On Sac State’s 75th anniversary, new Library exhibit offers a look at how the University developed and grew

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Jan. 27, 2023, by Sacramento State University Communications

Anyone who has ever cleaned out an attic or garage will understand the joy of finding things they didn’t know were there.

That’s what James Fox, head of the Donald and Beverly Gerth Special Collections and University Archives, and a small team of University Library staff experienced last fall.

The team rummaged through boxes of documents and artifacts to dig up stories and items to tell the tale of Sacramento State. The fruits of that labor are on display in an exhibition commemorating Sac State’s legacy as part of the University’s 75th Anniversary celebration.

“The whole time I’ve been at Sac State, it has been a process of discovery,” Fox said. “The great things that have happened on this campus, I had no idea about.”

The 75th Anniversary Archives exhibit – atop the main lobby escalator on the second-floor mezzanine of the University Library – will run through the end of the Spring 2023 semester. It is viewable during normal Library hours.

“I want to give something back to the University and something to the community,” Fox said. “This is our gift to the University and a way of saying thank you, and so other people can appreciate it.”

The exhibit’s three-part “Then/Now” theme highlights the University’s physical campus footprint, its investment in the community, and its contributions to social change. The display’s timeline-style presentation features historical photographs, images of documents and pamphlets, and contextual information, adorned against eye-catching colorful backdrops.

“What strikes me, when I look at photos of Sacramento State over the past 75 years, is how much larger our student body is, how much more diverse and transformative our mission is,” said Amy Kautzman, dean of the University Library. “The written word is powerful, but the photos bring the impact of our campus to life.”

Fox, manuscript and archives coordinator Lynn Drennan, and public service and archives assistant Brianna Loughlin each worked with a small group of library staff to compile content, each focusing on one of the three categories. Other team members included librarians Emily Merrifield, Anne Bradley, and Mary-Kate Finnegan; library assistant Jared Jensen; and Maria Ramirez, library event coordinator and communications strategist.

“All of us are contributing,” Drennan said. “It’s definitely a library effort.”

Fox said the biggest challenge the team faced was determining how to get 75 years of history into four relatively small display cases.

“I think it’s just been trying to tell a good story when we can’t include everything we would love to include,” Drennan said. “We can’t include every group on campus, but every group on campus has contributed over 75 years.”

Loughlin, whose team compiled material focusing on social change, said the record shows how students have fought for representation and inclusion over the decades.

“It’s a progression through time of how student advocacy has pushed our University socially forward,” Loughlin said. “Hopefully, it triggers people to be more curious and look into things on their own, too.”

Challenges in creating the exhibit included finding the right images and accurate information for certain periods, as well as having tough conversations about how to handle difficult parts of Sac State’s history, such as its association with notorious eugenicist C.M. Goethe in the 1950s and ‘60s, Fox said.

Sac State Graphic Design Professor John Forrest enlisted his Fall 2022 senior design students to craft the display.

“They get to work within a real-world environment,” Forrest said. “They have to consider the audience. They have to consider the context and acknowledge that this isn’t fictitious.”

To emulate a professional environment, about 20 students split into smaller teams. Each team offered a design idea and presented it to library staff, who made a final choice.

“In addition to focusing on the form of these things and how we’re going to build these things, we’re trying to think about what concepts can we come up with to reinforce the story that the library team has put together for us,” Forrest said.

The students whose design was chosen for the final exhibit were Illonna Gross, Gyusung Han, Renzo Ortiz, and Christian Metivier.

Fox and Drennan said the exhibit should give a sense of Sac State’s evolution. Viewers can make deep connections as they take in how the campus started with just five buildings and no trees, then grew to what exists today.

“Most people, when you come to campus, you grow to love campus,” Drennan said. “Seeing your history and seeing what happened before you came here, I think, is really exciting, and we need to share that. Some of it’s kind of kooky, a little unusual, but it’s fun.”

Forrest shared a similar sentiment.

“This is a very quick kind of visual hook,” he said. “As (viewers) walk by … the goal of the students (who designed it) is to get them started on that narrative and have them follow that through.”

Fox said he hopes the exhibit helps people realize the importance of celebrating the University’s 75 years of accomplishments.

“Telling people what you’re doing and have done is as important as what you’ve done,” Fox said. “We haven’t always done as much as we could to tell people about ourselves. Some of the great achievements on this campus have been the best-kept secrets in our town.”

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Sacramento State again named one of nation’s top universities for bicyclists

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Dec. 22, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

Joshua Maddox has a different bicycle for each day of the week.

He’s even named his seven bikes, some based on when he rides them. For example, it’s not uncommon to see him midweek riding the one he’s dubbed “Wednesday.” Some of his bikes are standard and others are hotrod-style hodgepodges of parts he’s combined to form something unique.

Maddox, an energy and sustainability analyst at Sac State, is one of the estimated thousands of students, staff, and faculty who can attest to how accommodating the University is of cyclists.

In recognition of that accommodation, the League of American Bicyclists has again designated Sacramento State as a Bicycle Friendly University, giving the campus its silver award for the second time.

“It’s just kind of hard to beat not having to buy a semester-long parking pass,” said Maddox, who travels about three miles each way. “Biking to and from campus from home every day, it’s nice, a good way to start my day, a good way to end it.

