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SF State and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts: partners in culture and resistance

Against the odds, two San Francisco institutions have long collaborated on a grassroots level 

“You’re a stranger now in your home town / With strange faces on once familiar streets.”  

These lines from San Francisco State University Professor Emeritus Alejandro Murguía’s poem “Silicon City” evoke the feelings of many residents of San Francisco’s Mission District, where gentrification has torn apart the community for decades. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts remains a fixture despite the changes, and it wouldn’t have happened without artists and activists like Murguía. 

“As a marginalized community and community of color, we’re always going to be held to different standards,” said Murguía, the center’s inaugural director who later would earn two degrees from San Francisco State. “And so we always have to come out on top — sobre pasar, go above them — in our talent and our skill and our ability to organize our community so that we can survive.” 

Established in 1977 as inequity and displacement had taken shape in the neighborhood, the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) provides a full array of free, affordable classes and programming that cover Chicanos, Central and South America and the Caribbean. More than 10,000 people visit every month. Housed in a 37,500-square-foot building honored on the Historic Register of Historic Places, the MCCLA includes an art gallery and studios, a print shop, classrooms and a theatre. It also plays key roles in the annual Carnaval, offering music and dance courses to teach people to perform in the parade. 

“Coming out of the civil rights movement, people of color were finding their voice in this country. Activists were fighting for ethnic studies programs,” said Martina Ayala, MCCLA executive director. “Thanks to those artists and community activists, we can look back at the Mission District and find multiple anchor institutions that were established by young students, many of them at SFSU, who had a long-lasting impact.” 

Coinciding with student activism at SF State in the 1960s, organizers made a major push for the San Francisco government to establish community centers throughout the city. Murguía (B.A., ’90; MFA, ’92), fellow future SF State Latina/Latino Studies Professor Carlos Cordova (B.A., ’74; M.A., ’79) and other students were among those organizing in the Mission.  

“All these cultural celebrations we enjoy today are great, but the history behind them, they came at a cost. And they came at a cost that many college students paid,” Ayala said. “And I can’t thank them enough for their courage to fight for what they believed in.” 

Over the years many SF State faculty have selected the MCCLA as the venue to feature their creative work. Professor Emeritus Carlos Barón (M.A., ’88), once the MCCLA theatre and dance coordinator, premiered his play “Death and the Artist” there. Music Lecturer John Calloway (M.A., ’03) has been performing at the center for decades.  Murguía says it continues to serve community needs in multiple ways despite existential challenges to the Mission. Gentrification remains the most persistent in the once workin

Over the years many SF State faculty have selected the MCCLA as the venue to feature their creative work. Professor Emeritus Carlos Barón (M.A., ’88), once the MCCLA theatre and dance coordinator, premiered his play “Death and the Artist” there. Music Lecturer John Calloway (M.A., ’03) has been performing at the center for decades. 

Murguía says it continues to serve community needs in multiple ways despite existential challenges to the Mission. Gentrification remains the most persistent in the once working-class neighborhood, which was at its peak majority Latina/Latino but continues to decline. 

“It’s a real hotbed of community activism and culture and helps ground the Mission District community through all these phases of gentrification that it’s gone through the past 47 years the cultural center has been around,” he said. “Nationally, it’s a huge magnet for artists from other parts of the country, and even Latin America, to show up in San Francisco and have a place immediately that grounds them in their art, that supports them in their art, that allows them a foundation.” 

MCCLA and SF State faculty and students continue to share a symbiotic relationship, promoting similar grassroots and progressive values. The center frequently employs SF State students as interns, including several this year. SF State Dean of Students Miguel Ángel Hernández has been invited to join the center’s board of directors.  

“Any cultural event that we create — whether it’s a poetry reading, a gallery exhibit, a Carnaval, a music concert — it’s all part of not just our resistance to the antagonism to our community, but an affirmation that we have been here longer than the Pilgrims,” Murguía said. “And that’s super important that we realize that. Every act of culture, whether it’s a mural or a poetry reading, is in fact an act of resistance — doubly so, in our times, when not just our community is being attacked, but arts, reading, literature and books are under assault.” 

