Alumni Association Wins Inclusive Excellence Award
The Cal State San Marcos Alumni Association has received the 2024 Alumni Association Inclusive Excellence Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education.
The award honors alumni associations’ pioneering programs, culture and initiatives that encourage and support diversity, inclusion and a sense of belonging for all alumni, irrespective of racial or ethnic background, sexual or gender identity, religion, socio-economic status, world view and beyond.
CSUSM will be featured, along with 31 other recipients, in the June 2024 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
"Today, we celebrate not only the remarkable achievements of our Alumni Association and our team, but also the vibrant mosaic of experiences, backgrounds and dreams that define our alumni community,” said Lori Brockett, associate vice president of alumni engagement and university events. “Over 57% of our graduates last year were first in their families to earn a degree, and each one of our alumni brings a unique narrative of resilience, making it imperative that our association board reflects the diversity of our student body.”
INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected the CSUSM Alumni Association because of its commitment to diversity initiatives, including a focused goal of recruitment and representation on the Alumni Council Board to reflect that of the diverse student body at CSUSM. The CSUSM Alumni Association also was noted for creating and building affinity group alumni networks over the past few years.
“We know that alumni associations are not always recognized for their dedication to diversity, inclusion and belonging,” said Lenore Pearlstein, owner and publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We are proud to honor these college and university alumni associations as role models for other institutions of higher education.”
This marks a special recognition for the CSUSM Alumni Association and coincides with the recent accolade won by the CSUSM library for access and diversity. CSUSM proudly upholds its commitment to fostering an inclusive and equitable campus community and also celebrates a decade of consecutive honors as the recipient of the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
For more information about the 2024 Alumni Association Inclusive Excellence Award, visit insightintodiversity.com.
Latest News Release
- Seeking Participants for a Research Study on Fat BurningActive men and women will receive complementary testing of body fat and aerobic fitness in a study testing the effects of exercise on fat and carbohydrate burning. This research study requires three separate sessions of exercise of about 45 minutes per day. Participants must be physically active in the last year, healthy, non-smoking, and free of joint injury. Please contact Dr. Todd Astorino, Professor, Dept. of Kinesiology, at astorino@csusm.edu for more information.
- Business Student Flourishes as TikTok Food InfluencerLike many kids, Natalie Ludwig was asked in kindergarten what she wanted to be when she grew up. Some of the common answers – astronaut, musician, veterinarian – never crossed Ludwig’s mind. And it’s safe to say that her answer probably didn’t cross the mind of her classmates. She wanted to work at McDonald’s because of her love for their chicken nuggets. At 16, the moment Ludwig was legally allowed to work, she turned that dream into a reality and worked at McDonald’s for nearly two years. Ludwig likes to say that her dreams haven’t changed much since then because, years later, her career path is still centered around her passion for food. Ludwig is graduating from Cal State San Marcos this spring with a bachelor’s in business administration with an emphasis in marketing. A first-generation student, she has flourished academically while simultaneously growing her popular foodie TikTok account @eatsbynat to nearly 270,000 followers. Ludwig grew up in Hampshire, Ill., a small rural town of about 7,600 people an hour northwest of Chicago. She and her twin sister Nicole always had their hearts set on one day moving to California. Their father grew up in Huntington Beach and always talked highly about living on the West Coast. After both sisters completed their associate degrees at Elgin Community College near their hometown, Ludwig and Nicole began researching California universities to see if it was possible to make the move. The first university to show up in their search? Cal State San Marcos. Ludwig took it as a sign. Over the next four months, she and Nicole applied to CSUSM, flew to California for four days and found an apartment. They didn’t even get a chance to tour campus, but they were ready for a new start. “After getting my associate's degree in Illinois, I had no idea what I wanted to do, absolutely no clue,” said Ludwig, whose sister received her bachelor’s from CSUSM in media studies in fall 2022. “We weren't sure if we could afford it, but everything worked out and we just took a leap of faith.” The move paid off for Ludwig, who discovered that she has a knack for social media marketing when her videos started to gain traction in 2021. “It’s a gift to wake up every day wanting to do it,” Ludwig said. “For school, you have a deadline. But nobody's next to you telling you you must post today. You have to think of new ideas. You have to brainstorm. You have to come up with all these concepts. Consistency is the most important thing and loving what you do. If you don't love what you're posting, you don't love your niche or your content, you're not going to stay consistent.” Ludwig and her sister both successfully post food reviews on TikTok (@nicole.ludwig). Ludwig’s content ranges from