Provost's Message - June 19, 2019

 Message From Provost Jersky

Provost Brian Jersky

Dear Campus Community,

As many of you know June is Pride month for our LGBTQ community. Being a gay man myself, I could not be more proud of the diversity that shines through our campus community. It is also a good reminder that although progress has been made for gay rights across our nation, some brothers and sisters in parts of the country or in other areas of the world cannot celebrate openly and honestly. This being the case, we have more work to do to speak up for the ones that cannot.

I am reminded of this by the poem written by Martin Niemöller, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian during Hitler’s regime. He so eloquently said:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Niemöller initially supported Hitler, but realized quickly the evil intent of the regime and spoke out against it. He was later imprisoned for speaking out. I believe we need to stand in the gap for those that cannot. It is also important to realize how easy it is not to speak out…yet we must.    

Pride Flag
In media and in everyday interactions I see the word ‘tolerance’ used often. Tolerance by definition is ‘the ability or willingness to endure something, in particular, the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.’ I know contrary opinions can be difficult to understand and listen to, but in order to be truly tolerant, we need to know that others often have differing opinions, and that those are not necessarily wrong or evil. Tolerance is the beginning (but not the end) of valuing diversity.  

Since we proclaim ourselves to be a safe place of diverse thought, we must continue to model the acceptance of different ideas. It also means listening without preconceived judgment and being open as others express themselves. I know these words are challenging, but I believe openness of thought, respect for other’s opinions and a willingness to learn can help bridge what divides us.

Max

As a Provost, I continually have the pleasure of working and interacting with students. From these experiences, I have come to appreciate each journey of our students. Some come with a lifetime of stories, others create it as they go. Max is one I was able to watch as his truth unfolded.

Max came to CSULB as a transfer student from American River College in Sacramento. He also came to our campus ready to live the full expression of who he was.

Early on he was attracted to boys but he knew this was different. He also instinctually knew that this was not the norm, so he spent a lifetime repressing who he really was. He tried to date girls to ‘normalize’ his feelings because he thought he was supposed to. This only worked for so long.

Max ran across a saying from Maya Angelou that he could not ignore. She said ‘there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.’ This statement became the inward reality that he knew had to become his outward expression.

After community college, Max was accepted into CSULB as a psychology major and decided to fully live out his life here as a gay man. Once on campus, he finally felt free and could finally breathe. He became a President’s Ambassador, represented our campus as a SOAR leader and fully immersed himself in the LGBTQ community.

The next big step in Max’s journey was to tell his parents, family and friends. He decided to carefully craft a personalized letter to each of them…and then hold his breath again. After a few distressing weeks, he finally heard back from them. He was relieved to find acceptance and love had filled their responses.

The two-year journey of being on our campus and coming out for Max ended this year when he graduated this past May with his degree. The love, inclusiveness and acceptance he felt at CSULB allowed him the freedom to be who he was always meant to be.

Since he now calls Long Beach home, he recently accepted a position on campus as an office coordinator for CHHS. This position perfectly fits into his gregarious and warm personality. 

Max perfectly represents why I am so thankful for the acceptance and inclusion we have on campus. Stories like Max’s help me appreciate our faculty, staff and students. Together we all show a student like Max why CSULB stands out.

Podcast with the Provost

Podcast with the Provost

This summer I began recording a podcast for the fall. The purpose of this new series is to take a look at influencers across campus and beyond. I want to hear from you regarding topics you would be interested in. Do you know of someone on campus who has a story to share? Have you heard of research others need to know about? Please email me at provost@csulb.edu with your ideas.

Commencement 2019

A highlight of my year is the week of commencement. From the families’ sense of pride, to our graduates basking in their accomplishment, this time is special for all of us on our campus. 

I wanted to thank our campus partners for pulling together to make this year’s event so successful.

For interest, here are the numbers of graduates per ceremony:

Number of graduates who walked by college at 2019 Commencement

2019 Ceremony

Number of Graduates that Walked

COE

1043

CNSM

480

CED

547

CLA #1

1218

CLA #2

1182

CHHS #1

1219

CHHS #2

1052

COB

1255

COTA

816

Total Number

8812

Have a great summer,

Brian Jersky
Provost and Senior Vice President

News

Academic Affairs News

Grants

Schoolsfirst Federal Credit Union Gift Reduces the Burden of Testing Fee for Student Teachers

Ethics Across the Curriculum and Research Stipends to 17 CSULB Faculty 

Vahid Balali. Developing Computer Vision-Based Decision Support System for Intersection Safety Monitoring and Assessment of Vulnerable Road Users. Civil Engineering & Contruction Engineering Management. COE. CSU San Diego. $3,980. (September 2018 - August 2019)

Tom O'Brien. Metrofreight: The Local/Global Challenge of Urban Freight. CITT. CCPE. USC. $12,500. (March 2013 - December 2019)

Babette Benken. EdReady Personalized Learning Platform for Supporting Student Readiness and Success at CSU. Mathematics and Statistics. CNSM. Monterey Institute of Technology. $10,000. (April 2019 -April 2020)

Rita Hayes. Aquatic Center Grant FY 2017-2018. Club Sports & Recreation. SA. State of California Department of Parks and Recreation. $19,402 (January 2019 - December 2033)

Shadi Saadeh. Joint Training and Certificate Program - Supplemental. Civil Engineering & Construction Engineering Management. COE. State of CA Department of Transportation. $141,294 (June 2017 - June 2019)

Wade Martin. Entrepreneur & Small Business Education Series 2019. Economics. CBA. Downtown Long Beach Associates (DBLA). $6,501. (April 2019 - June 2019)

Young-Seok Shon. (SC3) - Metalloenzyme Mimics with Unsupported Metal Nanoparticle Catalysts. Chemistry & Biochemistry. CNSM. NIH NGMS. $110,625. (May 2016 - April 2020)

Tom O'Brien. CSUTC Regional Workforce Needs Assessment. CITT. CCPE. San Jose State Research Foundation. $75,000. (May 2019 - April 2020)

Vesna Terzic. Framework for Evaluation of Retrofit Needs for Overpass Bridges to Achieve Desired Level of Post-Earthquake Functionality. Civil Engineering & Construction Engineering Management. COE. San Jose State Research Foundation. $74,266. (May 2019 - April 2020)

Ehsan Barjasteh. Enhancing of Asphalt Performance by Graphene-based Bitumen Nanocomposites. Chemical Engineering. COE. San Jose State Research Foundation. $47,145. (May 2019 - April 2020)

Curglin Robertson. Trio Upward Bound I. Student Support Administration. SA. US Department of Education. $636,607. (June 2016 - May 2022)

Curglin Robertson. Trio Upward Bound II. Student Support Administration. SA. US Department of Education. $353,670. (September 2017 - August 2022)
 

The next Provost’s Message will be published on Wednesday, July 17th. Items for the upcoming message should be submitted by Friday, July 12th, to aa-communication@csulb.edu.