MCCLA’s city-owned building needs much maintenance, which will force it to move temporarily beginning July 1. Ayala says she and other MCCLA supporters are using their activism skills to ensure the city government provides written assurance that allows them to return to the city-owned building once retrofit and repairs are completed, honoring the rent of $1 per year.

“I always tell people that the Mission Cultural Center is the hospital of the soul,” Ayala said. “And we all know that during the pandemic, without the arts we would not have been able to survive. When we’re confined in a space, we need to find a spirit.” 

Learn more about SF State’s Latina/Latino Department. 

A bright outlook for the year ahead at SFSU

Faculty and staff join in community at annual Opening Convocation ceremony 

With a new school year about to begin, the outlook at San Francisco State University is bright. Our faculty and staff joined in community on Aug. 21 for the Opening Convocation, a traditional academic ceremony celebrating each new academic year. The event took place in McKenna Theatre and was streamed live.  

In his speech, Associated Students President Brandon Foley talked about his appreciation for the dedication of our Gator faculty and staff, encouraging a continued focus on the wellbeing of our students.  

“While we continue our advocacy and fight for justice and a better San Francisco State in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., never underestimate the good you can do in a single day right here on campus,” said Foley, a graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The extension you give to a student because they’re going through a rough patch in life might be the reason they stay enrolled next semester. That office birthday celebration — which by the way, if you’re thinking of doing it, definitely do it — could be the highlight of someone’s day. The resources you decide to share, even though if it’s not specifically a part of your job, could be someone’s lifeline, for real. These choices you make aren’t just kindness — They’re changing lives one step at a time.” 

In SFSU President Lynn Mahoney’s annual address on the state of the University, she discussed opportunities to prepare students for careers that will require skills in artificial intelligence and strategies to boost enrollment. 

“We will lean into what makes SFSU distinctive, in ways that the purpose-driven young people of today and tomorrow can relate to,” Mahoney said. “A university that embraces its responsibility for post-collegiate outcomes. A university that transforms lives and promises upward mobility. A university where equity, innovation and community meet.” 

Other speakers included California Faculty Association chapter President Brad Erickson, CSU Employees Union chapter President Christine Hintermann, Staff Council President Dylan Mooney and Academic Senate Chair Jackson Wilson. Administrators welcomed the four new tenure-track faculty members joining the Gators this year. 

Convocation also featured an awards ceremony honoring our distinguished faculty and staff:  

  • Excellence in Service (Staff): Myla Adeva, senior credential analyst in the Graduate College of Education 
  • Excellence in Teaching (Lecturer): Daniel Ciomek, lecturer faculty in Information Systems 
  • Excellence in Teaching (Tenured): Rama Ali Kased, associate professor of Race and Resistance Studies 
  • Excellence in Professional Achievement (Tenured): Anthony Pahnke, associate professor of International Relations 
  • Excellence in Service (Tenured): Jackson Wilson, professor of Recreation, Parks and Tourism; president of the SFSU Academic Senate  

Foley, the Associated Students president, ended his speech with a rallying call to get things going: “Now let’s make it matter. Thank you so much and go Gators!” 

Visit the Academic Senate website to learn more about the Opening Convocation.  

Jackson Wilson speaks from a San Francisco State University lectern while wearing a suit and tie

Jackson Wilson, Academic Senate president 

SFSU names Cassie Miura the Takahashi Distinguished Chair in Nikkei Studies

Miura will focus on advancing awareness, understanding and appreciation of Japanese American experiences

SAN FRANCISCO — June 17, 2025 — San Francisco State University has named incoming Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies Cassie Miura as the inaugural Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Distinguished Chair in Nikkei Studies. Miura's role as chair begins August 2025 and will focus on advancing the awareness, understanding and appreciation of Japanese American experiences.

In May 2024, SFSU announced a $4.2 million gift from the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation to establish the Takahashi Distinguished Chair in Nikkei Studies. This faculty position is the first endowed chair in the University’s College of Ethnic Studies. It is also the first in the Asian American Studies department, which is the oldest and largest in the country and is at the forefront of curriculum development used by schools and universities nationwide.

“We are deeply honored to have Dr. Miura join our faculty and play a critical role in advancing Nikkei Studies,” SFSU College of Ethnic Studies Dean Grace Yoo said. “With her extensive background in Asian American Studies, particularly in Japanese American and Nikkei literature as well as Okinawan diasporic identity, Cassie will be instrumental to our college and University.”