eating at local restaurants in San Diego to franchise bakeries like Crumbl Cookies. While she isn’t afraid to try new things, her favorite foods to review are desserts. “I joke and I say like 90% of my diet is sweets but in reality, it really is,” Ludwig said. “I love cookies. I love ice cream. Sweets are my main thing, and I love posting it because I just love to eat them.” Ludwig doesn’t just introduce viewers to new food stops and products. Her videos deliver a bigger message. When Ludwig was in the sixth grade, she was hospitalized with an eating disorder. Her family has helped her develop a healthy relationship with food, and she wants to do the same for her viewers. “It's been a roller coaster ride, but I'm glad I can use my platform to share my story,” Ludwig said. “I get comments all the time saying that ‘Watching you eat this food makes me want to eat it, too.’ This is really one of the main reasons I wanted to start my account because I just want to help other people.” The work Ludwig has put into her social media accounts has also been used on collaborative research projects with her professors. She is currently working with CSUSM marketing professor Vassilis Dalakas and Western Kentucky University professor Joanna Melancon on how sounds in TikTok videos can impact shopping behavior. “I made the video they are using for the experiment,” Ludwig said. “The goal is to compare and see if people purchase a product depending on a happy or sad song.” Ludwig was recently recognized as the Outstanding Student for Marketing at the College of Business Administration Dean’s Breakfast for her ability to continuously go above and beyond both inside and outside the classroom. Ludwig plans to continue growing her social media platforms after she graduates and work with Nicole and her brother on their start-up marketing agency, Digital Direct Marketing. “CSUSM has helped me become who I am and grow my interests not only in social media, but business as well,” Ludwig said. “I'm so thankful for this school because it has helped me in ways that I couldn't even imagine. I wouldn't be where I am today without the opportunity to come to CSUSM or come to California.” Media Contact Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314
- Alumna Comes Full Circle as Curator of President's Art ExhibitSarah Bricke was a student entering her final year at Cal State San Marcos when Ellen Neufeldt was hired as president of the university in the summer of 2019. They first connected a few months later. Bricke, an art, media and design major, was the co-curator of a student art exhibition titled “Juncture,” and Neufeldt dropped in on the opening event to express her admiration. Neufeldt, it turned out, was an art lover, to the extent that she converted a room in her Escondido home into a gallery space. And when, during her first year at CSUSM, she decided to display student art in that space, sure enough, it was Bricke’s art that was chosen (along with that of Kimberly Lopez, her co-curator for the student exhibit). Four years later, Bricke’s relationship with the university and its president has come full circle. In January, the art created by Bricke the student was removed from Neufeldt’s home gallery. In its place was installed art by two current or recent CSUSM students that was selected by Bricke, now a professional artist and curator. “I’m really happy to have been asked to curate the exhibition,” Bricke said. “It brings together all of these things that are intensely personal and specific to me, but that also resonate with the larger community at CSUSM, including the faculty of the art department and the president’s office, and hopefully the president herself. It’s a beautiful thing and, for me, it’s really what makes this worth doing.” After being hired to curate the exhibition last fall, Bricke opened a submissions process for CSUSM arts faculty to recommend students whose work was especially accomplished. From a group of almost 20 students, Bricke chose five oil paintings each by Karolina Lopez and Esther Rodriguez. The exhibition’s theme, Bricke says, relates to the “intersection of landscape and lived experiences of these two women who are navigating life as students, set against one of the most contested borders in the world.” Rodriguez said she created her paintings last spring during an independent study course leading up to her May graduation, under the direction of lecturer Heidi Brar. “It was a great surprise when Sarah gave me the news, and I never could have imagined my pieces being displayed in the home of President Neufeldt,” said Rodriguez, who’s now pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at National University. “This exhibition means a step further in my career as an artist. Also, I am representing the CSUSM arts faculty, which makes me feel very proud of this accomplishment.” Brar actually mentored both selected students, first in her AMD: Advanced Painting course and then in the independent painting projects that evolved into the exhibited paintings. She said the students have different approaches to painting – Rodriguez “uses bright colors and personal imagery to interweave personal narratives with larger cultural themes,” while Lopez shows a “remarkable ability to capture the essence and color palette of iconic landscape locations in San Diego" – but are equally deserving of the recognition. “Both students’ perseverance and hard work distinguished them among the AMD majors, and I feel they are very relevant choices for the president’s collection,” Brar said. “Their work presents an opportunity to appreciate the impact the college makes and celebrate the talents of these wonderful students.” Bricke’s model of resilience and determination since her time at