NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.     

'Desire to succeed' drives CSUSB's Cybersecurity Center Director Vincent Nestler
Redlands-Loma Linda Patch
Oct. 31, 2022
The CSUSB Cybersecurity Center’s mission “is to provide not only an excellent education, but unparalleled opportunities and training for the next generation of cybersecurity leaders,” according to Vincent Nestler, director of the center.

Since 2008, Cal State San Bernardino has been doing its part, and much more, through its pioneering Cybersecurity Center. A national model for excellence in cybersecurity education, the center’s mission “is to provide not only an excellent education, but unparalleled opportunities and training for the next generation of cybersecurity leaders,” according to Nestler.

Nestler, an associate professor in the Department of Information and Decision Sciences, joined CSUSB in 2012, and with him, brought a healthy dose of ganas, a Spanish word meaning “a desire to succeed.” (It’s also a term made popular by teacher Jaime Escalante in the movie “Stand and Deliver,” Nestler points out.)

Are the Proud Boys growing in the Sacramento region?
CBS13 Sacramento
Oct. 26, 2022

Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was quoted in an article about a conservative speaking event hosted by a student organization at UC Davis being canceled due to safety concerns after a brawl broke out involving members of the Proud Boys, a known extremist group.
Levin said the Proud Boys, and extremist groups like them, seek out college campuses and cities that are "liberal" to make a point.

"Proud Boys often will have different chapters come together and show up in a particular region. They often come armed with weapons and sometimes with helmets. The insurrection was not a one-off for the Proud Boys," said Levin.

Pelosi's San Francisco home has long-drawn unwanted attention
Politico via MSN News
Oct. 29, 2022

An article about the attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi included a quote from Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

Levin said in an interview that he has tracked “a real toxic brew that is different from what it was like even in recent years,” with conspiracy theorists, often stoked by social media, directing their ire toward an “intertwined, attached set of villains” in public life. Pelosi figures prominently among them.

“Now we’re seeing eliminationist language,” Levin said. “It’s not just, ‘Nancy Pelosi has failed policies, don’t make America like San Francisco. Now it’s: ‘Nancy Pelosi and her ilk are existential enemies who must be eliminated.’”

Column: ‘It’s getting worse,’ CSUSB professor says of the Pelosi attack
Los Angeles Times
Oct. 29, 2022

Columnist Anita Chabria, writing about the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, quoted Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

“This is not stopping,” Levin said. “It’s getting worse and the insurrection was just a major interchange on that freeway, not a dead end by any means.”

Column: Elon Musk takes Twitter exactly where we thought he would — into the sewer
Los Angeles Times
Oct. 30, 2022

Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed for an article by columnist Anita Chabria, who wrote about the confluence of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and conspiracy theories circulating on social media.

“Companies have the right to establish their terms of operation, but when some are so big and influential, it’s important that they act with a sense of civic responsibility,” Levin said. “And if not, the law should regulate them to the extent it can be done without violating the 1st Amendment.”

Levin added, “The new standard bearer of the company is setting the tone that Twitter will be a place where misinformation and targeted rumors can circulate with the approval of the man behind the curtain.”

The quote was also cited in a Salon article, “Elon Musk uses Twitter to push Pelosi attack conspiracy theory that’s quickly debunked by police.”

Community rattled by another antisemitic flyer incident
Beverly Hills Courier
Oct. 27, 2022

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, was interviewed for an article about dozens of anti-Semitic leaflets that were left in neighborhoods in Beverly Hills, Westwood and Beverly Grove recently, in the aftermath of anti-Semitic statements by Kanye West.

“We’re already seeing public displays of anti-Semitism become tolerated,” Levin said. “Even if you have poor atmospherics, but there’s a lot of dry kindling, having prominent influencers throw a lot of matches onto it brings it to another level.”

These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”