Fame and Acclaim Login to comment

Tuesday, April 03 2012 06:42:23 PM

Who are the most famous politicians, celebrities, artists and rock stars to ever grace the campus of San Diego State? With the Dalia Lama visiting this month we have heard some spirited debate on the topic.  Certainly John F. Kennedy and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. are on everyone's list, but beyond those two opinions vary greatly. Some say Axl Rose or Elton John.  Some like Angela Davis.  Some people like Hillary Clinton and Ronald Reagan, although typically not the same person.

I am surely going to add the Lama to my list.  Probably somewhere after JFK, MLK and Eleanor Roosevelt but ahead of Bob Dylan, Lily Tomlin, Bill Cosby and Ansel Adams.

I would enjoy hearing who is on your list, so please let me know at herrick1@mail.sdsu.edu.

Appreciating Excellence and Having Fun Login to comment

Tuesday, March 06 2012 11:58:59 AM

With the arrival of SDSU month, it’s time to take stock of all we have to celebrate. Our students bring us joy, astonishment, laughter and awe. Our faculty go places where we can only marvel. Our alumni provide pride in their achievements. And the campus environment is perpetually percolating with activity and discovery that profoundly elevate our collective quality of life.

But of all the joys of being a daily participant in the vibrant life of SDSU, one stands paramount amid stiff competition: Aztec basketball is da bomb!

Viejas Arena was rocking all season. Beth Burns and Steve Fisher, along with their staffs, are among the very best in the country. Our teams compete at the highest of levels. And The Show is simply the most consistently remarkable advertisement for San Diego State that we have ever had.

As if we needed proof beyond winning records, Aztec excellence was confirmed by a sweep of this year’s all-conference honors. Coach Burns and Coach Fisher each was named Coach of the Year while Courtney Clements was selected as the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year on the women’s side and Jamaal Franklin topped the list among the men. Chelsea Hopkins was voted best newcomer among conference women and a host of Aztec players, both men and women, were named to the all-conference teams.

So in the coming days as we prepare for the madness that is March, please join the hundreds of thousands of fellow alumni in willing our teams to success. Because while there may be more important things to do and to celebrate and acclaim about State during SDSU Month, there is absolutely nothing more fun.

Go Aztecs!

Behind the Scenes Login to comment

Tuesday, February 07 2012 05:43:30 PM

I had heard it was the 75th anniversary of San Diego State’s School of Music and Dance, so I thought I would take a walk over to the arty part of campus and check it out. It was Friday afternoon, kind of late but there was definitely some activity. I happen to know via osmosis that we have great programs in the performing arts. The students are immensely talented and destined for glory and stardom so I urge you strongly to go to a concert, opera or dance performance. The big thing currently is “The Magic Flute” and you can click here to get tickets.

On this day I found some sort of ensemble practicing in the Music Building. Take a listen:

> Ensemble Music

Then I checked out one of my favorite places—the costume shop. Here is the director, Teri, who is typically teaching a group of earnest designers sewing away:


Her colleague, Peter, took me over to the dressing room where two students were actually practicing applying the make-up that would be on two of the cast members in “The Magic Flute.” They had charts and brushes and paints and wigs. It was very cool. This is Gina:


And this is Kimberly:


Then I sneaked back stage of the Don Powell Theatre. I must admit I peek in here somewhat regularly. I get a kick out of seeing the building of sets. It seems to be far more related to construction management and engineering, but it is art.

And while we are really taking off here at San Diego State with right brain-oriented curricula, it is good to know that we have plenty of talented singers and musicians and dancers and artists, too. Without the left-brainers life just wouldn’t be as fulfilling.

Plus, for those of you who are not yet lifetime Alumni Association Members, we have a sweet deal on how to see some of these terrific shows, so check it out here:


And here is a picture of some upcoming concerts and a link to the shows. I promise you that you will have a great evening when you go.


Congratulations to the students, faculty and staff of the School of Music and Dance. Happy 75th anniversary and thanks for giving us all yet another reason to be proud of SDSU!

US News and World Report College Rankings Login to comment

Wednesday, January 18 2012 12:33:03 PM

US News keeps score.

While alumni membership, gear purchases, season-ticket ownership, communications digestion, positive facebook postings, volunteerism, pride in athletics and ability to talk the Aztecs up around the water cooler are evidence of alumni engagement, alumni participation is officially measured by just one thing: US News and World Report defines it as the number of current undergraduate degree holders who are donors, divided by alumni of record.

