History
California State University, San Bernardino was born on April 29, 1960, when legislation was enacted to found San Bernardino-Riverside State College. The California State College system's board of trustees selected a 430-acre site in north San Bernardino in 1963 to build the campus, and the college's official name was changed to California State College at San Bernardino.
The original three-building campus opened to its first 293 students in 1965 under the leadership of founding President John Pfau, who was appointed to the position in 1962 and set the stage for the opening of the college.
In 1967, California State College, San Bernardino celebrated its first graduating class of 59 students.
The original three-building campus added a five-story library in 1970 and its first dormitories in 1972. Growth and building continued on the campus with the addition of the student union and children's center.
The San Bernardino campus welcomed its second president in 1982, Anthony H. Evans.
The state colleges system changed its designation in 1972, becoming "The California State University and Colleges" system. After having met criteria established by the board of trustees and the Coordinating Council for Higher Education, 14 campuses were designated as "universities," while five campuses remain "colleges." The San Bernardino campus earned university status in 1984, officially becoming California State University, San Bernardino.
That same year, 1984, the university began participating in intercollegiate sports for the first time.
Throughout the 1990s and into the new century, the campus expanded with new, modern facilities. Jack H. Brown Hall opened in 1993, followed by the Yasuda Center for Extended Learning. Coussoulis Arena, the largest indoor venue in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, and the Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, home to an outstanding visual arts collection, are among the most notable buildings on campus. The most recent major addition was the new College of Social and Behavioral Sciences building, which opened in August 2002. The university's third residence hall complex opened in 2002, expanding the number of on-campus beds for students to more than 1,000.
In 1997, Albert K. Karnig took the reins as the university's third president. In the summer of 2001, the university began offering a year-round schedule of classes at the same cost as school-year classes. In December of that year, CSUSB held its first winter commencement. In 2005, the university added 11.5 acres to its size with the acquisition of property across the street from the campus for an additional student housing apartment complex.
The university opened the satellite campus Coachella Valley Center in 1986 on the grounds of the College of the Desert in Palm Desert. The first building of a permanent campus opened in Palm Desert in 2002, and expansion continues at what is now known as the Cal State San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus.