Bill Holmes ‘68
I participated in the General Honors program and majored in Sociology. I spent a fall semester abroad in the Semester at Sea program, circumnavigating the world by leaving from New York and finishing up in Long Beach.
I worked as a librarian assistant in the work study program. For two years I ran the Experimental College of the Associated Students offering free classes and art events.
The General Honors program and the Associated Students Experimental College expanded my view of life and enhanced my appreciation of the importance of diversity. The semester abroad with Semester at Sea increased my appreciation for the similarities of people even when their culture may differ.
I attended the Associated Students Film program and participated in the Experimental College classes on Wine Tasting and on Sensitivity Training. I also attended the performances of Jefferson Starship on campus. My favorite was Sensitivity Training, which allowed me to explore aspects of myself of which I was less aware.
My favorite hangouts were the campus library and Associate Students offices. They allowed opportunities to talk with student about interesting ideas and enjoy each other’s company.
Professors Massey in Philosophy, Lyons in English, and Ullman in Sociology were important to my academic and professional careers. They fostered critical thinking, improved my writing skills, and helped me think outside the box. They also encouraged my going to graduate school to get my Ph.d.
CSULB provided basic intellectual skills that allowed me to pursue many new avenues of experience and learning. It provided me a strong foundation for succeeding in graduate school. It opened my mind to living a more expansive and fuller life.
After graduating from CSULB I attended The Ohio State University working on a Ph.D. in Sociology. Because of my experience at CSULB I was able to get a full scholarship and stipend as a graduate assistant, which paid for graduate school.
After getting my doctorate, I taught at the college level for forty years—teaching at Case Westering University, Northeastern University, Simmons College, and University of Massachusetts at Boston. I also gave lectures at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford University.
I did research and published in family sociology (for which my coauthored book Portrait of Divorce won the William Goode Award from the American Sociological Association) and research on family violence and drug crime (for which the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics gave me the G. Paul Sylvester Award for contributions to criminal justice statistics.
I am retired in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I golf, kayak, exercise, play Bridge and participate in a wine tasting club. I also participate in politics in an advocacy role.