“It’s nice to zip past all of the cars like right here,” he added, referring to the busy street near his office. “There’s just this dog pile of cars right here outside on Folsom Boulevard.”

With the designation comes national recognition and access to the League’s resources, tools, and trainings. Among the 37 colleges and universities to receive new or renewed awards this year, Sac State is the only CSU campus.

“It’s kind of a big deal to get that level and have a program that’s going to meet that standard,” said Jeff Dierking, director of University Transportation and Parking Services (UTAPS). “From my perspective, you know, it’s a pretty big deal. To maintain that standard and keep it going is something that we strive for.”

One other CSU campus, Long Beach, has carried the silver designation since 2011. Three CSU campuses — Bakersfield, Monterey Bay, and Northridge — are currently at the bronze level.

“This round of Bicycle Friendly Universities demonstrates an inspiring shift in focus from driving to biking and walking on campus,” said Amelia Neptune, the League’s Bicycle Friendly America program director, in a statement. “Making bicycling a go-to transportation option is part of the solution many colleges and universities are using to better the campus life.”

Award criteria is based on infrastructure, educational outreach efforts made by the institution, and other factors. In total, 221 colleges and universities across 47 states and Washington, D.C. hold Bike Friendly University designations.

Dierking said Sac State didn’t have enough projects happening to aim for gold this year. Doing so would require efforts like extending partnerships with the city and other groups, as well as physical upgrades such as adding more bike paths.

“We have to show existing improvement,” he said. “A lot of the program is not just infrastructure, it’s our outreach. We work with the (campus safety officers) to do bike registration to make sure we’re engaging the campus community in these alternative methods.”

Still, Dierking said Sac State has made quite a bit of progress since first receiving a Bicycle Friendly University designation in 2017.

“We’ve been switching out a lot of the bike racks on campus,” he said. “A lot of the wavy racks … they’re not safe so we’ve been switching those out with the standardized rack, which is easier to lock to.”

Dierking said earning recognition from the League is important to keep the University forward-thinking.

“If you’re able to even rank with them, you know, you’re doing something right, that’s for sure,” Dierking said.

The University has also recently created “no-ride” zones, updated campus maps, engaged in more outreach with both the community and on-campus groups like Peak Adventures, and actively worked to ensure bike lockup compounds on campus are staffed and secure, Dierking said.

Rad Beauton is the bike shop manager for Peak Adventures, a program and nonprofit business of Associated Students Inc., and another element of Sac State’s welcoming of cyclists.

Peak Adventures is a full-service bike shop, located in the University Union, that offers major discounts on bikes and equipment for students, parts and repairs, team building at the Challenge Center, outdoor trips, gear rentals, educational resources like trainings and classes, leadership development, and more.

“I started working for Peak Adventures because a bike shop with a mission to get students on bikes and drive less resonated with me,” said Beauton, who has worked for Sac State since 2009 and also rides his bike to and from work daily.

Beauton, who is an instructor for the League of American Bicyclists, said improving bike safety and inspiring more people to want to ride comes down to better educating drivers and riders.

“Many people driving to campus live just down the road, less than a mile,” Beauton said. “Reducing these short trips would be ideal. I feel like getting these awards and being a bike-friendly business or university can help that.”

Maddox’s passion for bicycling began after moving to Santa Barbara, an area that’s more bike friendly than the rural area in the Central Valley where he grew up. When it was time to pick a college, Sacramento’s cycling community drew Maddox to Sac State. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies in 2019 and began his full-time job with the University the very next day.

Being able to commute on a bike and know there are resources at the University when he needs them, as well as have the peace of mind that his bikes will be safe, is invaluable to Maddox.

But the biggest draw is the passion for bicycling among the Hornet Family.

“I always find that other people that are also on bikes, there is a little bit of culture there,” Maddox said. “When you have the opportunity to hop on your bike, and you’re locking your bike at the compound, everybody in the compound is friendly and you just nerd out about bikes. It’s always really good to find another point to connect with people in a very real and tangible way.”

Sacramento State will next be eligible for the Bicycle Friendly University designation in 2026.

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Tech Art Summit gives local underserved middle school students opportunity to showcase creativity, engineering skills

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Dec. 6, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

As a small Christmas tree spun atop a gift-wrapped package, across the crowded room, a hand-crafted cutout of a palm and five fingers attached to a box swayed from side to side.

On another table, a quick swipe near a motion sensor caused the “front door” of a cardboard building decorated as a gas station to slide open to reveal a plastic monkey.

These were some of the projects on display during the Tech Art Summit at Sacramento State on Thursday, Dec. 1, in the University Union Orchard Suite.

The event allowed middle school students to show off their projects integrating coding, construction, art and engineering. It was the culmination of a 15-week pilot program to build a pipeline to college for underserved sixth- and seventh-graders who attend Aspire Capitol Heights Academy, a local charter school.

“They are learning circuits, learning how to assemble and then put them together and work in a team. It’s all new for them,” said Mariappan “Jawa” Jawaharlal, associate dean for Faculty Affairs and professor of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS), who oversaw the program. “It’s a pretty neat program because there is a technical side, but there is an artistic element here.”

Teams of two or three students each had about 10 total hours to complete their projects, Jawaharlal said.

“This is a true community service, and this is the true mission of (an) anchor university,” said Jawaharlal, who explained: “We go to the community, we help the community, and the community has great potential.”