So, it is all about annual giving.

And while some schools have been exposed in the Wall Street Journal and other publications for “gaming” the numbers, the vast majority of schools play it straight. They don’t conveniently “lose” the addresses of non-donors. They don’t amortize a $25 gift over five years. They don’t encourage alumni to donate one dollar to up their percentages.

San Diego State plays it straight. We never exaggerate our participation rate.

So why is this statistic important? First of all, good, bad or otherwise, US News and World Report College Rankings dictate plenty of behaviors of students looking to apply to colleges, and their rankings are commonly accepted as a leading barometer of academic prestige. They seem to be the default go-to source for rankings.

Over the years the magazine has established a system categorizing schools as “National,” “Liberal Arts” and “Regional.” The top category is “National.” There are 280 of these institutions. San Diego State is tied at 164 on the list. Compared with more than 1,500 total colleges and universities in the rankings, we look good.

Alumni participation constitutes five percent of the overall assessment. (As you might suspect, the other 95 percent is comprised of academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources and more) And while five percent is not a huge factor, it should be noted that the overall scores of the schools bunched in the middle are really close.

So why should alumni giving play any role in a school’s academic reputation and ranking? The simple answer is that US News says so. Its editors believe alumni giving reflects alumni satisfaction, which reflects overall institutional quality.

Before I ruin your day by giving you the bad news, it should be noted that San Diego State is public, is only in the past couple of decades emerging from the characterization of “commuter school,” and as recently as two university presidents ago maintained the philosophy that fundraising would only deter state support. Obviously, in the last 20 years and most significantly in the last five, as we have launched our first comprehensive $500 million campaign, we have morphed into an institution that encourages and desperately needs to embrace a philanthropic culture.

We are at two percent.

We have raised nearly $300 million during the first four and a half years of The Campaign for SDSU and many of our alumni have made six and seven-figure institutionally transforming gifts, but our overall alumni participation is two percent. Specifically, for the 2009-2010 academic year, we had 3,767 alumni donors divided by 165,076 alumni of record. That’s 2.28%.

This is not about quantity of dollars. We simply need to become better at persuading thousands more alumni to be annual donors to SDSU. As competitive as we have become on multiple fronts to become such a great institution, we are not passing this course.

So please help spread the word. We need our alumni to step up and be counted. State helped you learn how to compete. As an influential publication keeps score, the competition continues.

Any amount. Every year.

giveonline.sdsu.edu/giving

Why the Monty Awardees Make Us Proud Login to comment

Wednesday, January 04 2012 12:11:09 PM

In this month’s E-news we reveal our 2012 Monty winners.  In the article that introduces them, you can read about the awards and to whom the Montys are given.  But, essentially, all you need to know is that the Monty is the noblest of awards for Aztec alumni.  Eleven are given annually to an individual associated with each of San Diego State’s seven colleges, plus Library and Information Access and the Imperial Valley Campus.  Additionally, two Montys are given at large by the Alumni Association: one to an exceptional volunteer and one to a university employee who “has served and promoted the SDSU Alumni Association and the university in the spirit and tradition of a loyal graduate.”

So the list of Monty winners is the San Diego State University Alumni Hall of Fame.  And it is quite a list.  The honors, despite not always being called “The Montys,” have been awarded since 1971. The lineup includes business successes, teachers of the year, politicians, authors, actors, philanthropists, celebrities, engineers, teachers and nurses. We have artists and entrepreneurs, sports stars and scoundrels.

To date our Alumni Hall of Fame numbers 376.  View the list of winners over the past four decades and you will surely recognize some familiar names.  But the names alone don’t do these honorees the same justice as the recounting of their deeds.  It’s their stories, shared on awards night, that make you feel grateful to have walked the same campus.

Having attended most of the Montys since 1971, I can assure you that these stories never fail to inspire. The range of achievement and depth of service and accomplishment by our alumni is awe-inspiring. Absorbing these stories will inevitably spike your pride for San Diego State and all that our graduates have achieved.

On Saturday, April 14th at the US Grant we will honor this year’s Monty winners. For a good time call 594-ALUM.

Pack Your Bags, Aztecs Login to comment

Wednesday, December 07 2011 04:47:16 PM

Like a lot of Aztec alumni and fans, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around recent developments in athletics. It’s a lot to take in.

