Leadership Minor Grad Wins SDSU’s Zahn Spirit of Innovation Award

By Jeff Ristine

Ghana seemed to offer everything Chasejamison Akilah Manar-Spears needed to clear her mind and break away from the San Diego State University campus for a while.

And it did. As she connected with her roots, she developed a commitment to environmental and social justice that helped lead to her selection as SDSU’s Zahn Spirit of Innovation award recipient for 2020. Its effect on her life, however, is just beginning.

SDSU Names Wood Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity

San Diego State University Chief Diversity Officer J. Luke Wood, the Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Education in the College of Education, has been selected to serve as Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity. Wood will begin transitioning into the position effective May 26, 2020 and assume full duties for the newly combined division on June 15, 2020.

SDSU President Adela de la Torre announced Wood’s appointment in a campus notice, indicating that Wood will oversee the newly formed Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, which unites the Division of Diversity and Innovation and the Division of Student Affairs.

#SDSUGrad Spotlight: Kate McClure

By Michael Klitzing

San Diego State University’s community has shown its true resilience during this unprecedented and difficult time in human history. 

Graduates from the Class of 2020, in particular, have risen to the challenge. 

In this series, we highlight graduates as they prepare to embark on the next chapter of their lives, including those who have secured jobs and internships or are moving into advanced studies. SDSU Career Services continues to offer resources for students, including the new online career platform Handshake and expanded virtual programming and advising. 

Kate McClure 
Major: Child and Family Development 

COMMENTARY: Anti-Asian Hate in Light of COVID-19 Hurts All of Us

By Dr. Cristian R. Aquino-Sterling

"I cannot afford the luxury of fighting one form of oppression only. I cannot afford to believe that freedom from intolerance is the right of only one particular group. And I cannot afford to choose between the fronts upon which I must battle these forces of discrimination, wherever they appear to destroy me. And when they appear to destroy me, it will not be long before they appear to destroy you." 

—Audrey Lorde

As an inclusive, responsive and socially impactful College of Education community, it is our responsibility to denounce ideas and condemn actions that disaffirm the inherent value and dignity of all human beings. Exercising this responsibility is even more significant during challenging times such as these: when we continue to witness how the racialization of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an upsurge of racist attacks against East Asians, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders across the world and the U.S.

Loh-Hagan Designs Elementary Education Curriculum for New PBS Series

By Lainie Fraser

PBS has begun airing a new five-part documentary series called “Asian Americans” and thanks in part to a San Diego State University faculty member, students across the country can follow along with the series in class.

The series spotlights individual lives and personal histories of a population the 2010 U.S. Census identified as the nation’s fastest-growing racial/ethnic group, exploring its impact on the country’s past, present and future.

Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan, Liberal Studies program director at SDSU and a faculty member in the School of Teacher Education, led a curriculum team of K-6 educators in writing lesson plans that align with the series. Loh-Hagan was selected by Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ) to lead the elementary curriculum team on this project, which was supported by a grant.

COE GRADS 2020: Celebrating Another SDSU Graduation — 26 Years Later

Meet Tracy Lee Provins, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate in the School of Teacher Education. She chose Dr. Lisa Lamb as her most influential faculty member.

COE GRADS 2020: Student's Experience With Disability Instills a Passion to Help Others

Meet Greg Hoffman, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate from the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education. He chose Dr. Charles Degeneffe as his most influential faculty member.

COE GRADS 2020: A Dream Achieved and a Promise Kept

Meet Dr. Darielle Blevins, who was named the 2020 Outstanding Student for the Joint Ph.D. Program in Education.

COE GRADS 2020: Counselor Seeks to Remove Barriers to Student Success

Meet Sofia Robles, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate in the Department of Counseling and School Psychology. She chose Ashley Kruger as her most influential faculty member.

COE GRADS 2020: Taking Learning Beyond the Classroom

Meet Katie Dennison, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate (undergrad) in the Department of Child and Family Development. She chose Dr. Rachel Haine-Schlagel as her most influential faculty member.

COE GRADS 2020: Future Teacher Gains New Perspectives and New Confidence

Meet Megan Hanna, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate in the Liberal Studies program. She chose Paul Justice and Ian Ruston as her most influential faculty members.

COE GRADS 2020: Inspired to Be A Voice for Change

Meet Amber Riehman, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate in the Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education. She chose Dr. Cristina Alfaro as her most influential faculty member.

COE GRADS 2020: An Unlikely Educational Journey

Meet Craig Bowden, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate in the Department of Educational Leadership. He chose Dr. James Wright as his most influential faculty member.

COE GRADS 2020: A Teacher Discovers her Knack for Research

Meet Rise Richard, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate from the Department of Special Education. She chose Dr. Yasemin Turan-Qian as her most influential faculty member.

COE GRADS 2020: A Champion for Early Childhood Mental Health

Meet Hannah Zimmerman, the 2020 Outstanding Graduate (grad student) for the Department of Child and Family Development. She chose Dr. Lisa Linder as her most influential faculty member.