The goal is to keep participating students interested and engaged throughout middle and high school to help them realize their opportunities for attending college, he said.

ECS Dean Kevan Shafizadeh said he hopes to collaborate with other Sac State colleges as the program expands, including the College of Education and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

“This is a great first step – obviously we want to do more,” Shafizadeh said. “As we are able to build our capacity within the college, we can do more in serving as an anchor institution as well as some of the campus (diversity, equity and inclusion) efforts, and that’s particularly important in STEM disciplines.” STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

After touring the tables and talking to the students about their projects, Sac State President Robert S. Nelsen, Jawaharlal, Shafizadeh, and Aspire’s vice principal, Madison Chaplin, addressed the students.

“From what I can see, you guys are really, really talented,” Nelsen said. “You can become engineers, you can go to Sac State, you can go to UC Davis, you can go to Berkeley, you can go wherever you want to go, but you can go because you already proved it today. I want you to know that Sac State will always be your home, and you will always be Hornets.”

Students received medals recognizing their work. The children cheered and shouted praise to their classmates as Nelsen presented the awards.

“They’ve done a really good job of being creative, and it’s just been so much fun,” Chaplin said. “It also taught them learning can be fun, learning should be fun.”

Other projects included a working skateboard game and a self-driving car.

“I had a lot of fun; the experience was great,” said seventh-grader David Luna, who along with sixth-grader Ontario Holmes crafted the self-driving car. “I used rotation servo motors and LED lights to make my car.”

Nearby, seventh-graders Janiyah Harris and Rayna Charleswell as well as sixth-grader Messiah Patterson showed off their mechanical carousel that had a USPS shipping box as a base, bright-colored cotton balls, and wooden poles to hold up its plastic horses.

“We used a rotation motor to make it spin in a certain direction,” Charleswell said.

Seventh-grader Zachary Glenn displayed his “Spring Field Garden” project, a green cardboard structure featuring plastic lady bugs and bees and other decorations. It included LED lights and rotating spiders made from pipe cleaners – one turning clockwise, the other counterclockwise.

“So basically, it’s mostly about like a bug Utopia,” Glenn said. “It was fun. I learned about a ton of stuff.”

Derek Cuffe, an ECS operating system analyst, said he stopped by to see the kids’ projects as a way to encourage the students.

“It’s been pretty good,” Cuffe said. “They’re getting some presentation skills, and a lot of them, you can tell they haven’t done this before, so it’s awesome.”

The program also gave Sac State students Michael Wooley and Aissatou Fall an opportunity to volunteer and learn mentoring skills.

“A lot of what I was doing was helping students figure out how to put what they wanted to do into an actual program and actually execute it,” said Wooley, a Math major who plans to begin a teaching credential program next year.

“I really hope that even if they don’t end up being an engineer, at least they got some touch of engineering or to explore other opportunities,” said Fall, a fourth-year Civil Engineering student and president of the Sac State chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

The next steps for the program include expanding to more middle and high schools and training teachers so Sac State’s professors can be less hands-on.

The goal is to expand the Tech Art Summit and include projects from students across all campuses involved in the program, said Azizi Penn, Computer Science lecturer and project lead for the program.

As opposed to events such as hackathons or robotics-building contests, events like the Tech Art Summit are important because they give students who may not want to compete an opportunity to show their skills, Penn said.

“Oftentimes, we disassociate creativity from science and engineering,” Penn said. “Without creativity, we really don’t have any of the technological advances that we have now.”

Though details of the program’s future are being worked out, Jawaharlal said it will continue.

“The purpose of the Tech Art program is to empower young students with real skills early on and inspire them to pursue a career in engineering,” Jawaharlal said. “This event is an important milestone, and this is just the beginning. We want to expand this program to reach thousands of students in Sacramento and the surrounding area in the next few years.”

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Construction Management program celebrates 50 years amid successful partnership with industry

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Nov. 30, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

In 1972, Don McLean’s “American Pie” was making music lovers smile, NASA was launching its space shuttle program, and Atari’s Pong video game was bouncing into arcades.

At Sacramento State, students were filing into classes to build their careers in a brand-new Construction Management (CM) program.

The program was part of Civil Engineering until it became its own department under the College of Engineering and Computer Science in 2012. By the early 2000s, it remained relatively small, with only about 130 students each year and a couple faculty.

Celebrating its golden anniversary this year, the program averages about 400 enrolled students annually and employs seven faculty, and between 20 and 30 part-time instructors.

A strong bond between the program and the construction industry is a significant reason for its success. It’s a marriage that has grown exponentially stronger over the program’s five decades.

“One of the things that I value most, since the very beginning of my tenure, is that we only hire people with very practical-oriented experience because this is a hands-on program,” said Mikael Anderson, CM department chair, who recently invited alumni, faculty, and staff to a 50th anniversary celebration where he gave out dozens of recognition awards.

“The industry-experienced faculty and instructors bring that very real knowledge to the classroom, and our students appreciate that aspect of our curriculum.”

The CM program was quite different in its early days, said alumnus Don Carroll, president of Western Engineering Contractors, Inc., a company he started in 1982 whose building projects include stadiums, school facilities, and shopping centers.

“They had a curriculum, they had a program put together … but it was more of an offshoot (of Engineering and Civil Engineering), and a lot of the classes were pretty old,” Carroll said.

