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California State University, Dominguez Hills — news, coverage & facts — IJR

History

The foundation for what would become CSU Dominguez Hills was built in 1960 when then Governor of California Pat Brown provided state funds to begin development of the campus. It was originally to be located in Palos Verdes, California, and known as South Bay State College. The tentative name was changed to California State College at Palos Verdes in 1962. In 1964, architect A. Quincy Jones designed a master plan for construction. As the permanent campus had not yet been constructed, the first classes were held in 1965 at the California Federal Savings Bank in Rolling Hills Estates, California. The college began with an enrollment of approximately 40 students.

In 1965 the designated location for the campus was moved to the Dominguez Hills in Carson. The Palos Verdes site was abandoned due to high land prices in Palos Verdes, and the Watts Riots exposing a need for a campus to serve the populations of South Los Angeles.

The university was established, in large part, as a response to the African American outcry for higher education standards and opportunities. In October and November 1969, demonstrations regarding the Vietnam War were held on the campus. In 1977 the California Postsecondary Education Commission endorsed the college trustees' desire to change the name of the school from California State College, Dominguez Hills to California State University, Dominguez Hills.

CSUDH was selected as the host venue for 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics cycling competition. Between 1981 and 1982, the Olympic Velodrome was constructed on the campus. The US cycling team won nine gold medals on the track during the Olympics. The 333.3-meter-long track was demolished in 2003 and replaced by the ADT Event Center (now known as the VELO Sports Center) in 2004. It remains the only Olympic-standard velodrome in the United States.

In 1992, the university opened the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Student Union. A major expansion was completed in 2007, adding the 800-seat Dominguez Ballroom. The CSUDH Extended Education Building was opened in 2000, followed by the completion of James L. Welch Hall in 2002. It was named after a long-time CSUDH faculty member.

In 2021, CSUDH opened three major new on-campus buildings, designed to expand the campus' academic capabilities and help transform the campus from a commuter school to a destination institution. The new Student Resident Housing complex can accommodate over 500 students. The complex includes double, triple, and quadruple bedrooms, a laundry room, study rooms, several lounges, and other amenities. It features eight 47-foot-high murals by Los Angeles artist iris yirei hu. The Science and Innovation Building houses the university's chemistry, biology, and physics programs. It is also the home of the Toyota Center for Innovation in STEM Education, which includes a fabrication lab, SMART classrooms, and labs for K-12 teacher demonstrations. The campus' Innovation and Instruction Building is the home of the university's College of Business Administration and Public Policy. The building includes a 250-seat auditorium, collaborative learning classrooms, distance learning spaces, event spaces, and faculty offices.

Within contemporary history, in the year 2022 Cal State Dominguez Hills had the distinction of having five of its graduates simultaneously serving as mayors of cities in LA County. They are Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, Compton, California Mayor Emma Sharif, Carson, California Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes, Hawthorne, California Mayor Alex Vargas and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Academics

CSU Dominguez Hills is a major university for the Southern geographical region of Los Angeles County and Orange County. It offers 53 undergraduate majors, 26 master's degrees, and a number of certificate and credential programs. The campus is accredited by the following associations: Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, AACSB International, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, the National Association of Schools of Music, and the National Association of Schools of Theatre. Dominguez Hills is also the administrative headquarters of the California State University's Statewide Nursing Program.

CSUDH has been designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is a member of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Its College of Education & College of Arts and Humanities offers training in Spanish for bilingual education teachers. As of 2018, CSUDH had the third largest percentage of Latino Americans that are not Mexican-American in the CSU system. (Latino Americans with heritage from the Caribbean, Central America, South America). The university ranked first in California in 2021 for the number of bachelor's degrees conferred on Black students.

The campus is home to the American Indian Institute, which has the goal of increasing the number of Indigenous students who enroll and graduate from the CSU system. Starting in 2011, CSUDH and the AII began hosting the "Honoring the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas" Pow Wow.

CSUDH students conduct research and present their findings at the campus' Annual Student Research Day. The annual event is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Outstanding research projects are selected for inclusion at the CSU Statewide Student Research Competition.

CSUDH's McNair Scholars Program was established in 2004. It is named after NASA mission specialist Ronald McNair, who died in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. The program's goal is to support and fund first-generation, low-income, and/or underrepresented students preparing for future doctoral studies. The program provides a variety of academic support and services. As of 2021, the program has achieved a 93% graduate school acceptance rate.

In 2014, following its acquisition of 21 new Steinway-designed pianos, CSUDH was named an All-Steinway School, the first public four-year university in California to receive the designation. These instruments are subject to periodic inspections by Steinway factory representatives.

Sixty-five percent of CSUDH students engage in service learning, both through the formal curriculum and the university's service learning hub, the Center for Service Learning, Internships & Civic Engagement (SLICE). The university was Presidential Winner of the 2014 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The Presidential Award is the highest federal recognition an institution can receive for its commitment to community, service-learning, and civic engagement.

The university focuses on the STEM disciplines, hosting the Annual STEM in Education Conference, offering the First-Year Undergraduate STEM Experience (FUSE), and in 2014 hosting the Women in STEM Conference. Its Center for Innovation in STEM Education was established in 2014 by a donation from the Annenberg Foundation and aims to improve local education with various STEM initiatives. CSUDH offers a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Technology with an option to concentrate in Homeland Security, and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. In 2017, it received a $4 million grant from Toyota to create an 87,000-square foot Science and Innovation Building to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The Toyota Center for Innovation in STEM Education, housed inside the building, includes a fabrication lab, high-tech classrooms, collaborative workspaces, and labs for K-12 teacher training.