Nikkei Studies centers the history, culture and experiences of the global Japanese diaspora and its intersectional communities. In Miura’s role, she will focus on increasing awareness, understanding and appreciation of the historical and contemporary experiences of Japanese Americans and the worldwide Nikkei diaspora. 

“One major aspect of this position is focusing on strengthening the relationship between the University and the broader community,” SFSU Professor and Chair of Asian American Studies Wesley Ueunten said. “Dr. Miura will help strengthen that relationship so people within and outside our campus community have opportunities to engage with and learn about Nikkei Studies.”

Other duties include:

  • Collaborating and exchanging ideas with national and international scholars in Nikkei Studies
  • Leading the development of curricula and resources for teaching Nikkei Studies at the university and K-12 school levels nationwide
  • Advancing frameworks of social justice and self-determination in advancing Nikkei Studies
  • Promoting Nikkei Studies on campus and engaging with the Nikkei community in the Bay Area and beyond

“This position is an opportunity of a lifetime, and I’m eager to build relationships and get to work. On one hand, the history of World War II Japanese American incarceration remains vital to understanding contemporary issues, especially the rise of anti-Asian and xenophobic racism in the United States today,” Miura said. “On the other hand, I regard Nikkei Studies as an evolving transnational field with room to engage more deeply with feminist, queer and Indigenous perspectives. Given the longstanding commitment to self-determination on the part of SFSU’s College of Ethnic Studies, I can think of no better place to situate my work”

Prior to coming to SFSU, Miura was an associate teaching professor of culture, arts and communication in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma. There she also served as director of grants and special projects for the Office of Equity and Inclusion and co-principal investigator of the AAPI THRIVE Project, which was funded by a $2 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education’s AANAPISI (Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions) Program. 

Miura holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan, and her research and teaching interests include Okinawan diasporic identity, Japanese American and Nikkei literature and more. Miura is a yonsei (fourth generation) Okinawan and Japanese American born on the island of Kauaʻi and raised mostly in the Pacific Northwest.

Visit the SFSU website to learn more about the Asian American Studies Department.

SF State Asian American Studies professor receives prestigious CSU Wang Family Excellence Award

Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales earns accolade for excellence in teaching, scholarship and service

San Francisco State University Asian American Studies Professor Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales has been honored with one of the most prestigious awards faculty can receive in the California State University (CSU) system.

Earlier today at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting, Tintiangco-Cubales was recognized as one of five winners of the Wang Family Excellence Award. Each year, the CSU recognizes four faculty and one staff member with this award for their unwavering commitment to student achievement and advancing the CSU mission through excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

“Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales is an exemplar of student-centered pedagogy, including creative and innovative curriculum and teaching methods,” San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney said. “Colleagues across the College of Ethnic Studies look to her teaching as a model for how to engage and innovate in the classroom — from elementary to high school students and doctoral students.”

Tintiangco-Cubales has been an SF State faculty member for over two decades, serving as a teacher-leader both on campus and off. While she has many teaching philosophies, she says her most important one is to humanize learning by seeing students as their authentic selves.

“I truly try to see each one of my students as humans. I try to see what they come in with and try to be as understanding as possible,” Tintiangco-Cubales said. “They come along with experiences, and that oftentimes means the exchange of education is back and forth. I’m not the only one with the knowledge to give them.”

That philosophy has proven to be impactful for many students, including Asian American Studies graduate student Jeanelle Daus.

“As an educator, ate Allyson allows for her students to narrate, analyze and connect their own experiences with each other and to the larger field of Asian American studies,” Daus said. (Ate means “big sister” in Tagalog.) “Through this connection, she helps me remember that I am whole and that everything I have learned is real and rooted in this reality, thus supporting me in my endeavors to create the change I wish to see within my world and my community.”

Beyond her unique teaching philosophies, Tintiangco-Cubales has achieved many other accomplishments at SF State. She developed and taught nine different undergraduate and graduate courses in Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies. She also teaches seminars in the Educational Doctoral Program and supports teaching ethnic studies each semester to more than 150 students in Step to College, a program focused on increasing the number of first-generation and historically underrepresented students who attend college.

