Arizona Pascua Yaqui Tribe. He is also a United States Air Force veteran.

Also in attendance were the members of the American Indian Veterans Association, who marched as they were introduced during the powwow. They served as the event’s color guard as well.

The event provided a learning experience for the community, including Fresno State students. Garza said the tribes represented included Central Valley tribes, Cherokee, Apache and urban tribes from out of state.

First Nations member Christian Olivas said that he really enjoyed the event and feels that more people should take advantage of such opportunities to learn more about such a rich culture that is often underrepresented.

“There were people from a lot of different tribes, but it was one of the smaller powwows I’ve ever been to,” Olivas said.

A psychology student from Stockton, Calif., Olivas has Cherokee heritage and has attended powwows throughout California and Arizona.

He added that the Native Americans at Fresno State only accounts for 1 percent of the campus’ entire population, which could be part of why the club’s membership seems low in comparison to other groups.

Olivas said he learned about the club from a friend of his who was a member, even with their Samoan heritage.

“I remember thinking, ‘But you’re Samoan,’” he said with a laugh. He then learned that the club also can be identified as one for the first indigenous people or anyone who wants to learn.

Garza echoed Olivas’ comment.

“It’s about learning Native American culture, history, educating others and creating learning opportunities and activities to create pathways to higher education for Native Americans,” he said.

The book is intended to help prepare students with the tools to be successful at getting hired for jobs in their desired field and make them aware of opportunities available to them in college.

“Land Your Dream Career: 11 Steps to Take in College” is now available for purchase at the Kennel Bookstore, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other retailers.