#SFSU125

‘A magical experience’: SFSU alumni share their greatest Gator memories

Matt Itelson — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 14:51:35 +0000

‘A magical experience’: SFSU alumni share their greatest Gator memories

Author: Matt Itelson

October 31, 2024

Photo Credit: Willie Brown (second from left) stands with three other students on the then-new SF State campus by Lake Merced in the 1950s. Courtesy of the University Archives/J. Paul Leonard Library.

For 125 years, a ‘harmonic convergence’ at SF State has brought together students of many backgrounds for education, justice and social mobility

For countless Gator alumni, San Francisco State University has provided them with some of their most vivid memories: the crushes, the “aha” moments, the life-changing lectures, labs and professors.

As San Francisco State celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, the University put out a call to alumni to share their greatest memories on campus. We also take a look back at notable quotes by alumni over the years in SF State Magazine and the 1999 Centennial magazine, published for the University’s 100th anniversary.

Willie L. Brown Jr. (B.A., ’55), former mayor of San Francisco

By my sophomore year I was already heavily involved in politicking, getting students elected to student government. Also, I lived in housing that the school rented in Potrero Hill. I paid $14 a month rent, but the food program we had to organize ourselves. We had a treasurer, a secretary, someone responsible for buying the food. We ran our complex.

Laureen Chew (B.A., ’70; M.A., ’72), professor emerita of Asian American Studies

[The Third World Liberation Front student strike of 1968 and 1969] was an impassioned plea for change. It altered my life completely, not just as a student, but as a person. We felt we had to go on strike; we had no other choice.

Linda Yelnick (B.A., ’70), music booking agent

I really had fun attending SF State during the year of the Summer of Love, 1967, and the late ’60s. Now so many years later, I am still and always will be this “flower child” on the inside, and I wish peace and love to everyone. I have always been so honored and proud to have been a student there during its tumultuous late ’60s and now as an alumna. GGF Go Gators Forever :).

Dan Gonzales (B.A., ’74), professor emeritus of Asian American Studies

I don’t know what it is about SF State. [During the strike], there was a harmonic convergence — there were a lot of really interesting people that just happened to coincide on the campus, on both sides, and [the strike] probably wouldn’t have happened at any other time or with a different group of people.

Courtesy of Linda Yelnick

Courtesy of Annette Bening

Annette Bening (B.A., ’80), Academy Award-nominated actress

I knew I loved acting, but at San Francisco State, I got the chance to develop that love. I am so grateful for the safe, challenging environment I had in which to educate myself, develop my aspirations and, most importantly, a place where I could practice and learn how to trust and value my own individual creative instincts.

Dan Button (B.S., ’83), high school teacher

In the spring of 1982, I saw a girl walk her bike across campus to the student union. ... I found out she worked at a snack bar in the basement, but I was kind of shy, so I got in line and ordered a bagel just to get the chance to talk to her. ... Finally, I found the nerve to ask her out and, unbelievably, she said yes. Three months later, on a beach in Mexico, I asked Jamie to marry me. We were married two years later. I received more than an outstanding education at State. I also got the woman of my dreams, the mother of my children and my best friend.

Rina Ayuyang (B.A., ’98), comics artist

I lived near campus and would walk down the halls a lot. ... I remember one evening I stumbled upon this one event that was happening in the Creative Arts building. It was a smaller event room. There was this Filipino ensemble playing “Dahil Sayo (Because of You),” which is a Filipino ballad. It was a very film-noir scene actually, this woman singing this Filipino romantic ballad that I just came and found myself in. And it was a very magical experience.

Photo of Chinomnso Okorie by Deanne Fitzmaurice

Chinomnso Okorie (B.S., ’17; M.S., ’19), data scientist

[Volunteering at the SFSU Women’s Center], I became so hyperaware of the fact that Black women suffered the most disparities in terms of birth outcomes. I slowly started to fall in love with reproductive health because nobody talks about these things. I was like, “Oh my gosh — I found my niche!”

Join the SFSU Alumni Association.

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SF State graduate founded America’s longest-running Juneteenth celebration

Matt Itelson — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 15:00:00 +0000

SF State graduate founded America’s longest-running Juneteenth celebration

Author: Matt Itelson

June 12, 2024

Photo Credit: From left: Wesley Johnson, an unidentified woman and blues musician T-Bone Walker in the Texas Playhouse nightclub. Courtesy of the Wesley Johnson Jr. Collection.

