Alan Campos isn’t the typical California State University, Northridge undergrad. In addition to taking a full course load as a business student, Campos also owns SCV iRepair, a successful small business in the Santa Clarita Valley that offers repair services for iPhones, iPods and other mobile Apple products. He has now added the title philanthropist.

Alan Campos

With a $1,000 gift to the university, Campos, a junior majoring in management, established the Alan Campos Dream Big Scholarship, an annual award for a fellow CSUN student. To ensure that the scholarship fund continues to grow, Campos has promised to donate $5 for every cracked screen he repairs at iRepair’s new location in Northridge not far from the campus.

The first scholarship, of $500, will be awarded this fall to a student with at least a 3.0 grade point average who has completed at least 30 units, with another $500 scholarship scheduled to be awarded in spring of 2014.

“So many of my friends, and other students I’ve met, are struggling with money,” said Campos, 22, of Santa Clarita. “It’s tough, going to school full time and trying to get a job. So many students don’t have enough time for school because they work. I figured I’m going to do my part with a scholarship.”

Campos’ path to entrepreneurship and philanthropy started in 2010 while he was a student at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. When the screen of his iPhone broke, he went to an Apple store to get it fixed and was astounded by the price they were charging. He found a how-to video on YouTube, ordered the part he needed and did the repair himself.

His friends and family were impressed, and he was soon fielding requests to fix other screens. Seeing the potential, he spent about $200 to buy a desk from Craigslist and set up a website, Yelp account, Facebook page and turned his parents’ garage into an office. SCV iRepair was born. Within a couple years, he opened a retail location on Constellation Road in Santa Clarita and hired two employees. He has just opened a second store on Reseda Boulevard a couple blocks from Cal State Northridge.

From the start, Campos said he knew he had to combine business with philanthropy.

“I was raised to give back or help out,” he said. “So, I wanted to pair up my business with a nonprofit in the community.”

At his Santa Clarita store, Campos donates $5 for every repaired screen to a local food bank. For the Northridge location, he said supporting CSUN seemed an obvious choice.

Owning a business and balancing school can be challenging, but Campos said it’s worth it, pointing to the networking and real-world learning offered by CSUN’s College of Business and Economics.

“The material that’s being taught, I can directly apply it to my business,” he said.

“My whole purpose in life is to help others, no matter what,” Campos continued. “I want to show that business can help out instead of just make a profit. And I want to inspire other students to do their part, by giving or volunteering.”

For more information about the Alan Campos Dream Big Scholarship or to contribute, contact Jerry De Felice, director of development for student affairs, at (818) 677-3935 or jd@csun.edu.

Those interested in applying for the scholarship may sign up at https://csun.starsscholarshipsonline.com/STARS/Default.aspx. The application will be made available in March. For information about current scholarship opportunities, call (818) 677-4907.

Leanne Stein is the recipient of the first Mediscan scholarship for speech-language pathologists. Photo by Lee Choo.

Mediscan, one of the largest healthcare staffing firms in Southern California, is honoring California State University, Northridge’s impact on their company by partnering with the Communication Disorders and Sciences (CDS) program in CSUN’s College of Health and Human Development. Mediscan is now providing $1,000 scholarships to master’s students training to be speech-language pathologists (SLPs), an area in which Mediscan works extensively, staffing both school and clinical settings.

The first scholarship recipient, Leanne Stein, a student in her final year of the CDS program, received the inaugural award this year. In addition to taking required classes and clinical hours, Stein has been working to cover her expenses. But with two externships and comprehensive exams to complete this year in addition to her finishing her final courses, Stein was going have limited, if any, time to work to pay for it all.

The scholarship provides Stein with the ability to focus on school. “Being able to put money away and save up for the time I won’t be working is really helpful,” Stein said. “To not have to work and be able to focus these last two semesters really on finishing and studying and learning as much as I can before I’m done definitely helps.”

Emily Serebryany ’94 (Accounting), president of Mediscan, founded the company with her husband just a year after graduating from CSUN in 1994. With many campus buildings rendered uninhabitable by the earthquake at the start of that year, her final classes were held in tents. Although her most profound memory of CSUN is of shaken foundations, the foundation CSUN gave her is anything but.

“I am a first-generation immigrant,” said Serebryany, “so I came here without any funds or support. CSUN really helped me to build a foundation and a way to move from not having anything to having a very successful company. It was a foundation for me. Its impact can’t get any bigger than that.”

Mediscan considered several universities when deciding where to fund scholarships. While giving to her alma mater is very gratifying, the excellence of the CSUN CDS program itself compelled Serebryany and her colleagues to make their gift here. “It’s an amazing program,” said Serebryany. “We dealt with some other schools in the country, but this program is very unique, especially the way people are dedicated to the program. It was shown to us on different levels. I was just really impressed.”

Speaking as one businesswoman who is supporting the program, Serebryany agrees that it’s important to support future generations. “I came to this country with absolutely nothing, and I got a chance to succeed,” she said. “It is my personal obligation to share this with other people and help out people who are in the position I was in 20 years ago, and it’s a great personal satisfaction to be able to help out and share the success of the company while helping someone else to succeed. On the company level, it’s been the same philosophy—you want to help people succeed and reach their potential.”

With the strength of the CDS program and Mediscan’s support, Stein knows that she is being well prepared for her future career. “The program itself is so diverse and so strong and then having such a big alumni network, it just gives me confidence that when I graduate I am going to be OK,” she says. “I’m smart enough, got enough information in grad school, and learned everything I was supposed to in order to go out in the world and make CSUN proud.”