When Dick Nichols retired from the industry and took over Sac State’s program, however, it began to take its modern shape, said Carroll, who was part of the first group to complete the full program in 1977. Nichols restructured coursework, updated curriculum, and added a business minor requirement.

“I was very thankful that he did because he was very hands-on. He knew construction,” Carroll said. “He basically was the architect of the program as we know it today.”

Carroll also serves on the board of the Sacramento Construction Management Education Foundation (SCMEF), a nonprofit established in 2004 to support CM faculty, staff, and students. SCMEF is a critical component of the CM program, Anderson said.

“SCMEF has been extremely impactful to our department and to me in my leadership,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here today without them volunteering hundreds of hours each year.”

Anderson said the business element is one of the ways CM helps students succeed in the field.

“At the end of the day, yes, you’re doing construction, but you’re really managing people, you’re managing work, you’re managing a business,” Anderson said. “We feel a business degree is essential to our graduates’ success in the industry.”

Additionally, students are able to participate in internships part time during the semester and work full time in the summer, Anderson said.

“Other CM programs offer full-time internships in the summers but often are not able to offer part-time internships during the academic year due to their remote locations,” Anderson said. “Our CM program is located in the heart of urban Sacramento, with many construction companies within 15 to 30 minutes of campus, allowing our students to work between classes.”

Sac State’s partnership with industry also translates to concrete job opportunities.

“We have 100% job placement due to how well-prepared our graduates are for their career,” Anderson said. “Employers tell us that our graduates are ready to hit the ground running.”

Natane Rogers-Engle, a 2009 graduate, said Sac State’s CM classes set her up for a strong future.

“That program as a whole makes a big impact,” said Rogers-Engle, who recently became president and a co-owner of SR Diversified, LLC, which provides construction and other services for federal, state, and local agencies and public utilities. “It prepared me as much as I think any program could for doing my job.”

A source of pride for the department, Anderson said, is a yearly national competition in Nevada in which Sac State has participated since the event launched in the 1980s. Approximately 2,000 students compete each year, including about 70 from Sac State.

Teams of six students each have 24 hours to respond to a prompt asking for a project proposal that includes construction costs, scheduling, and other important information. Teams orally present their proposals to a panel of industry judges. The event culminates in an award presentation and a participant-exclusive job fair in Sparks, Nevada.

“The level of competition has risen a lot in 20 years – it used to be easier to win competitions. Now it’s a little bit hard because everybody’s kind of doing a similar approach to us,” Anderson said. “Our formula for success was bringing in our industry coaches.”

Anderson has tracked Sac State’s performance in the event since 2003. In that time, students have earned 79 awards: 31 first place, 27 second place, and 21 third place.

“Most schools are lucky enough to get one podium appearance,” Anderson said. “We’re one of a handful of schools that get two or three every year, sometimes more.”

Carroll said he and other alumni who own businesses stay involved with the CM program long after graduation. Many offer internships, scholarships, and jobs, and return to teach. Some businesses, including Carroll’s, reimburse students’ tuitions as part of permanent job placement offers.

“Although I am not an alumnus from this program, I’m very invested and passionate after 20 years of teaching,” Anderson said. “I love this program. I can no longer imagine another career path. It’s the best decision I have made in my engineering profession.”

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Three faculty members selected for county task force to address climate change

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Nov. 17, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

Three Sacramento State professors are part of a task force that will help Sacramento County meet its carbon neutrality goals and address climate change.

The newly formed Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force has 13 members, including Ghazan Khan, associate professor of Civil Engineering, Roslyn Roberts, assistant professor of Accounting, and Ajay Singh, associate professor of Environmental Studies.

The group, scheduled to hold public meetings at least monthly, will help Sacramento County Sustainability Manager John Lundgren implement the county’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), currently in its second phase. The CAP’s goal is to help the county achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

“Happy to say, you know, I’m a year into the job and the task force has had its first meeting last month,” Lundgren said. “My job is to make sure that the task force doesn’t go off the rails and (help them) stay focused on the issue of developing that climate emergency response plan.”

Sacramento County’s Board of Supervisors declared a climate emergency in December 2020. That action established need for the task force and led to the addition of a sustainability manager. Supervisors voted in March to create the task force.

Lundgren said the task force would identify specific issues to address as it meets and collaborates with the public. Motor vehicles and energy consumption by buildings are the county’s biggest sources of greenhouse gas, he said.

The task force will recommend and execute actions to address the crisis. For example, the group could work with the community to convert more vehicle fleets to electric or secure grants for more efficient approaches to electric vehicle charging.

Task force members were chosen from a pool of about 40 applicants, Lundgren said. Most will serve two- to three-year terms. Youth members serve one-year terms, which can be extended for a second year.

Lundgren said Sac State’s active desire to participate led to the three professors’ appointment to the task force.

“I wouldn’t say it was that I went out and said ‘I need a bunch of Sac State professors,’ ” Lundgren said. “Sac State decided that they wanted to be part of this, and we were happy to have the help.”

Roberts, the assistant professor of Accounting, said one important element of the task force is that it includes people who are part of the community as well as experts.

“Unless you have the support of the community, it’s very difficult to implement the CAP, and so I think communication and listening is so important,” Roberts said. “I find it a little daunting to get involved with an issue that has been so politicized, because it shouldn’t be political. We know (climate change) is factual … but there’s a lot of pushback in different areas.”

