As a Cal State San Marcos professor of history, of course, Jill Watts is also a student of history. Watts knew that many U.S. history textbooks, in the all-important pages about the hugely consequential Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidency, make passing references to what the black press of the day coined the “Black Cabinet,” an unofficial group of African-American advisers to FDR as he navigated the politics of the Great Depression and the New…
It’s difficult for Kasandra Balsis to count the ways that Cal State San Marcos history professor Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall has helped her in her academic journey. When Balsis entered CSUSM’s history master’s program in the fall of 2020, the virtual format made it challenging for her to find her way, but Sepinwall aided the transition by using Zoom breakout rooms to facilitate deeper discussion and…
The summer before the start of their freshman year at Cal State San Marcos, while many of their peers are going on vacations or relaxing at the beach, a group of students takes an immersive six-week course that prepares them for the rigors of college. These recent high school graduates are part of the College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, which aims to help students from migrant…
Daniela Carreon had been preparing for several months for the second Social Justice Symposium at Cal State San Marcos last spring when the coronavirus crisis began to disrupt nearly every aspect of daily life in the United States and beyond. The SJS was scheduled for March 24, but it was canceled only days before as the rapid spread of COVID-19 made large events held in person unfeasible….
Last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration cannot execute its plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was instituted in 2012 to protect eligible undocumented people from deportation and grant work authorizations for two-year periods. As a result of the 5-4 decision, almost 700,000 young people, known as “Dreamers,” can remain in the United States and…
Cal State San Marcos has begun the transition to virtual instruction for the rest of the spring semester as the university responds to the coronavirus pandemic that is affecting daily life in ways big and small around the world. During a four-day transitionary period, from Monday, March 16 through Thursday, March 19, there will be no in-person classes at CSUSM or CSUSM at Temecula, and courses…
When San Marcos city officials were looking for guidance on how to proceed with their plan to install public art in the emerging North City neighborhood, they knew just where to turn. They went to their trusted community partner in Cal State San Marcos and tapped into the collective brainpower of 25 Art, Media and Design majors. Last month, members of the upper-division class Art and…
When Maya Kummer was a struggling student at Cal State San Marcos, Campus Coffee was a piece of her therapy. Even on days when depression hit her hardest, she would leave Academic Hall with tears in her eyes, put on sunglasses and walk over to the coffee cart for a pick-me-up – in the form of both a caffeinated drink and pleasant conversation with welcoming faces, owners…
Like millions of parents over the last half-century, Tom Holm read “Island of the Blue Dolphins” to his daughter when she was in elementary school. The classic 1960 children’s novel by Scott O’Dell chronicles the tale of a 12-year-old girl named Karana who’s stranded alone for years on an island off the coast of Southern California. Holm’s daughter, Jacqueline, enjoyed the book so much that…
Barbara Mannino and Syd Harris were no strangers to Cal State San Marcos when they attended the ACE Scholars Services scholarship donor reception in 2015. Mannino had been on the advisory council to President Karen Haynes for more than five years, dating back to her decades-long role as the CEO of the Vista Community Clinic. Harris, Mannino’s husband of almost 30 years, had loaned a piece of…