2009-10 William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement

The California State University Employee Update
Friday, September 25, 2009
 
CSU’s Top Students Recognized for Perseverance, Commitment to Education
Several of the CSU’s most exemplary students who have overcome adversities the likes of homelessness, substance abuse and poverty were honored by the CSU’s Board of Trustees Sept. 22 for their academic achievements.

The 23 recipients of the 2009-10 William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement each received a $3,000 scholarship, and in a surprise announcement also were presented with a Sony VAIO notebook, camera and an MP3 player as part of Sony’s launch of a new education scholarship program with the CSU and other universities. Sony will also award technology packages to junior faculty members at several CSU campuses later this year.

The Hearst/Trustees’ award is among the highest forms of recognition for student achievement in the CSU. Scholars demonstrate superior academic achievements, community service, financial need and the ability to persevere through significant challenges. Two students were named Trustee Ali C. Razi Scholars and received $10,000 each. The endowment was established in 2006 by Dr. Ali C. Razi, Trustee Emeritus of the CSU Board of Trustees and a member of the CSU Foundation Board of Governors. Another two students were selected as Trustee Murray L. Galinson Scholars and each received a $6,000 award in honor of extraordinary public service to their community. In 2007, Dr. Murray L. Galinson, Trustee Emeritus and former Chair of the CSU Board of Trustees, endowed the scholarship fund.

In addition to the scholarship award, the trustees:

·         Voted unanimously to grant honorary bachelor's degrees to Japanese Americans who were enrolled at CSU campuses and forced to internment camps during World War II. The first degree was awarded posthumously to Aiko Nishi Uwate who was removed from San Francisco State University and sent to Gila River relocation camp in Arizona. Her daughter received the degree from Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-55th), author of the legislation honoring California college students affected by the internment, who made a presentation to the Trustees.
 
It is estimated that nearly 250 Americans of Japanese descent were attending CSU campuses when the order was issued in 1942 by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt which resulted in the forcible relocation of Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants living in California to internment camps. Some of these students went on to receive a university degree, but many did not. The CSU’s initiative to locate these students has received widespread press including a brief in The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/education/24brfs-SYSTEMWILLGR_BRF.html?hpw
 
·         Reviewed a preliminary plan for the 2010-2011 CSU Budget that will be submitted to the Board for approval in November. Under the plan, which calls for a State General Fund increase of $882 million above the current $2.33 billion budget, the CSU would seek, among other items, the restoration of one-time cuts that were imposed by the state in 2009-10. These one-time cuts were a $255 million line-item veto and a $50 million reduction by the legislature adopted in the original budget act of February 2009.
 
·         Heard an update on efforts to close the achievement gap in K-12 education presented by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and a review of the fourth biennial report on the CSU’s Alcohol Policies and Prevention. The report showed progress in curbing incidents of student-related alcohol consumption including decreases in students driving after consuming alcohol, alcohol-related misconduct and underage students who consume alcohol. More information.