Singh’s expertise as an Environmental Studies professor helped qualify him to be one of six environmental justice members of the group, those who have “a willingness to work with communities that are underrepresented in governance,” he said.

“Where the rubber meets the road with a lot of these policies is at the county and municipal level,” Singh said.

The professors’ involvement also highlights Sac State’s Anchor University initiative to visibly engage with and have an impact on the communities the University serves, he said.

“Having folks like ourselves in that process, helping with that decision-making process is really important.”

For Khan, the associate professor of Civil Engineering, joining the task force allows him to get involved and help ensure action is taken to address climate change.

“This is the opportunity for all of us, and someone like me specifically, to go in at the grassroot level (and) talk about, ‘OK, what is it that needs to get done now?’ ” said Khan, who has expertise in transportation and transit. “We can talk about all the big goals … but what is it that we’re going to have to do at the grassroot level and how do we do it?”

Significantly, the task force allows the public to have a say, Khan said.

“It’s an opportunity for people, not just us as experts, but also for people, to come in and really put their … ideas into action items,” he said.

In addition to the three Sac State professors, the task force also includes experts in air quality, agriculture, human-made environments, and energy.

The Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force’s live public meetings, meeting replays, agendas and more can be viewed online.

The Sacramento County website provides the opportunity to receive alerts and to stay abreast of task force proceedings.

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Multiyear mural project showcases Sac State’s efforts to become an antiracist and inclusive campus

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Oct. 25, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

A walk along the south side of Sacramento State’s Santa Clara Hall will give the phrase “seeing is believing” a whole new meaning for the next 12 months.

A group of artists has transformed the engineering building’s plain, empty walls into a work of art as part of a multi-year partnership with Wide Open Walls (WOW), Sacramento’s annual citywide mural festival. Eight muralists each painted a section of the building’s wall with images evoking the University’s Antiracism and Inclusive Campus Plan (AICP).

The focus of the murals for year one is “Believing,” with upcoming years’ art pieces focusing on “Becoming” and “Being.”

An on-campus mural is one of the AICP’s goals, said Mia Settles-Tidwell, vice president for Inclusive Excellence and University diversity officer. As Sac State implements the AICP over the next several years, the evolving mural will highlight the University’s progress toward meeting those goals.

“We know that any work around racism, inclusion and belonging is a journey,” Settles-Tidwell said. “There’s not one of us who created racism that are living today. We’ve all inherited the isms. We’ve inherited the phobias. And we’re all situated differently to address that. So, we wanted the mural to take us on a journey.”

The murals will be preserved with images and videos before they’re replaced with designs by new artists.

“This year’s mural theme of ‘Believing’ symbolizes the journey that we are all on as we follow our North Star towards building a more equitable and inclusive Hornet community,” said Leha Hawkins, Inclusive Excellence communications and programs specialist.

Painting began Saturday, Oct. 15, and muralists were given about a week to complete their work. Six muralists chosen by Sac State were each assigned a 7-by-30-foot wall panel. A seventh muralist, Beth Consetta Rubel, was chosen by WOW and painted a larger wall panel, measuring approximately 14-by-44 feet. Rubel was joined by her team Liliana Rodriguez, Brooke Correa, and Walter Anderson.

Finally, Wood “Tsumnu” Rowe Farguheson balanced duties as site manager with his role as the eighth muralist. Farguheson’s panel is located in the center and will remain intact over the course of the project. It ties the theme’s three focal points — Believing, Being, Becoming — together with messaging about the project’s purpose.

“What I personally like from art and would like to happen is people walk down here and be inspired,” Farguheson said. “They’re here to go to school as well as learn and open up that brain sponge, so as they walk down here, they can see colors, shapes, designs, and ideas and be inspired to think differently.”

Sac State alumnus and muralist Erik Oliver said he wanted to participate to share his story as an immigrant.

“I want to be able to say something in my art,” said Oliver, who came to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 12. “I had to learn the language and it was a different kind of transition and a new experience for me, which came with a lot of unexpected challenges, and I want to be able to share that through my art.”

Luis Garcia, an assistant professor of Art who teaches a class on “barrio art,” contributed a mural that integrates his students’ work and highlights historical activists. He said he hopes people will think about the ways in which immigrants have improved the world around them, even when they were brought to the U.S. against their will.

“The idea behind this mural was to create a civil rights leaders wall, who at one point in their own trajectory fought for creating a more humanistic environment for specific communities,” Garcia said.

Sac State student and artist Emma Montalbano said her mural is about progression.

“This is a really diverse campus, there’s a lot of different people,” Montalbano said. “I especially want a lot of people to be able to see themselves in the mural and see themselves represented in the student body and the work that the school is doing.”

Artists used outdoor acrylic paint and relied on technology to project outlines onto the wall. Each received a $1,000 stipend from WOW, which included $500 for supplies.

Sac State artists applied by submitting a mural proposal and a short essay explaining how their artwork would convey the “Believing” focus.

The other artists taking part in this year’s mural project include Phillip Altstatt, an alumnus and staff member who produces the Beyond J podcast, and current students Jane Simeon and Anastasia “Annie” Sullivan, whose mural includes contributions from members of the campus community.

The muralists come from a broad spectrum of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including one Asian American artist, three Latinx artists, one Native American artist, two Black artists, and one white artist.