Wesley Johnson was a 1930s student activist before becoming a seminal entrepreneur in San Francisco’s Fillmore District

For the second time ever, the San Francisco State University campus will close on June 19 for Juneteenth. The festivities in San Francisco for the new federal holiday — which commemorates the emancipation of African American enslaved persons — have been rededicated to their founder, a San Francisco State alumnus named Wesley Johnson.

In 1945, Johnson created what would become the longest continuously running Juneteenth celebration in America. The native Texan announced it in grandiose fashion, riding a white stallion in the street and inviting passersby to celebrate at his Fillmore District nightclub. Nineteen years later, he established the Juneteenth parade in San Francisco, leading the way again on a white horse in his signature 10-gallon white Stetson cowboy hat to set off a three-day festival. This year the parade took place on June 8, alongside a month filled with festivals in several neighborhoods.

SF State alumna Melina Jones, who has served on the committee for the Juneteenth parade and festival, learned about Johnson when researching the history of the holiday for her annual “BlaCOEUR” Juneteenth event.

“I just got so excited about him and his legacy in the Fillmore during the Harlem of the West era of the ’40s and ’50s,” said Jones, a designer and rap artist born and raised in San Francisco. “I was incredibly proud just to be from here and to know that I get to be from a region where there are all of these innovators who are just brilliant cultural engineers.”

Wesley Johnson was born in 1908 in Galveston, Texas — the same city where Juneteenth celebrations began on June 19, 1866, one year after a Union Army general issued an order informing Texans that enslaved persons were now free. Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, it took two and a half years for the news to spread and for abolition to be enforced.

After World War I, when Johnson was still a teenager, he and his family moved to San Francisco. Due to racist housing covenants and redlining, African Americans were welcome to live in only three of the city’s neighborhoods; the Johnson family settled in the Fillmore District. He entered San Francisco State College when the campus was located on Haight Street with about 1,100 students, very few of them Black.

Several archival news clippings from the Golden Gater student newspaper, available in the University Archives in the J. Paul Leonard Library, highlight Johnson’s engagement in student life. In fall 1931, pledges from the Delta Sigma Theta sorority threw him a party to celebrate the birth of his second son. “Oh yes, all I need now is three more and I will have a basketball team!” Johnson quipped.

As president of the International Relations Club, Johnson directed “The Big Broadcast,” a live variety show on campus in the 1930s. Tickets were 20 cents each. “Do you want to witness the greatest show ever given at State?” Johnson said in the Golden Gater to promote the show.

SF State Associate Librarian Meredith Eliassen, the University’s archivist, notes that Johnson launched one of the first student organizations for African Americans. In 1935 he created the Utopian Club for African Americans to discuss social issues. The following year it became the Negro Students Club, which would eventually be replaced by the first-ever Black Student Union.

Eliassen says Johnson paved the way for students who decades later organized efforts to effect change, particularly the strike of 1968 – 1969 that resulted in the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies.

“The issues for Black students in the ’30s were the same as the ’60s: They were paying a fee, but not getting an equal education,” Eliassen said, noting students were unhappy about exclusionary admissions policies and curricula that omitted persons of color.

After graduating from SF State, Johnson became one of the seminal entrepreneurs in the Fillmore District, as detailed in a Western Historical Quarterly article by Emily Blanck from 2019. The commercial corridor of Fillmore Street was thriving with African American-owned businesses, giving the area its status as the “Harlem of the West.” Among the area’s 20 nightclubs were Johnson’s Texas Playhouse (also known as Club Flamingo, with 15 hotel rooms above the ground floor) and the Congo. On any given night Johnson would be spinning jazz music and dancing “up and down the bar,” waitress Dorothy Alley said in the 2006 book “Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era” by Elizabeth Pepin (B.A., ’94) and Lewis Watts. Famous musicians like Billie Holliday and Louis Armstrong would visit and spend time with Johnson.

Johnson retired as grand marshal of the Juneteenth parade in the late 1980s. His legacy continues to grow, as people like Jones seek to share his story and his values with younger generations, with the aim to inspire as many as possible. She designed a new website and logo for Juneteenth in San Francisco. Unveiled just last month, the logo depicts a silhouette of Johnson on a white horse. Jones also wrote an article about Johnson for the Juneteenth San Francisco website.