Outside of SF State, Tintiangco-Cubales has used her expertise to transform the K – 12 ethnic studies curriculum at local, state and national levels. She has worked with districts and schools across the country to advocate for the institutionalization and implementation of ethnic studies, and to provide pedagogical and curricular development and support. 

Tintiangco-Cubales received her bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley, and her doctorate in Education at University of California, Los Angeles.

Learn more about Asian American Studies at SF State.

Speaker Emerita Pelosi addresses SF State community at annual Opening Convocation

Welcome event also features remarks by SF supervisors, President Mahoney, other University leaders  

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was a surprise guest at San Francisco State University’s Opening Convocation on Aug. 17, taking part in the ceremonial tradition welcoming faculty and staff to a new year on campus. 

Pelosi began her speech in McKenna Theatre by acknowledging the vital roles of University employees. 

“We have to make sure we are paying our workers well as we sing our praises,” Pelosi said in front of an audience of hundreds. “We want to make sure we respect them.”  

She also praised San Francisco State for its dedication to social justice and democracy. 

“Right now, we have to make sure with all of the challenges that are out there to our democracy and democracy worldwide, that we make decisions that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for all. San Francisco State is about all of that,” Pelosi said. “So I’m proud to bring you greetings from the Congress with respect for you, for the students, for the families, with gratitude to all of you. And just one last thing: Go Gators!” 

Pelosi was not the only elected official in attendance. Two members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Rafael Mandelman and Shamann Walton (MPA, ’10), were also on hand.  

Mandelman said he is optimistic that today’s college students will graduate prepared to face the myriad challenges in society. 

“I, and the city and county of San Francisco, are grateful that you all have chosen to prepare to lead the students here into that non-dystopian future that we all hope remains achievable,” Mandelman said. 

Walton said he is proud to not only have graduated from SF State himself, but also to be the parent of two Gator alumni. He discussed the value of education as “the No. 1 thing that can never be taken away from us.” 

“As Malcolm X said, ‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today,’” Walton said. “Your work this year and continuing, of course, is preparing the brightest minds for success ... and [to] change the world.” 

In her remarks, SF State President Lynn Mahoney highlighted SF State’s dedication to focusing on students.  

“I am deeply proud of the ways in which San Francisco State serves as a model of excellence in innovation in teaching, academic innovation and research,” Mahoney said. “Strengthening student learning is a priority for all here.” 

Mahoney also noted the University remains committed to eliminating equity and opportunity gaps among underrepresented populations. 

“The greatest demonstration of our commitment to social justice starts here,” she said. “It starts at home by increasing the success of our students, especially our Black, Latinx, low-income and first-generation students.” 

Other speakers included: Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Amy Sueyoshi, Professor of Biology and Academic Senate Chair Michael A. Goldman, Associated Students President Ersa Rao, California Faculty Association SF State Chapter President Brad Erickson, Staff Council Chair Dylan Mooney and CSU Employees Union SF State Chapter President Sandee Noda. The deans of SF State’s academic colleges and the University librarian introduced 34 new tenure-track faculty members. 

Convocation also featured an awards ceremony honoring distinguished faculty and staff, presented by Neda Nobari (B.S., ’84), board chair of the SF State Foundation. This year’s winners:  

  • Excellence in Teaching (Tenured): Paul Beckman, Information Systems 

  • Excellence in Teaching (Lecturer): Mohammad HajiAboli, Engineering 

  • Excellence in Professional Achievement (Tenured): Dianthe “Dee” Spencer, Theatre and Dance 

  • Excellence in Service (Tenured): Nancy Gerber, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

  • Excellence in Service (Staff): Phonita Yuen, Metro College Success Program 

Learn more about the Opening Convocation on the Academic Senate website. 

SF State alumni, faculty find camaraderie in Writers Guild of America strike

‘Better Call Saul’ executive story editor Marion Dayre is an SF State lecturer, and she brought two of her former students to the picket lines 
 

For many San Francisco State University graduates with Hollywood dreams, moving to Los Angeles is a move for opportunity. While the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has brought production to a halt industrywide since May, two former San Francisco State students have placed themselves on the picket lines alongside one of their faculty mentors.  