Carol Nicknig, marketing and communications specialist in University Communications and event organizer, said a total of 30 artists applied. Selections were based on a set of criteria and chosen by a 10-person committee that included David Sobon, CEO, founder, and board chair of WOW.

Among other benefits, working with Sac State helps WOW discover artists that could be a part of its citywide events, Sobon said.

“We have always tried to be the most diverse mural festival in the country, and we’ve succeeded,” he said. “It has to be based on talent, but diversity is critically important. I want to be as inclusive as possible and I think we’ve done a good job doing that.”

Sobon said he hopes that the project not only makes Sac State’s campus more beautiful, but helps more artists gain exposure, which can lead to more opportunities.

“One of the things that I love about this project is it’s not permanent,” he said. “The big one (by Rubel) might last 3-5 years, the other ones, we’re going to replace every year to give other students, other alumni, other members of the Sac State family, an opportunity to basically paint what they want, paint what they feel.”

An “Unveiling and Meet the Artists” event was held Monday, Oct. 24, at Santa Clara Hall. Artists sold merchandise before and after the unveiling event, and gave remarks along with members of the campus community.

Past WOW artwork that can be viewed at Sac State includes 2018’s “Sacramento” mural on Shasta Hall as well as 2019 murals at Brighton Hall, the Studio Theatre, and Lassen Hall.

Learn more about all of the artists as well as Sac State’s Wide Open Walls partnership on the University website.

Update (March 25, 2024): Sacramento State is partnering with Roseville-based Blue Line Arts for year two of the “Place of Belonging” mural project, which is currently underway. Although the project began with the organization, Wide Open Walls, this new partnership allows the University an opportunity to work with another regional arts organization, one in Placer County, the future site of the Sacramento State Placer Center. While the original story remains above, the headline has been updated to reflect this new information. 

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Sac State honors six distinguished alumni for campus, community contributions

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Oct. 18, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

Each year, Sacramento State recognizes alumni who represent the University’s educational values with exceptional contributions to the campus, community, and society.

Since 1972, the Sacramento State Alumni Association has honored these individuals’ accomplishments with the Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Six people were selected by the Alumni Association to receive awards this year, including four Distinguished Service Awards, which recognize professional achievements and community service. In addition, a Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the exceptional achievements in an alum’s career, community, and personal and professional life. Finally, the Rising Star Award was presented to an up-and-coming recent graduate.

A ceremony recognizing this year’s honorees was held Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Harper Alumni Center.

Distinguished Service Awards

Francesca Halbakken ’79 (Civil Engineering)

Retired Assistant City Manager, City of Sacramento

A longtime civil servant, Francesca Halbakken leveraged her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Sac State and a passion for helping people into a career with the city of Sacramento that spanned more than 35 years. As a project manager, she oversaw the development of the downtown Sacramento Railyards and north Natomas, and most recently, the SAFE Credit Union Convention and Performing Arts centers.

Lois Harper Mattice ’87, MS ’94 (Physical Education)

Emeritus Faculty and Retired Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator, Sacramento State

Though she never considered herself an athlete, longtime Athletics trainer and administrator Lois Harper Mattice parlayed an interest in sports and the people who play them into a stellar career at Sac State. Mattice helped student-athletes succeed in sports and academics over her nearly four-decade career by overseeing their health and wellness, offering emotional support, and helping them prevent and care for injuries. Though she retired in 2020, she recently returned to campus part time in the Athletics Department.

Lisa Wrightsman ’05 (Communication Studies)

Managing Director, Street Soccer USA

A former Hornet soccer star, Lisa Wrightsman is the co-founder of Street Soccer Sacramento, an organization serving individuals struggling with homelessness, at-risk youth, and other underrepresented populations. The organization serves people of all ages, and runs youth programs as well as monthly camps for young and teen girls that often feature Sac State players as coaches. A record 1,000 kids participated in programs this summer.

Whitney Yamamura ’84 (Business Administration), MA ’91 (Economics)

Chancellor, Coast Community College District

Whitney Yamamura, who has deep roots in Sacramento, spent much of his career in higher education in the Los Rios Community College District before recently being named chancellor of Coast Community College District in Costa Mesa. He says he owes his career to Sac State. He began working in higher education at American River College in 1989 and continually advanced, serving at all four Los Rios campuses including five years as president of Folsom Lake College.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Don Nottoli ’78 (Government/Journalism)

District 5 Supervisor, Sacramento County

A lifelong Sacramento County resident, Don Nottoli will retire from the Board of Supervisors after more than 40 years of public service – and plenty of accomplishments. Since 1994, Nottoli has represented District 5, a region stretching south from Rancho Cordova through Elk Grove and Galt to the Delta. During his seven terms, he has worked to build parks and libraries, redevelop former military bases, improve roads, and improve and expand Sacramento International Airport.

Rising Star Award

Liku T. Amadi ’13 (Communication Studies)

Founder, Anasa Law Firm PC

In the nine years since earning a bachelor’s degree from Sac State, Liku T. Amadi graduated magna cum laude from law school; founded Anasa Law Firm, a non-traditional practice that helps small business owners navigate the legal system; created Tryb, a community group that brings young Black female entrepreneurs and business owners together to network; and taught legal services online and spoken in the community on motherhood and entrepreneurship.