“When he had these businesses, he looked incredibly impeccable. Everybody came with this allure and this air of excellence and pride — and he would not have it any other way,” Jones said. “You could see that he had this very unwavering desire to be excellent, and you could see it in all the pictures. I think he was extremely strategic and just very proud.”

Visit the University Archives in the J. Paul Leonard Library.

An archival news clipping from the Golden Gater, as seen on display in the J. Paul Leonard Library

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SF State Magazine celebrates 125 Years of University history

Steve Hockensmith — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 20:04:39 +0000

SF State Magazine celebrates 125 Years of University history

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

December 18, 2024

The Fall/Winter 2024 issue, now available online, includes a look at Alli Gator through the ages and a Q&A with alumna Annette Bening

The Fall/Winter 2024 issue of SF State Magazine marks a momentous occasion: San Francisco State University’s 125th birthday. Now available online, this special issue delves into the rich history, influential alumni and groundbreaking innovations that have shaped the University into what it is today.

Headlining the issue is a captivating Q&A with Academy Award-nominated actress and SF State alumna Annette Bening (B.A., ’80). In this exclusive interview by SF State Magazine columnist Ben Fong-Torres (B.A., ’66), Bening reflects on her time at SF State, her career and the enduring influence of her alma mater.

A feature on the University’s beloved alligator mascot traces its evolution from quirky beginnings to its current status as a sassy symbol of Gator pride. Another powerful story explores how the 1968 student strike that led to the creation of SF State’s College of Ethnic Studies inspired another group of activists — those fighting for LGBTQ rights.

This celebratory issue also includes:

“125 Surprising Facts About SF State”: A deep dive into little-known milestones and hidden treasures from the University’s storied history.
A very personal “My SF State Story” essay by alumna and University archivist Meredith Eliassen (B.A., ’88).
Updates on dozens of Gators using their SF State degrees to make a mark on the world.

Don’t miss this extraordinary tribute to 125 years of history, activism and pride. Check out the Fall/Winter issue of SF State Magazine now.

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Playing the name game on SF State’s campus: a 125th anniversary retrospective

Kanaga Rajan — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Playing the name game on SF State’s campus: a 125th anniversary retrospective

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications, Meredith Morgan Eliassen

August 30, 2024

Great Gators of the past are gone but not forgotten thanks to some of the University’s most popular campus facilities

Walking across the San Francisco State University campus, you’ll notice a lot of names: buildings and classrooms like the J. Paul Leonard Library, Mary Ward Hall, Hensill Hall and more. But who were Leonard, Ward and the rest? What are their SF State stories? In honor of the University’s 125th anniversary, SF State News is sharing the story behind some of these historical Gators and their continuing campus legacies.

Burk Hall

Frederic Lister Burk is the man who started it all as the founding president of the San Francisco State Normal School (SF State’s first name). The school was originally a teacher-training institution, so it’s fitting that Burk Hall is now home to the Graduate School of Education. Burk chose SF State’s motto Experientia docet, “experience teaches,” and promoted individualized instruction, believing a strict “lockstep” curriculum stifled creativity and deterred individuality. “[T]hereafter no lessons would be prescribed, each would pursue his own lessons and proceed at his own rate,” he later recalled. “The result was electrifying.”

J. Paul Leonard Library

Every Gator knows the library. It’s where students go to work, meet study groups or grab caffeine at Peets before class. The SF State library is named for the University’s fifth president, J. Paul Leonard, who served from 1945 to 1957 and helped lead the building of the current campus at the Holloway location. Appointed after World War II, Leonard wanted to reshape instructional programs to better serve the ever-growing communities of the Bay Area. He worked with faculty to develop education that would have classes in social and civic understanding, life values and an evolving world. The library was named in his honor in 1977.

Mary Park Hall and Mary Ward Hall

These traditional undergraduate residence halls honor two women who greatly impacted the University and its students.

Mary Park was a fixture in the SF State community. Known to students as “Mother Mary,” she was a food server and custodian for 10 years and supervising custodian for the residence halls for 20. When she retired in 1981, the University renamed a residence hall after her, making it the only SFSU building (and the first in the CSU system) named after a staff member at the time.