Leo F. Cain Library and Gerth Archives

CSUDH opened its Library South Wing to the Leo F. Cain University Library in 2010. The expansion was honored with a Best of 2010 Award for Architectural Design from the California Construction journal and a 2011 Project Achievement Award from the Construction Management Association of America.

The library houses the Donald R. and Beverly Gerth Archives and Special Collections, home to the CSUDH archives, digital and special collections, rare books, and the official archives of the California State University system. Among the collections maintained at the Gerth Archives are:

California State University Japanese American Digitization Project (CSUJAD): A database consisting of primary documentation from 20 California institutions related to the history and progress of Japanese Americans in their communities. CSUDH has well over 25 physical collections on Japanese Americans including the Ninomiya Photo Studio Archives, with over 100,000 images.

Holt Labor Library Collection: Focusing on radical political movements mostly in the 20th century, the collection consists of over 1,000 linear feet of books, pamphlets, periodicals, and manuscript collections focused on labor, civil rights women's rights and anti-war movements.

Mayme Agnew Clayton Collection of African American History and Culture: A collection of more than 2 million rare books, films, documents, photographs, artifacts, and works of art related to the history and culture of African Americans in the United States, with a significant focus on Southern California and the American West.

LA Free Press Collection: Archive of materials from Art Kunkin, publisher and editor of the Los Angeles Free Press, one of the first and most important underground newspapers of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Activist Collections: Materials on activism and social justice, including the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, Watts Rebellion Collection, Kaye Briegel Chicano Publication Collection, Feminist Resources Collection, Native American Activist Collection, Filipino Martial Law Materials, LGBTQ Periodical Collection, and other civil rights-related collections.

Alumni

Ronnie Aguilar – professional basketball player

Cole Tomas Allen - suspect in the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting

Esther Anaya - In-house Deejay for Los Angeles Chargers

Stewart Alexander – politician

Tony Alfaro – professional soccer player

Karen Bass, politician, mayor of Los Angeles, member of the House of Representatives from California's 37th congressional district (2013–2022)

Alex Bengard – professional soccer player

Glenn Berggoetz – filmmaker

Tiffiny Blacknell – criminal defense attorney and community activist

Steven Bradford – politician, State senator for the 35th district

Patrick Burke – professional golfer

Joe Buscaino – politician, member of the Los Angeles City Council

Luis M. Campos – chemistry academic

Josue Cartagena – professional soccer player

Taleah Carter

Derby Carrillo – professional soccer player

Chris Conkling – screenwriter

Chris Conrad – cannabis expert

Jeff Coopwood – Emmy-nominated actor, broadcaster, educator

Alejandro Covarrubias – professional soccer player

Mike Davis – politician

Grace-Ann Dinkins – Olympic 100m track runner, surgeon, philanthropist

Jason Farol – singer, Duets

Babatunde Fowler – politician

Ryo Fujii

David Garza

Chase Gentry – professional soccer player

Clarence Gilyard – actor, Matlock and Walker, Texas Ranger

Faiivae Iuli Alex Godinet – politician

Danny Grissett – musician

Dan Guerrero – athletic director for the University of California, Los Angeles

Michael Happoldt – musician, DJ, producer Sublime

Sweet Alice Harris – community activist

Kevin Hartman – Major League Soccer goalkeeper

Robert Hecker – musician

Hue Hollins – professional basketball referee

Jerome Horton – California State Assemblyman for the 51st District

Earl Ofari Hutchinson – author

Carmelita Jeter – American sprinter; gold, silver and bronze medalist at 2012 Summer Olympics

Kei Kamara – professional soccer player

Brian Kehew – musician, The Moog Cookbook

John Langley – producer, Cops

Nativo Lopez – politician

Yael Markovich – Israeli-American model and beauty queen/pageant titleholder (Miss Israel)

Janelle McGee – professional soccer player

Cora Martin-Moore – gospel singer

Niecy Nash – actress, Reno 911!, Claws, dancer on Dancing with the Stars

Josh Oppenheimer – Israeli-American professional basketball coach, and former professional basketball player

Finbarr O'Neill – former CEO of J.D. Power, Mitsubishi Motors North America, and Hyundai Motor America

Raymond F. Palmer – professor of biostatistics

James Peoples – transportation economist and professor of economics

Eric J. Perrodin – politician

Christopher Phillips – academic

Susan A. Phillips – professor of anthropology

Kevin Pillar — Major League Baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Kyle Polak – professional soccer player

Rex Richardson – politician

Rodney Allen Rippy – actor

Lela Rochon – actress, Harlem Nights, Why Do Fools Fall in Love

Bubby Rossman ('14) – major league baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies

Karen Sandler – author

Gerald Schoenewolf – psychologist

Doug Siebum – audio engineer

Louis Silas – record executive, Silas Records

Scott Shaw – author, martial artist, and filmmaker

Jose Solache – California State Assemblyman from the 62nd district

Chris Strait – comedian

Ben Swann – television anchor

Gabriela Soto Laveaga – historian of science specializing in Latin America at Harvard University.

Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz – artist

Ben Swann – Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist

Leo James Terrell – civil rights attorney and talk radio host

John Tracy – aerospace executive, Senior Vice President of The Boeing Company (retired)

Steffan Tubbs – journalist, two-time winner of the Edward R. Murrow award

La Rue Washington, outfielder for the Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball

Deb Vanasse – author

Gyasi Zardes – Major League Soccer striker