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For more information about this year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony, visit the Sacramento State Alumni Association web page.

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Distinguished Alumni: Rising Star Liku T. Amadi found community, Black excellence at Sac State

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Oct. 11, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

When Liku T. Amadi came to Sacramento State, it was the first time she had been away from home.

“I had to definitely learn discipline when it came to studies and networking, and just how to navigate on my own – paying bills, eating out, all of that,” Amadi said.

She soon found support and community by joining groups such as the Nu Lambda Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Black Student Union, and the Cooper Woodson College Enhancement Program.

“I did very much lean into the support from the Black community,” Amadi said. “But (Sac State) was also very diverse, so I got to experience other cultures by going to other events and supporting other organizations.”

Amadi, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Sac State in 2013, is this year’s Distinguished Alumni Rising Star Award recipient for her many accomplishments and contributions to her community. The Sacramento State Alumni Association will honor her and other alumni during a celebration and dinner on Thursday, Oct. 13.

In 2017, Amadi graduated magna cum laude from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, and in 2021, while in the first trimester of pregnancy, she left her corporate law job to found Anasa Law Firm.

Amadi said her mom suggested the name Anasa, which means luxury in Swahili, based on the family’s Tanzanian cultural roots.

“When business owners come for legal services, it’s not the most attractive and fun thing to deal with, but it’s very necessary and required throughout all elements of business,” said Amadi, who grew up in the East Bay town of Pittsburg. “I wanted people to feel at ease, in luxury, stress free when working with me.”

The non-traditional, virtual law firm charges flat rather than hourly rates. It aims to help small business owners with their legal needs and teach them how to navigate the legal system and make informed, strategic business decisions on their own.

Amadi, who also teaches online business legal essentials and speaks about motherhood and entrepreneurship, said she hopes being recognized as a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient makes her even more visible to young Black women looking to follow her example.

“I think energy is contagious,” Amadi said. “So, when other young Black law students or young female lawyers see that in me, I think that they want to be that, too, which is the opposite of what we’re taught to be when it comes to working in a corporate system.”

Continuing to advocate for the benefit of support found in small groups and building on her passion for helping people, Amadi founded Tryb in 2019. It is a Bay Area community for millennial Black women entrepreneurs and career professionals providing opportunities for networking, participating in events, and supporting one another. Though Tryb paused operation during the pandemic, Amadi says she will bring it back next summer on a larger scale.

Amadi plans to continue serving business owners and teaching them the value behind legal services. She hinted that she has “a lot more coming down the line.”

“(The Rising Star Award) makes me feel like I have accomplished something,” Amadi said. “To be recognized by my alma mater in a way that says that I’m up and coming makes me feel like more of an example to young Black women after me.”

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Distinguished Alumni: Retired city executive Francesca Halbakken’s 35 years of public service leave a lasting legacy

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Oct. 11, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

If you live in the Sacramento area, chances are you are familiar with Francesca Halbakken’s work and not even aware of it.

Though she has spent much of her career out of the public eye, the work of Halbakken, who graduated from Sacramento State with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1979, will be a part of the city of Sacramento for years to come.

Halbakken served in project management roles on major developments and construction during her 35 years of public service, projects that include the Sacramento Railyards and the SAFE Credit Union Convention and Performing Arts centers, among others.

The Sacramento State Alumni Association will honor Halbakken, who will receive a Distinguished Service Award, and other noted alumni during a celebration and dinner Thursday, Oct. 13.

“I am a behind-the-scenes person and do not like a lot of attention paid to me,” Halbakken said. “When I was told that I had been selected, I was surprised, because I think of so many people that I know who have done so many things and I think, ‘Why would you choose me? I seem so ordinary.’ So, I still am surprised that I would have been selected for an honor.”

A Sacramento native, Halbakken originally planned to attend UC Berkeley and pursue a medical career, but those plans changed when she was 19 and transferred to Sac State from Sacramento City College.

“From the time I was probably like in kindergarten, up through my senior year of high school, I fully intended that I was going to become a surgeon,” she said. “There are some similarities (to civil service) in that it’s all about serving people, and they’re both math and science backgrounds.”

Halbakken worked for the state of California and later for the federal government as a civilian project manager in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After deciding the federal or state levels weren’t the right fit, she landed a job with the city of Sacramento in 1986, advancing and ultimately retiring as assistant city manager in 2018. She continued working part time for another 3½ years, extending her efforts on the downtown convention center and theater projects until fully retiring recently.

“We broke ground right at the time of my retirement, so it was a great transition to be able to work on those projects,” she said.

Halbakken’s advice for anyone who wants to work in civil service is to get into their desired agency and then focus on finding the job they want.

“The important thing if you want to be a civil servant is to get in somewhere, and once you’re (in), it’s easier to find jobs within the organization,” Halbakken said. “I highly recommend public service. You might be paid an increment more (working elsewhere), but for the satisfaction you get from being able to help people, in addition to the public benefits, it’s way worth it.”

Halbakken said retirement affords her more time to spend with her granddaughters, family, and friends. She stays active reading, cooking and baking, and walking her dog. She even recently took up pickleball.

She also recently began serving on the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California Board of Directors, and said she likes being involved with the organization because of her passion to help young girls engage with STEM and the outdoors.

“I feel like this is a way for me to continue my public service in retirement,” Halbakken said.