“It’s history in the making, so why wouldn’t you want to be there and try to make a change?” said Barbara Burgues, a Venezuela native who attended SF State in 2021 and now lives in Los Angeles with goals of producing, writing and directing. 

Her former SF State classmate Armando Jimenez picketed with her. Jimenez (B.A., ’22) is an aspiring screenwriter and director who moved to Southern California in the spring. 

“It’s natural for me to join the picket line. I get to fight for my future,” he said. “Especially since I’m hoping to get a job somewhere in that field; I hope to be able to afford the roof over my head.” 

Burgues and Jimenez were invited to the picket line by Marion Dayre, a lecturer in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts and executive story editor on the Emmy Award-winning “Better Call Saul.” (Streaming soon: She is the head writer on Marvel’s “Echo” and co-showrunner on Amazon Prime’s “Wytches.”)  

Dayre structures her “Television and Video Program Design” class to simulate the full preproduction process of developing a series for streaming. Writing is a major element, but students also learn to build a pitch and other tricks of the trade. As a rising star on the front lines, Dayre tells her students what conversations are like in the writers’ rooms and network executive suites, with self-care in mind. 

“If students are asking if they’re capable, I hope they would be able to find that assurance going through the process of the class,” Dayre said. “What I try to pass along is the importance of self-care as a writer. Knowing that we’re in a community with our anxieties, we don’t have to harbor them alone and navigate them alone. I try to come and be real.”

But then comes the question of existential doom: Is it a good time to move to Los Angeles to break into the industry? 

“It’s always risky and it’s always full of rewards. And I think now’s as good a time as any,” Dayre said. “I moved to LA during the last strike [in 2007 – 2008]. And everything worked out.” 

David Pollock marches on the picket line with a sign reading Writers Guild of America on Strike! with handwritten text I Have No Words

Alumnus David Pollock marches on the picket line. This year’s WGA strike is the fifth that he has participated in.

Shrinking seasons, shrinking compensation 

WGA members are striking to seek increases and equity in pay, improvements in work conditions and job security, measures to prevent harassment and discrimination, and the regulation of material generated with artificial intelligence. The guild is bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. 

“When I was watching television in the 1950s, there were 39 episodes a season. The same shows were on year after year, and they were all advertiser-driven,” said David Pollock (B.A., ’61), a retired Emmy Award-winning writer from classic programs such as “Frasier,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Carol Burnett Show” and “M*A*S*H*.” 

“Over the decades, incrementally, the number of episodes shrunk as the business expanded,” added Pollock, now retired but still a frequent WGA picketer. “We’re just burning up content faster and faster with shorter attention spans.” 

‘Another pause for the greater good’ 

Dayre says the camaraderie that it takes to write a quality script begins in the writers room and continues on the picket line, where she is a captain. 

“We had a slowdown during COVID, and now it comes time to take another pause for the greater good,” said Dayre, who has taught at SF State since 2021 and been a WGA member since 2014. “You’re never guaranteed the next job or the next spot, but you are guaranteed the ability to learn from brilliant writers and to help them when you can.” 

Jimenez says picketing has been a fun way to effect change and learn about the business side of entertainment. As an extra motion of solidarity, one day he brought two cases of water for the protestors. 

“I’m not a WGA member and, fortunately, you don’t have to be a WGA member to join the picket line. Nobody minds at all,” said Jimenez, who interns in project development for Dayre. “They have such a great community of people. I don’t usually see something so tight-knit where an entire huge group of people go, ‘Oh, we’re going to go on strike. We’re all going to do this.’ Plus, spending time with someone like Marion, it gives me comfort for the future.” 

Burgues only spent one semester at SF State, but it’s changed her life. She credits the University for sparking her creativity, and Dayre is a vital inspiration. 

“She’s just so understanding of how hard it can be to get into this industry, and it’s very easy talking to her,” Burgues said. “If it weren’t for her, I don’t think I would have had the courage to tell my parents, like, ‘Hey I’m going to be a writer and leave everything behind and just be a struggling international student.’ And I do not regret it at all.” 

Learn more about the SF State Broadcast and Electronic Commuinication Arts Department. 

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