Alumna Mary Ward graduated from the San Francisco Normal School in 1906 with a degree in Math. She was an early student of President Burk, who appointed her as the school’s supervisor of practice teaching arithmetic. From 1916 to her retirement in 1951, she was the only dean of women to serve the University. During the summer of 1927, she served as acting president until the third University president was appointed. Her legacy included advocacy for underserved populations and immigrants, lobbying for a living wage for female students needing employment and more.

Thornton Hall and Hensill Hall

Inside these buildings, students carry on the scientific legacy of the buildings’ namesakes, two former deans of the School of Natural Science (now known as the College of Science & Engineering).

Robert Ambrose Thornton was the first dean of San Francisco State’s School of Natural Science in 1964 and the first Black-Native American (Cherokee) faculty member to become a dean of science at the University. He joined SF State in 1956 as a Physics professor with an established career as a scientist, educator and administrator. In 1944, he wrote Albert Einstein a letter about the philosophical side of science, which led to a nine-year correspondence and several in-person visits.

John S. Hensill first came to SF State as a Biology professor in 1947. He later became chairman of the department and was dean of the School of Natural Science from 1969 to 1975. He oversaw the rapid expansion of the school and completion of the physical and life science buildings (now Thornton and Hensill Halls, respectively). He considered the naming of Hensill Hall to be a great honor and was known to give the building a salute when he walked by.

Cox Stadium

These days, many Gator stories start at Cox Stadium because it’s often the location of the entering class photo and pinning ceremony. The stadium was dedicated to Coach Dave Cox, who spent $7,500 of his own money to get good lighting and expand the facilities. On the old campus at Haight and Buchanan streets, Cox invited students to make suggestions for a dream stadium and gymnasium and then he forwarded their responses to the California State Architect. Cox was the first head coach and director of men’s athletics in the 1930s. His legacy includes forming two basketball teams, a track squad, a swim team and a football team. In 1931, the rise of athletics energized students to vote for SF State’s mascot the Golden Gater (Gator), now known as the beloved Alli Gator.

Jack Adams Hall

Jack Adams Hall, a large auditorium-style space, is at the top of SFSU’s Student Center. A Virginia native, Adams joined SF State in 1969 as the properties manager for the School of Creative Arts. He became assistant director of the student union in 1982, serving until he had to resign as his health declined. Adams became a “face” of the epidemic and inspired the creation of the “all-campus” AIDS coordinating committee made up of students, faculty, staff and administrators who created pioneering curriculum responding to the AIDS epidemic launched in fall 1986. During this time, Adams’ SFSU colleagues supported him by bringing meals and providing company. Adams died in November of 1992 at the age of 47 due to AIDS-related complications. A year later, the Student Union Governing Board passed a resolution to rename the room Jack Adams in honor of his dedication to backing student causes and connection with Associated Students. Since then, a scholarship has also been inaugurated in his honor.

A School of Design events in Jack Adams Hall

Don Nasser Family Plaza

Don Nasser Family Plaza is home of SF State’s main gymnasium, affectionately known as “The Swamp.” Nasser (B.A., ’63), an alumnus and SF State Foundation director, was a major donor for the gym’s renovation, which was completed in 2014. After earning a degree in Business/Real Estate, Nasser worked in banking for two decades and served as president of Bay Properties, Inc. He also managed the famous Castro Theatre, which belonged to his family.

Mashouf Wellness Center

The Mashouf Wellness Center opened in 2017. Its namesake, alumnus Manny Mashouf (B.A., ’66) — founder of the women’s fashion brand bebe — was a major donor for the project. The 118,700-square-foot facility has a climbing wall, indoor jogging track, fitness and weight areas, pool and more.

Learn more about SF State’s campus and take a tour.

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Throwback Thursday: SF State 125th anniversary edition

Kanaga Rajan — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Throwback Thursday: SF State 125th anniversary edition

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

July 11, 2024

These University photos show what has — and has not — changed about the Gator experience

This year, San Francisco State University is reflecting on and celebrating its evolution over 125 years. San Francisco State has undergone some dramatic changes over the years: There have been multiple names (beginning with “San Francisco State Normal School”), the main campus location has changed, and buildings have come and gone. Yet some beloved things — like students’ unwavering Gator spirit — remain unchanged. Below, view just a few snapshots of how campus has evolved over the decades.

Bird’s eye view of campus

SFSU’s main campus and its surrounding neighborhood have changed to keep up with the times. An aerial view from the past and 2018 shows just some of those updates. This year, that view will change once again with the addition of a new residential hall and science building.