For Halbakken, it’s an honor to be recognized with an award from the University that has given her so much.

“I feel really fortunate that Sac State’s here in the town I grew up in and that you can get such a great education right here at home,” she said. “Not every town has a great university like this one does.”

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Substitute Teacher Fair, residency programs highlight Sac State’s innovative efforts to address educator shortages

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Sept. 28, 2022, by Sacramento State University Communications

As with many industries in the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff shortages have greatly affected schools across the nation.

And though a pressing need for teachers long predates COVID-19, retirements and resignations, many accelerated by the pandemic, have led to an even greater need for educators.

“We experienced that before the pandemic, but I think now, many teachers that were close to retirement that maybe thought they were (going to) go a couple more years have decided not to,” said Tiffany Smith-Simmons, director of talent management for Sacramento City Unified School District.

Substitute teacher shortages have added to the crisis by making it difficult for full-time teachers to take time off. This has impacted school responses to absences caused by new COVID strains as well as educators’ ability to pursue professional development, said Pia Wong, associate dean for Research and Engagement in Sacramento State’s College of Education (COE).

These challenges have led to or exacerbated burnout, causing educators to leave the field, Wong said.

Acutely aware of the issue and its growing impact, Sacramento State, a key source of education and training for the region’s teaching ranks, is working to create solutions. The COE’s second annual Substitute Teacher Fair is one example of how it is addressing the shortage.

“I think it’s mostly to have a little release valve for our partners,” Wong said of the event. “There were terrible stories last year of schools where kids were having to sit in the gym because (their) school had three to eight classrooms with no teachers in them.”

The Sept. 23 fair at the Harper Alumni Center invited recent graduates and senior students to connect with local school districts. Wong said 362 students across various majors registered for the two-hour event.

“You can see by this turnout, this is such a huge thing for us,” said David Robertson, director of Human Resources and Labor Relations for Twin Rivers Unified School District, one of 11 districts and partners that participated in the fair. “Having more people, especially these undergraduates that are close to graduating … be prospective substitutes for us in our school district, that is great.”

In addition to offering paying work, substitute teaching can influence participants to further pursue teaching careers, said Wong, the fair’s organizer.

“We do have the potential, if we do this better and better each year, of giving more people a paid experience and career exploration,” Wong said. “And then if we’re smart, we’ll snap ’em up and get them on the track that they want to get on.”

The Substitute Teacher Fair also is another way for Sac State to support the community.

“Connected to this is Sac State’s anchor institution,” said Jenna Porter, COE Teaching Credentials department chair, referring to Sac State’s engagement and impact on the city and region. “We’re really trying to work with all of our district partners to help them out.”

Wong said last year’s event was held out of desperation to fill jobs. This year, her goal is for the college to follow up more with participants and help them get through the process smoothly.

“(Our local districts are) very grateful because they actually can hire our students and recent graduates and fill positions in their schools,” said Sasha Sidorkin, COE dean. “So, we’re very happy to help.”

Valeria Miranda, who recently earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology after transferring to Sac State from Yuba College, attended the fair hoping to get extra help with her application.

“I did a little bit of the process with Sacramento City Unified, and it’s overwhelming,” Miranda said. “There’s a lot of paperwork, there’s a lot of fingerprints, and a lot of it is waiting.”

Miranda, who has worked as a tutor and recently participated in the Pathways Fellows research program, said she hopes to become a substitute teacher to gain more experience in working with children and to have an income while working toward becoming a school psychologist.

In addition to the Substitute Teacher Fair, the College of Education recently received state funding to establish and support teacher residency programs.

“A teacher residency program is a very particular kind of program that’s been shown via research to both attract more diverse people into teaching and also improve their retention in the profession,” Wong said.

As opposed to a traditional approach, where a student teacher typically moves from classroom to classroom to work with several teachers, a residency is a one-year placement in the same classroom, allowing student teachers to gain a richer understanding of how things play out over a complete school year, Wong said.

California last year announced a multi-state partnership with the U.S. Department of Education under a call to action from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, dedicating $350 million from the 2021-22 state budget to Teacher Residency grants.

Sac State’s COE worked to secure some of those funds and, along with school district partners, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the programs and pay student teachers. With these grants, student teachers are able to earn what is intended to be a livable wage ranging from $20,000-$25,000 for a residency year, Wong said.

“It makes it so that they’re not giving up a year, and paying for that year,” she said.

Sac State’s teaching credential programs have seen fairly steady enrollment in recent years, Wong said. The college is working on additional residency programs and offers several professional learning programs for full-time teachers, which helps with retention.

The residency programs are promising, Wong said, because they support collaboration between school districts and universities in establishing what a new teacher should know and be able to do.

“That dialogue is very important,” Wong said.

For Miranda, the teacher shortage is nothing new. She said that when she was growing up, it was apparent that something was wrong, especially when teachers would go on strike.

“Teachers do a lot outside of the classroom,” Miranda said. “Even just being a tutor-mentor was a lot, in the summer for high schoolers, because you have to do all this extra time and everything else.”

Miranda said the solution to teacher shortages starts with treating teachers better.

“I just think we need to better appreciate our teachers,” Miranda said.

Along with its work on behalf of graduates and senior students, Sac State is ranked No. 5 Best Undergraduate Teaching for Regional West Universities by U.S. News & World Report.

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