A Moment with President Tomás Morales – April 2023

As we head into the final weeks of our spring semester, I wanted to take this month’s blog to share with you some of our student achievements as well as a time-honored CSUSB tradition celebrating our world-class faculty.

I am proud to begin with a shout-out to our Men’s Basketball Team which has performed superbly this academic year. They made it all the way to an NCAA Division II semifinal game—the Final Four!—before they were defeated by the No. 1 team in the country, Nova Southeastern. Nevertheless, they set a program record for most wins in a season. What an outstanding group of student-athletes!

Here are their key accomplishments for the 2022-23 academic year:

• Only team to 30+ wins in CSUSB History.
• Only team to 3,000 points in CSUSB History.
• Undefeated at home (11-0).
• Four CCAA Players of the Week.
• Five All-CCAA Selections, including four First Team.
• CCAA Defender of the Year.
• CCAA Newcomer of the Year.
• CCAA Coach of the Year.
• CCAA Regular Season Champions.
• CCAA Tournament Champions.
• Ended No. 4 Point Loma's 25-game win streak in front of a sold-out crowd at their home.
• NCAA West Region Champions.
• All-time CSUSB three-point record holder.
• Back-to-back All-American.
• NCAA Final Four Appearance.

My congratulations to all the players for their hard work this year, to Coach Andy Newman and his coaching team, and to the department of Athletics.

Also, in case you didn’t know, our student-athletes are as committed to achieving in the classroom as they are on the court or the track or the field. Their coaches work with them so that the skills they acquire in each area reinforce one another. It is not an either-or situation but rather a both-and. I take great pride not only in the Men’s Basketball Team but also in all our athletic teams.

CSUSB’s 12th annual Meeting of the Minds student research symposium is scheduled for Thursday, April 13, 2023. This is a terrific opportunity to celebrate and spotlight the outstanding scholarly and creative accomplishments of both our undergraduate and graduate students.  We know that participating in projects such as these, and building engagement between faculty and students, is a booster of student success. My congratulations go to all of the student participants and their faculty mentors, and my thanks to the Office of Student Research for holding this important event.

The spring semester is the time of the academic year when we present our faculty members with campus-wide awards, as selected by a committee of their peers. The Golden Apple teaching award was presented to Dr. Stuart Sumida (Biology) on February 23, 2023; the Outstanding Service Award was presented to Dr. Jeremy Murray (History) on February 27, 2023; and the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award was presented to Dr. Sharon Pierce (Public Administration) on March 14, 2023. Remaining awards this spring include: Outstanding Professor on April 10, 2023, and Outstanding Lecturer (date pending). These faculty awards are a wonderful CSUSB tradition, and I love the opportunity to step into a classroom and present the surprise award to the faculty member, in front of their own students (who may have had a hand in that faculty member’s nomination, too).

Until next time—