From 'Go Beach' to the plaza, late CSULB President Maxson's imprint remains
“Go Beach.”
Two words that sounded like a pep talk, looked great in big yellow, letters and — somehow — grew into a campus identity proudly splashed across everything from signage and sweatshirts to podiums and pool tiles.
It’s hard to remember a time when The Beach was not “The Beach.”
And yet, before former Cal State Long Beach President Robert C. “Bob” Maxson set foot on campus 31 years ago, the phrase was an afterthought, not an anthem. Maxson added the tag to the end of speeches, greeted students with it on the quad and helped cement “The Beach” as CSULB’s calling card. Eventually, it felt less like a tagline and more like a home base.
This week, the architect of that identity is gone. In an announcement Tuesday, President Andrew Jones ’82 said Maxson — who led CSULB from 1994 to 2006 — had died. He was 89.
“Among his countless achievements,” Jones said, “he is the person responsible for branding CSULB as ‘The Beach,’ and coined the famous closing line GO BEACH! Bob was simply a remarkable man that none can emulate, and his loss will be felt deeply by many.”
President Emerita Jane Close Conoley spoke of his supportiveness.
"In addition to being a transformative leader for Cal State Long Beach," she said, "President Maxson exemplified all the best qualities of an exceptional leader. He was present and available for me from my first days as president right up to the announcement of my retirement with words of encouragement and belief in the resilience of The Beach."
Jones, who was appointed president in August, struck a similar note, saying Maxson had called him “just a couple of weeks ago” to congratulate him on his appointment, “as gracious and enthusiastic as ever.”
In an email to the campus community Tuesday, Jones said: “Although he will be greatly missed, he made a lasting and singular impact, and it is no exaggeration to say that his optimism and exuberance have helped to define our campus character.”
Maxson arrived at CSULB in 1994 with an Arkansas drawl, a marketer’s instinct and the energy of a cheerleader. Students from the era routinely cite his constant presence on campus — walking the quad, dropping into conversations and turning up to student events. He became known for his uncanny ability to remember names.
In an interview with Barbara Kingsley-Wilson for her 2024 book, “Long Beach State at 75,” Maxson recalled that his naturally sunny disposition initially stood in contrast to what he saw in students, faculty and staff, who'd been suffering from the aftershocks of an economic downturn.
The campus, he told Kingsley-Wilson, "just needed a big hug and to be told ‘you’re good.’”
The language Maxson chose was “Go Beach,” and it wasn’t just hype; his policy matched the rhetoric.
In 1995, Maxson brought the President’s Scholars to CSULB, offering a privately funded full-ride package for California valedictorians and National Merit standouts. The program recruited more than 1,200 top scholars to CSULB over time and enticed other high achievers to join them. In 1997, he helped the campus raise $25 million in private gifts during a single academic year.
The efforts didn’t go unnoticed.
In 2002, the Western Association of Schools & Colleges wrote to President Maxson praising a “remarkable atmosphere of collegiality and trust” and a “focus on students” that included the president’s “extensive interaction with students.” Athletics enshrined Robert and his late wife, Sylvia Parrish Maxson — once an early childhood education professor at CSULB — in its 2005 Hall of Fame, citing his drive to elevate excellence across the university. And the California State Student Association named him “President of the Year” so often that the award now bears his name.
Born on May 8, 1936, in Watson, Arkansas, Maxson served at the University of Houston–Victoria (1978–82) and UNLV (1984–94) before Long Beach and briefly led Sierra Nevada College before retiring.
Back in 2005, shortly after Maxson announced his retirement, Daily Forty-Niner staff writer David Whisler captured the mood: “An air of sadness fell over Cal State Long Beach,” he wrote. “Many people say that Maxson has done more for this campus than any other California State University president in history. It was hard to find someone who disagreed." Among those voices was Trevor Smith, a history major and President’s Scholar: “I can't imagine what it's going to be like here without him,” Smith said.
In a way, he never had to — because Maxson never really left. Almost anywhere you look, from Maxson Plaza to the University Bookstore to the yellow letters in front of the University Student Union, his imprint remains.
And so do his habits. What started as Maxson's signature send-off has, over the last 30 years, become the way this place talks to itself — and to the world.
Go Beach.