Campus in late 1950s

Campus around 2018

New student orientation

For many incoming students, summer orientation is their first chance to explore academic experiences, make new friends and register for classes. In the 1960s, students used to line up around the block to enroll in classes. Luckily, these days students just need to hop on a computer to register for classes online.

1965 photo of students heading to gym to register for classes

Students registering for classes during orientation

The Quad, a campus hub

In many ways, the heart of campus is the Quad. People are constantly traversing the lush green area to get to their next class, table for one of SFSU’s 200-plus student organizations, eat lunch or just soak up some sunshine.

The Quad in the 1958

Recent photo of the Quad

Gator spirit

Although alligators are not native to San Francisco, that has never deterred the University’s Gator mascot. In 1931, students voted for the Gator to represent the school because it’s steadfast and strong. In 2023, our beloved Alli Gator underwent a “glow up” with fashionable SF State gear and purple manicure.

Twin Gator mascots from the 1950s

Alli Gator in 2023 after their latest makeover

Student research

Hands-on experiences in and outside of the classroom are critical to a Gator’s educational experience. Students in all colleges often work with leading faculty experts to conduct independent research projects. Many students present their work at on-campus research project showcases and national and international conferences. In 2023, the University launched SF State Create as a hub for these student activities and resources.

Students on microscopes way back when

Students conducting independent research today

SF State students on the air

The 2021 addition of Marcus Hall (and its state-of-the-art facilities) has improved students’ ability to produce a variety of media, including online student-run radio station KSFS. In 1942, Broadcasting (radio) was part of the curriculum for Speech, Drama and Radio.

Radio students in the 1940s

Student radio in 2024

Gators in the wild

For the last 75 years, SFSU’s Sierra Nevada Field Campus (SNFC) has been an invaluable resource for the University community. These days, it offers summer classes to students and community members and acts as a base camp for students and faculty researchers. Throughout its history, SNFC has been a training facility for teachers, a children’s camp, a retreat for creatives, a researcher base camp and so much more.

SNFC began in 1949 and was previously called Camp Leonard

Students, community members and researchers head to SNFC

Gators join the alumni family forever

SFSU’s Commencement is always a magical moment in a Gator’s journey. This year, more than 4,000 graduates attended the event at Oracle Park. We’ve come a long way from the first graduating class in 1901, which consisted of three dozen students, all women. In the early 1900s, San Francisco State Teachers College held Commencement at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley (left image).

Early 1900s Commencement at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley

2023 Commencement at Oracle Park

Visit the SFSU Photographic Timeline Project or University Archives to find more historic photos and learn more about University history.

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125 years of excellence: 10 things you didn’t know about SF State

Kanaga Rajan — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:00:00 +0000

125 years of excellence: 10 things you didn’t know about SF State

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

April 30, 2024

In celebration of the University’s 125th anniversary, SF State News presents a roundup of forgotten history and hidden gems from across campus

Every member of the San Francisco State University community has their favorite campus spots and little-known lore. From the quietest study nooks and best coffee carts to rare plants and a piano that’s almost a century older than the University itself, it’s impossible to know all the highlights and surprises in and around San Francisco State. But as part of the University’s 125th anniversary celebration, we’re highlighting some of our favorites below.

No. 1: The University has its own tearoom

The Toshiko Mishima Memorial Tea Room is housed in Humanities 117. It was donated to the University by the Japanese company Adachi Industry in 1992. It’s named after former Japanese Program Coordinator Toshiko Mishima. Over the years, it’s been used for classes, meetings and public Japanese tea ceremonies (chanoyu). Most commonly, it’s used for classes such as “JAPN 401: Topics in Japanese Culture: Tea Ceremony and Tea Culture,” which will be offered in spring 2025 by Professor of Japanese Midori McKeon.

#2: The greenhouse is full of super-rare plants … and you can visit them!

In the back of one of SF State’s greenhouse rooms hangs a pot with seemingly unassuming purple flowers. Closer inspection reveals flowers with intricate purple veining and startling drips of red. Nesocodon mauritianus is one of a few plants with red nectar, which makes it particularly visible and attractive for geckos, an uncommon plant pollinator. In the wild, it’s only found cliffside near waterfalls on the island of Mauritius — hence why the plant thrives in San Francisco’s climate. Unfortunately, it’s a vulnerable species facing a myriad of issues in the wild. It’s just one of 800 to 1,000 species from all around the world that are part of the University’s greenhouse collection. Arid, Intermediate Tropics, Highland Tropics/Cloud Forest plants are just a third of the collection. Visitors are welcome to visit during Tuesday open hours, and students are invited to the greenhouse’s biannual plant sale.