CSUSM is one that the student artists might hope to emulate. Graduating just as the COVID-19 pandemic was heating up in 2020, she hoped to obtain an MFA degree but didn’t get into any of the four graduate programs she applied to. Feeling lonely in isolation and discouraged by the setback, she rededicated herself to her art, and when she applied to nine programs the following year, she was accepted by eight of them and chose one of the most prestigious in the nation – the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “SAIC was my reach school. I really felt like it was a long shot,” Bricke said. “When I got the big envelope in the mail, I was over the moon. I couldn’t believe it.” SAIC is a low-residency program, which means that students aren’t expected to live full-time in the city where the institution is located. That made it an ideal fit for Bricke, a single mother who didn’t want to uproot her daughter, Crimson (now 10), from their home in Vista. Bricke would travel to Chicago for in-person work toward her degree over the summer, but otherwise she was free to stay in Southern California, interrupted by a couple of trips with Crimson to places like Berkeley and New York City to tackle projects related to artists’ archives. “I felt this confidence as a scholar and an academic and an artist,” she said. “But the setup also gave me greater confidence as a mother.” Bricke uses multiple terms to describe her art, including “conceptual” and “research-based.” The one she prefers, though, is “transdisciplinary.” She describes it as combining academic disciplines, materials and methods in an attempt to make something new that hasn’t been done before. For Bricke, transdisciplinary art manifests itself in novel and subversive ways. She will attend academic conferences and present what she calls performative lectures, in which she adopts the traditional role of an academic while simultaneously challenging the conventions of the higher education system. Her website is another example. A page that on a traditional site might be titled “About Me” is instead called “forms of refusal,” and in place of the typical artist bio is a paragraph that reads: “Sarah … believes that biographical content is largely unnecessary and generally uninteresting. Alternatively, this placeholder for formulaic recitations of academic degrees, artistic achievements and prestigious awards offers an opportunity to test parafictions and substitute narratives.” “I think of my website as a work, and its function isn’t to present objects that I’ve made so that curators can see them and put me in an exhibition,” Bricke said. “It functions more as a thing to talk about. Curation was a natural extension of this concept, where I thought, ‘I want to gather objects and people and images so that we can have dialogue around them.’ And for me, that dialogue, that exchange between the art, the person who made the art and anyone else, like the viewer, that is where the art resides.” Bricke graduated from SAIC last July, and for the last year she has been juggling art projects like the curation for Neufeldt’s home with preparations to begin a doctoral program this fall. She's pursuing a Ph.D. at UC San Diego in contemporary art history with a focus on gender and sexuality, and artists’ archives. “I've come to see that I have an artist/scholar, scholar/artist practice,” she said. “I would love to teach because I've had such incredible mentorship from faculty at CSUSM and at SAIC, which has changed me as an artist and an academic and a scholar, but also as a person. I'd like to pass that on.” Media Contact Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306
- Reporting Procedures for Whistleblower Complaints or Fiscal ImproprietiesTo: All CSUSM Corporation and CSUSM Faculty and Staff The California State University and CSU San Marcos are committed to the highest ethical standards and to creating an environment where fraudulent and other dishonest acts are not tolerated. CSUSM is dedicated to ensuring that all entrusted resources are utilized ethically, prudently, and for their designated purpose. CAMPUS REPORTING OF FISCAL IMPROPRIETIES Campus and auxiliary personnel must notify the Office of Internal Audit of all cases involving an actual or suspected fiscal impropriety. Once informed, the campus Internal Auditor, in consultation with the Associate VP of Administration, is responsible for determining whether notification to the CSU and other state officials is required under CSU Executive Order 1104 (EO 1104). EO 1104 articulates systemwide requirements related to reporting actual or suspected fiscal improprieties affecting the CSU and its recognized auxiliary organizations to the Chancellor’s Office and other state officials. The reporting requirements apply to both state and non-state funds. For questions or to report a suspected fiscal impropriety, please contact the Office of Internal Audit at audit@csusm.edu. WHISTLEBLOWER AND WHISTLEBLOWER RETALIATION COMPLAINTS The Office of Human Resources has been designated by the campus president to receive complaints from employees, former employees, and applicants for CSU employment who wish to report alleged improper governmental activity. CSU Executive Order 1115: Reporting Procedures for Protected Disclosure of Improper Governmental Activities and/or Significant Threats to Health or Safety CSU Executive Order 1116: Complaint Procedure for Allegations of Retaliation for Having Made a Protected Disclosure under the California Whistleblower Protection Act For whistleblower and whistleblower retaliation complaints, contact campus HR at hr@csusm.edu and refer to the following webpage https://www.csusm.edu/hr/lrer/compliance/whistleblower.html for additional information.
