News and Announcements
San Francisco State University celebrated the Class of 2025 at its 124th Commencement ceremony Friday, May 23, at Oracle Park. California Attorney General Rob Bonta provided the keynote address, telling graduates to use their skills and energy to “demand and create a better world, now.”
“Across the nation, our rights, freedoms and safety are under attack,” Bonta told the more than 3,500 graduates in attendance. “Now is not the time for silence or blind compliance. The stakes are too high. Everyone has a role to play in shaping the world we all deserve to live in.”
As part of the ceremony, SFSU commemorated honorary doctoral degree recipients Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Tommy Orange and activist, physician and minister Ramona Tascoe (B.A., ’70). In her remarks, Tascoe echoed Bonta’s encouragement to take action.
“We must be vigilant in making certain that progress is not lost, that growth continues and that all of these wonderful students have opportunities to see the same success in their children and their grandchildren,” said Tascoe. “The world will continue to be a better place because of the rainbow of brilliance that emerges from this campus.”
The University also honored the late author and beloved SFSU Professor of History Dawn Mabalon with a posthumous honorary doctoral degree. California State University Trustee and SFSU alumnus Jose Antonio Vargas (B.A., ’04), a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, was on hand to introduce Mabalon’s sister Darleen Bohulano Mabalon, who accepted the honorary degree.
“To receive this honor in one of her favorite places, Oracle Park — home to the beloved San Francisco Giants — and from San Francisco State, the university where she poured her heart into her work, is indescribable,” Mabalon said.
Other Commencement speakers included SFSU President Lynn Mahoney, Associated Students President Brandon Foley, graduate speaker Patra Holmes and undergraduate speaker Belayneh Salilew. Cal State Student Association President Iese Esera, a first-generation college graduate, used his time at the podium to speak to his childhood self — a self who was bullied for being different.
“You might be in pain right now, but someday the pain will subside,” said Esera, who earned a B.A. in Music from SFSU in 2023 and is working toward his Master of Public Administration at the University. “You will use your voice — and your voice will soar. You might feel unwanted right now, but one day your presence and your story will inspire.”
California State University Chancellor Mildred García addressed the Commencement crowd and praised SFSU’s Class of 2025.
“Tonight, graduates: We celebrate you. We celebrate your intellect, your tenacity, your curiosity, your courage to confront and conquer any challenge, large or small, that may have stood between you and your degree,” García said. “And we stand in awe and excitement for all you will accomplish.”
More than 7,000 Gators earned their diplomas from SFSU this spring, and an estimated 31,000 graduates, family members and friends attended Commencement at Oracle Park.
The Commencement ceremony will be available to view in its entirety on SFSU’s YouTube channel.
Learn more about the University’s 2025 Commencement.
Photo by Kevin Perez
The Nursing Student Association hosted a community outreach event on May 7 at the Kelly Cullen Center in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, partnering with Hospitality House and Faces SF. About 24 graduate and undergraduate Nursing students volunteered at the event. They provided health screening on blood pressure, blood glucose, vision tests, diabetes education/support and colorectal cancer screening information to 60 – 75 community members.
Photo courtesy of Fang-yu Chou
College Corps at SFSU is accepting applications for its 2025 –2026 cohort. Full-time undergraduates can earn up to $10,000 while serving in food access, climate action or K – 12 education. It is open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and AB 540/California Dream Act students.
Please visit the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement to learn more and apply.
Photo by Paul Asper
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Ashmi Desai has won the Marcus Early Career Research Award from the College of Liberal & Creative Arts. The award will support expanding her research on journalism reporting practices in the conflict zones of India and completing her monograph, “A Story of Balance and Silence: Journalism in India’s Maoist Conflict Zones,” for a Routledge publishing. The research monograph examines the journalism reporting practices and cultures in the conflict zones of heartland India, where a civil war has been raging for more than half a century. It aims to offer insight into the manner in which Hindi-language journalists interpret their own reporting practices while also examining the coverage that they produce as they report on the country’s longest running Maoist conflict.
Professor of International Relations Amy Skonieczny has won the Marcus Transformative Research Award from the College of Liberal & Creative Arts. The award will support her project, “Populist Global Governance,” an edited volume under contract with Brill’s Global Populisms series. This work examines how populist leaders and movements reshape international norms and institutions, offering a transformative lens on the evolving dynamics of global governance. As part of the project Skonieczny will serve as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies and lecture at the University of Pavia and institutions across the European Union.