No. 3: Swifties Studies is a thing

In the Experimental College (EXCO), SF State undergraduates can teach classes about nearly anything. Fall 2024 classes include everything from veterinary medicine and genealogy to Black science fiction and, yes, “Taylor Swift and the Art of Songwriting.” Through EXCO, students are mentored by a faculty director who helps them choose a subject, develop a curriculum, recruit students and lead the course. The original program ran from 1965 to 1969 as an outgrowth of various counterculture and activist movements of that time. It was revived in fall 2017 and has been thriving ever since.

No. 4: You can travel through Bay Area history without leaving your desk

SF State’s Bay Area Television Archive stores more than 135,000 videos from Bay Area television stations, with countless historic treasures that are known and others that have yet to be discovered. It includes clips about the civil rights movement, the Zodiac Killer, old-school hip-hop and much more. Archivist Alex Cherian even rediscovered and restored clips from Maya Angelou’s 1968 TV series “Blacks, Blues, Black.” Since 2007, Cherian has preserved 6,000 hours of footage and digitized 350 hours — and this is approximately 6% of the total collection. Footage from the archive has been used in more than 1,000 documentary, television and community projects.

No. 5: There’s a 200-year-old piano in the Library

Built in 1808, the Clementi Fortepiano was donated to the University in the 1960s and today is safely tucked away in a temperature-controlled room of the J. Paul Leonard Library. While its basic mechanism is comparable to a modern piano, it’s smaller (shorter keyboard, smaller keys) so its sound is distinct and better suited for more intimate performances. School of Music Professor Victoria Neve was told that there are only five instruments of this make and vintage on record. While there may be more fortepianos on the planet, the likelihood of them working is small. Neve often incorporates the instrument into her teaching. The Clementi Fortepiano is one of many treasures in the Frank V. DeBellis collection, which is filled with artifacts of Italian culture.

No. 6: You can get a swanky three-course meal (prepared and served by students)

The Vista Room is a fully functional restaurant and a teaching and learning lab managed by the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management in the Lam Family College of Business. Students gain practical experience with food service, hospitality and service management. Visit the fourth floor of Burk Hall to enjoy contemporary California cuisine with an emphasis on responsibly sourced ingredients and sustainability. The dining room seats visitors from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and closes at 1:50 p.m. Reservations are highly encouraged.

No. 7: SF State is home to the world’s longest continuously running webcam

FogCam has been keeping an eye on Karl the Fog since 1994. Currently situated in the Business building, it captures and displays grainy images of the Quad every 20 seconds. Beyond a few location changes, the webcam and operation hasn’t changed over the decades — which only adds to the project’s charm. It all started as a project by Instructional Technologies Department students Jeff Schwartz and Dan Wong. When they announced that the project was being shut down in 2019, everyone from The New York Times and NPR to the BBC picked up the story, fueling internet calls to save the project. The alums made a deal so that the University would take over the FogCam around the project’s 25th anniversary. It’s now operated by the University’ Academic Technologies division.

No. 8: SF State hosts the longest-running disability film festival in the world

For more than 30 years, the Superfest Disability Film Festival has celebrated film portrayals of disability through “diverse, complex, unabashed and engaging lens." Though it began life as a small Los Angeles showcase, today it’s produced by SF State’s Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability. The 2023 festival, held in October, included short films, mockumentaries and feature documentaries from around the world.

No. 9: You can peruse a museum without leaving campus

Explore SF State’s Global Museum next time you’re in the Fine Arts building. Its key collections are from Africa, Oceania, the Americas and Asia. The Ancient Egypt collection — originally acquired by onetime San Francisco Mayor Adolph Sutro in the 1880s — has been at SF State since the 1960s. The collection includes two mummified remains, a rare triple-nested sarcophagus and more. Students, faculty and staff in the Museum Studies program maintain these artifacts. Anyone can visit the museum in Fine Arts building room 203 for free.