- Periodic Review of Vice President for University Advancement Jessica BergerDear CSUSM community, As many of you know, our vice president for University Advancement, Jessica Berger, joined CSUSM in July 2021. Given that our campus policy requires that I conduct a periodic review of vice presidents in the third year of their initial appointment (and at intervals no greater than five years thereafter), I write to inform you that this process has begun and to invite your participation and feedback. Not only is it California State University policy to inform our university community of this review and to allow members to submit comments that respond to the specific criteria, but your participation is also important to me. Your feedback will support CSUSM’s forward progress, particularly as it relates to the leadership of University Advancement. The Periodic Review of the Provost and Vice Presidents policy provides details of the process and criteria. Your feedback and letters are invited on Vice President Berger’s approach to: Leadership and management Strategic planning University and community partnerships, and Functional oversight and management Please note that I am unable to accept petitions and unsigned letters. Please submit an email or letter no later than Tuesday, May 7, addressed as follows: Email: Periodicreview@csusm.edu Dr. Ellen Neufeldt, President California State University San Marcos Administration Building 5302 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road San Marcos, CA 92096-0001 Following the deadline, the written responses will be summarized into a report that will be discussed with Vice President Berger. None of the commentators will be identified by name, and responses will be treated in confidence to the extent permitted by the law. Please keep in mind that this is intended to be a constructive process that should benefit both our vice president and university. Thank you again for your participation in this important review process. Sincerely, Ellen J. Neufeldt, Ed.D. President
- Business Student Thrives as Fledgling EntrepreneurHow can one turn popular candies such as gummy bears, gummy worms and peach rings into a side business? Ask Cal State San Marcos marketing student Mo Carrasco. Carrasco has been surrounded by entrepreneurs for multiple years, as her mother and aunt have a business in which they create and sell rim dip, a paste usually created with tamarind and chamoy that are then used to cover the rims of beers and other beverages. Carrasaco’s mom and aunt developed their own recipe for these rim dips in 2020. While Carrasco wasn't involved in the process, she used it as inspiration for her own business, Hot Summer Gummies (@hotsummergummies on Instagram). “Where I live, tamarindo gummies are very popular,” said Carrasco, who is from Imperial Valley. “Personally, I don’t really like those ones, but my mom’s recipe was really good, so I pitched ideas.” Carrasco’s mom was on board with the new idea. Together they picked up different kinds of candy, developed logos and packaging, and then Carrasco started selling the new gummies at her community college sporting events while attending Imperial Valley College. “A lot of people really liked them, and I was selling out every time I went to the games,” Carrasco said. “I pitched the gummies to the owners of the stores that had rim dip in them. They loved the idea and gave me space to put them in their stores.” Carrasco said her goal going forward is to expand her business into San Diego, or even sell the gummies on campus. Carrasco is on the right track to help her business progress. Last fall, she was the winner of the Innovation Hub’s Quick Pitch competition, which closely resembles the hit TV show “Shark Tank” in which competitors pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. Carrasco received $1,000 for her winning pitch. “I was in shock,” Carrasco said. “I had a big smile on my face, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, no way.’ ” Carrasco put the prize money into her savings, with plans to utilize it for her business. Not only did winning the Quick Pitch provide funds to help grow the business, but it also equipped her with lifelong lessons. “I remember sitting down at the competition and I almost walked out because I was so nervous,” Carrasco said. “But I said, ‘We’re just going to do it.’ “It really showed me what I was capable of and helped me step out of my comfort zone – and it made me feel that what I'm doing is good. I got really good feedback. I brought gummies with me and went home empty-handed at the end of the night because I sold them all. It just gave me a lot of confidence.” Carrasco is using this newfound confidence while working toward her degree at CSUSM. She will graduate in May 2025 with a bachelor's degree in marketing. While she has thoughts of continuing with the business, her dream is to be a social media coordinator for the Los Angeles Lakers. “I’m very open-minded,” Carrasco said. “I’ll just see what happens.” Media Contact Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314