Learn more about the George and Judy Marcus Funds for Excellence in the Liberal Arts.
CampusMemo will go on hiatus after this issue. Summer issues will be published on Monday, June 16, and Monday, July 14. Weekly publication will resume with the Monday, Aug. 18, issue. During the hiatus, events can continue to be submitted to the University Calendar.
For questions, please email the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications at marcomm@sfsu.edu.
The SFSU AI Literacy Education Program will facilitate artificial intelligence (AI) workshops over the summer. Engage in guided inquiry of this emerging technology, catch up on your digital badging progress or level up your understanding of generative AI.
June courses:
- “AI Literacy Essentials: Introduction to Generative AI”: Wednesday, June 4, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- “AI Literacy Essentials: Prompting for Practical Applications”: Thursday, June 5, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
- “AI Literacy Essentials: Critical Analysis of Generative AI”: Wednesday, June 11, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- “Collaboration with Zoom AI Companion”: Thursday, June 12, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
- “Generative AI for Visual Design”: Wednesday, June 18, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- ”AI Literacy Essentials: Prompting for Practical Applications”: Wednesday, June 25, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Please visit the AI Literacy Education page for full course listings and to register.
Join SF State alumni with their longstanding tradition: the summer getaway to the Sierra Nevada Field Campus! The adventurous weekend, Thursday, Aug. 21 – Sunday, Aug. 24, will include hiking, campfires, stargazing and other scheduled activities. Come explore one of the most beautiful and wild regions of the northern Sierra Nevada. This year’s getaway includes the option to stay an additional night, Thursday Aug. 21, for an additional cost.
Staying at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus is an all-inclusive experience with camping, all meals and hot showers provided. You can stay in your own tent or vehicle, or a platform tent provided to you.
Please visit the Alumni Association website to reserve your stay.
Space is limited. For more information or questions, please email Marciana Flores at mfloresa@sfsu.edu.
SF State Spotlight
Creative Writing Professor Caro De Robertis has a new book, “So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer and Two-Spirit People of Color” (Algonquin). A review in the San Francisco Chronicle on May 7 praises their book for chronicling a gender revolution at a time when transgender people are under attack: “De Robertis’ book replaces inaccurate simplification with complex, much-needed truths.”
Read an excerpt of “So Many Stars,” published in People on May 9.
SF Hillel presented awards to President Lynn Mahoney and student Eshton Liu at a Shabbat event this month at the SF Hillel House. Mahoney won the Community Partner of the Year Award. Liu won the Student Ally of the Year Award. University of San Francisco student Bekah Mayne won the SF Hillel Leadership Award.
SF Hillel provides inclusive, innovative and fun Jewish experiences and programs for college and graduate students across San Francisco, with active communities at SFSU; University of San Francisco; University of California Law San Francisco; University of California, San Francisco; and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Read more about the awards in the SF Hillel email newsletter.
Associate Professor of Art Ilana Crispi has opened a new project space, The Good Ship Dodo, at 3234 Folsom St. in San Francisco, near Precita Park. Its debut exhibition, “Mother of Collaboration,” opened May 11 and runs through Sunday, June 15. It is open on Sundays 1 – 3 p.m. and by appointment.
“Mother of Collaboration” invites artist parents and their children to present work made collaboratively. This project centers the play and imperfection of balancing art and parenting, celebrates a new (and still developing) space, and allows people to come together in building community as artist parents with their children, each other and the neighborhood. The exhibition celebrates the innovations and discoveries possible in art when artists can present their whole selves and include their families. A catalogue will be produced, including documentation of works in progress, statements from children and parents and a guest essay by writer and curator Tanya Zimbardo.
Recreation, Parks, Tourism and Holistic Health Professors Erik Peper and Richard Harvey gave a poster presentation with students Nicholas Heinz, Singing Chen and Lorilei Tavernier at the 55th annual meeting of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, held May 14 – 17 in San Diego. Their poster is titled “Initial menstrual experiences may moderate future menstruations.”
Peper also gave an oral presentation at the meeting, titled “How Breathing Exercises Can Help Relieve Menstrual Pain in Students.”