First, our football team puts together a winning season and snags a bowl invitation for the second year in a row. It has been a while since anything like that has happened on The Mesa, but the fact that we can now win with some consistency is an indicator that the program is heading somewhere.

Then comes the announcement that Aztecs football will find a new home in the Big East Conference. No more trips to far flung locations like Laramie and Fort Collins. No, now we’ll be headed off to even farther flung destinations like Houston and Louisville. In the process, our team will be making a name for SDSU in places where the Aztecs are generally only known as a once-great culture gone extinct.

Now our team will regularly be playing on a national stage generating coverage from coast to coast. Not just the extra money, but the extra attention can only help boost the athletics department and, by extension, the university.

It’s finally the kind of position many associated with this campus have dreamed for decades of being in. We have been presented an opportunity to create our own dream come true.
 
So pack your bags, Aztecs. We’re moving on, moving up and going places.

The Pride is in the Prize

Tuesday, November 08 2011 08:28:25 PM

As most true Aztec fans and historians know, Fresno State is our biggest rival. It's beyond dispute. So where is our cup? Where is our trophy? Where is our oaken bucket? Where is our axe?

We are challenging Aztec fans to come up with the appropriate iconic trophy that will annually go to the winner of the San Diego State/Fresno State football game. Our tradition predates 2011 by 88 years, so let's come up with the right thing to play for.  

Go to the San Diego State University alumni web page and give us your ideas or give us your feedback. We have enlisted the services of California State University alumni trustee, Bob Linscheid, to help us select the winning trophy /design/theme. Bob is a two-time Chico State grad and fan of both schools. We can count on him to do the right thing. So let’s go Aztec fans!  Let’s get the creative side of our brains working and come up with the proper thing to play for on December 3.

Your great idea could win you an iPad!  Or even better, it could keep a Fresno State Bulldog fan from winning a free one!

Come On Home Login to comment

Tuesday, October 04 2011 06:45:31 PM

It’s that time of year when I typically take a deep breath and muster up some enthusiasm for the near-moribund tradition that has been Aztec Homecoming for a decade or three.

But not this year.  Au contraire.  No mas.

Homecoming is happening here, big time!

There is a palpable buzz around campus as the students skirt their way around a gigantic hole where Aztec Center once was.  There are tens of thousands of fans in the parking lot at Qualcomm hours prior to kickoff.  There are activities on campus that are compelling, interesting and fun. The entire collective community of alumni, students, fans and friends has transmogrified into a teeming mass best characterized by the mantra:  “I BELIEVE!”

So, there is no need to do anything but to ride this red and black wave of euphoria.

TCU comes to town as a lame duck conference member that has been pounding us for however long they have been in the Mountain West. We will see about that this year.

2011 NFL Hall of Fame inductee, Marshall Faulk, is homecoming’s grand marshal.  How cool is that?  Not only will he smile and wave at halftime in front of Aztecs wearing the outstanding Marshall Faulk Cap Night promotion hats, he will lead a parade on campus Thursday and host his annual Aztec For Life extravaganza in the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center on Friday night.

There’s also the alumni War Memorial Ceremony, the Associated Students food drive, the pregame tailgate in section F1 of the stadium parking lot and the traditional crowning of the homecoming king and queen.  It’s all part of the fun.

The students also have a strong lineup of events all week. While there are still many thousands who remain somewhat oblivious to the fun and games (remember, they have jobs, families  and classes, too), the overall increase in awareness and pride is undeniable - as is the actual student section attendance at Qualcomm Stadium.  It’s great to share their excitement.

Director of University Bands, Bryan Ransom, gave me this historic reminder:

Homecoming week marks the 75th anniversary of our beloved Fight Song, “Fight On,” which was first played at the dedication ceremony of Aztec Bowl in October 1936.  This year, over 100 Marching Aztecs alums will be joining the current Marching Aztecs on the field at halftime, led onto the field by the first-ever Alumni Drumline!

Our Aztecs are 3 – 1 heading into a homecoming game where a win could place them two-thirds of the way toward bowl eligibility less than halfway through the season.  There has rarely been a more compelling homecoming game on the schedule, so this is the perfect time to join the growing Aztec crowd at The Q.

See more at:  newscenter.sdsu.edu/2011/Default.aspx