No. 10: The gators on campus used to be real

Before Alli Gator, with her fabulous purple nails and fashion, SF State had real baby alligators named Oogie and Albert as mascots. They were donated to a private zoo in 1947. The alligator origin story began in 1931 when there was a need for an athletics mascot. While alternative mascots were considered (golden panthers, owls and seals), students voted to be the “Golden Gaters” because alligators are steadfast and strong. The intentional “Gater” spelling was a nod to the Golden Gate Bridge, though the spelling was eventually changed to “Gator.” The mascot has evolved over the years, and in 2023 Alli Gator got a glow up and debuted a new look for the first time in over 90 years.

Learn more about the cool opportunities, resources and surprises on the SF State campus.

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University celebrates 125 years at the forefront of educational excellence

Steve Hockensmith — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 22:07:34 +0000

University celebrates 125 years at the forefront of educational excellence

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

March 22, 2024

Photo Credit: SF State's all-female Class of 1906 poses with a male instructor (on the left) and (to the right) President Frederic Lister Burk

Since 1899, SF State has been preparing the educators, workers and leaders California needs

March 22, 2024, marks a mouthful for San Francisco State University: its quasquicentennial. That’s a 125th birthday, and San Francisco State — founded by the California legislature on this date in 1899 — will be celebrating its 125th for the rest of the year. SF State News kicks things off here with an overview of the school’s history. More anniversary articles will follow in the months to come, as will a video retrospective, archival photos and much more.

A ‘normal school’ for exceptional education

SF State’s origins actually go back much further than 1899. In 1862, a committee of San Francisco residents sent a petition to the legislature demanding a state-sponsored “normal school” — a school for the training and preparation of teachers. Funding for such a school was approved, establishing the first state-supported institution of higher learning in California. It didn’t stay in San Francisco long, though.

“During its Barbary Coast heyday during the 1870s, families relocated across the Bay and down the Peninsula and out of San Francisco when it became too lawless,” said University Archivist Meredith Eliassen. “The Normal School was moved south to the more family-friendly San Jose in 1871.”

Elements of the original teacher training programs lived on in San Francisco, however, and on March 22, 1899, an act of the legislature authorized the creation of a new San Francisco Normal School.

The school’s first location was a rented two-story building atop Nob Hill. Its Board of Trustees appointed Canadian-born educator Frederic Lister Burk founding president, and he chose Experientia docet, “experience teaches,” as the school motto. The first graduating class — the class of 1901 — consisted of three dozen students, all women. (The first male student was admitted in 1904.) After the earthquake and fire of April 1906 destroyed the SF State building and all its records, the campus relocated to the Hayes Valley neighborhood. Classes resumed in June, making SF State the first public school in the city to reopen.

The school quickly earned a reputation for its high-caliber graduates, innovative teaching methods and emphasis on practical experience. In the 1920s, it began offering the bachelor of arts degree, and in 1935 it became San Francisco State College. Its first master’s degree — in education — was offered in 1949 as the school celebrated its 50^th anniversary.

The times (and the names) they are a-changin’

Enrollment quadrupled in the five years following World War II when the GI Bill enabled many veterans to pay for college. To accommodate growing demand, the College moved in 1954 to its present campus near Lake Merced. In 1961, the College joined what would become the 23-campus California State University system, and in 1972 it was renamed California State University, San Francisco. That name proved as unpopular as it was ungainly, and in 1974 the school was rechristened yet again. The new name — San Francisco State University — reflected the dramatically expanded curriculum that grew from.

Today SF State has a diverse student body of more than 23,000. The University offers numerous degrees and certifications: bachelor’s degrees in 76 academic areas, master’s degrees in 63 academic areas, a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership, a Ph.D. in Education with a pioneering concentration in Special Education, a clinical Doctorate of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) jointly with University of California, San Francisco, 13 credential programs and 54 certificate programs.

An anniversary logomark has been created to celebrate the quasquicentennial. It’s based on SF State’s earliest seal, which featured Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, looking out over the Bay surrounded by golden poppies representing California.

While still renowned as a teaching university, the SF State of 2024 is also associated with outstanding instruction in the arts, sciences, ethnic studies, business, health, humanities and many other disciplines.

“From its beginnings all those years ago, SF State has been focused on meeting the needs of the Bay Area and California,” SF State President Lynn Mahoney said. “Those needs may have changed over the years, but the commitment to outstanding education, workforce development and equity remain the same.”

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