Most people know Flip Wilson as a comedian, by way of his standup routines or popular 1970s variety show. But he has a legacy as a philanthropist, too. The Flip Wilson Scholarship Trust—created in 1999—provides full annual scholarships for communications students at five schools, including California State University, Northridge.

Thanks to Wilson’s generosity, each year a CSUN journalism student receives the Flip Wilson Memorial Scholarship, which covers the cost of tuition plus living expenses for the year. The scholarship’s impact on its recipients can’t be overstated.

The annual Flip Wilson Memorial Scholarship covers the cost of tuition plus living expenses for the year for a journalism student.

Receiving the scholarship this year allowed CSUN junior Champaign Williams to pay off her student debt and concentrate on school. “The scholarship has allowed me to be able to focus on my education 100 percent,” she said. Without the added burden of paying for school, Williams now also has the freedom to pursue unpaid, but beneficial, internships.

As part of their application for the scholarship, students must research Flip Wilson’s work and write an essay about his cultural influence and its connection to today’s media. For Patrick Brown ’11 (Journalism), who received the scholarship in 2008, this project was eye opening. “I grew up watching Flip Wilson,” said Brown. “But, until I did the research, I had no idea how influential he was culturally and in the world of entertainment.  He, along with Lucille Ball, really were mavericks as far as minorities and women making strides in white male-dominated Hollywood.”

Thanks to the scholarship, Brit Sharon ’12 (Journalism), who received the Flip Wilson scholarship in 2011, was able to start her own boutique PR firm after graduating in December. “Because of the Flip Wilson scholarship, I was able to graduate with no debt, which made it possible for me to pursue my dreams now,” said Sharon. “My company is taking off. It’s my full-time job and I’m only a month out of school. It was a truly life changing amount of money.”

Long before his death in 1998, Wilson asked his friend and former publicist, Katheen Fearn-Banks, what, if anything, she would want from him in his will. Not taking the question very seriously, Fearn-Banks, now a professor at the University of Washington, responded that she would want money for scholarships. Years later, when Wilson passed away, Fearn-Banks received some surprising news: Wilson had followed through on her idea for scholarships, leaving a large sum of money and naming her as the person to decide how to use it.

Fearn-Banks created communications or journalism scholarships in honor of Flip Wilson at five campuses across the country: Rutgers University, located in Wilson’s home state, New Jersey; Wayne State University, where Fearn-Banks got her undergraduate degree; Howard University, to honor Wilson’s black heritage; University of Washington, where Fearn-Banks is a professor; and CSUN, because Wilson lived in Los Angeles and Fearn-Banks’ mother, Dr. Kayte Marsh Fearn, was a celebrated special education professor here.  Fearn-Banks was also familiar with the excellence of the CSUN journalism program.

Although Wilson himself dropped out of school in the ninth grade, he always appreciated the value of education. “He would have been so proud of the scholarship,” Fearn-Banks said. “If he were still alive, I bet he would go to every one of those campuses to present it. He would have been that happy. He was so into education that this would have been his pride and joy.”

For more: Help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

With a generous pledge of more than $2.7 million, the Sheila Gold Foundation established a transformative scholarship program at California State University, Northridge. Starting with 30 scholarships this academic year, the new Sheila Gold Foundation Scholarship program will eventually support up to 120 students per year each with $7,000 scholarships. The next deadline to apply for the scholarship is March 4, 2013.

Sheila Gold Foundation Scholarship recipient Juliana Tongco plans to major in health administration.

The scholarship program is designed to aid middle-income families—those who have too much income to receive federal financial aid but who still struggle to meet the costs of a college education. To receive the scholarship, students must have a family income of between $70,000 and $150,000. Additionally, students must work at least 9.99 hours per week while being fully enrolled in school. Only freshmen can apply for the scholarship, but as long as they continue to meet the academic and employment requirements, the scholarship is renewable for up to four years.

Juliana Tongco, a freshman majoring in health administration, was among the first group of scholarship recipients and experienced the scholarship’s impact firsthand. “Soon after registering for my first classes last summer, I quickly realized that my family was caught in the unhappy medium of being considered too ‘rich’ to receive financial aid, while in reality, too ‘poor’ to pay for college,” said Tongco. Before receiving the scholarship, Tongco was contemplating transferring to a community college for part of her undergraduate work, but thanks to the scholarship she is now able to complete all her courses at CSUN.

Matt Dingler, who was among the inaugural Sheila Gold Foundation Scholarship recipients, will be able to afford pilot training thanks to the scholarship.

Fellow scholarship recipient Matt Dingler plans to attend flight training school and become a pilot after finishing his undergraduate degree at CSUN. “My goal of becoming a pilot is closer than ever,” he said. “I have the opportunity now with the Sheila Gold Foundation Scholarship to graduate college without huge student loans, so any money I can save for the next four years will be used after college to enter a flight training school.”

While balancing school and work can be a challenge, the Sheila Gold Scholarship recipients have found that working during their studies makes them more efficient and well-rounded. Nicole Gonzales Gozum, a freshman majoring in environmental and occupational health,  in the CSUN Financial Aid office.

Nicole Gonzales Gozum is using her scholarship to pursue a degree in environmental and occupational health.

“Working in the Financial Aid Office while attending my classes before or after my shift has made my day fuller,” Nicole said. “I feel more accomplished, and I feel like I get more work done. I cannot thank the staff enough for the opportunity that they have given me.”

For more:  To learn more about the scholarship and the application procedure, please visit the Financial Aid and Scholarship Department’s website. All freshmen are encouraged to apply for the Sheila Gold Foundation Scholarship.

Help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

A $1 million pledge to honor alumnus Scott M. Weiss (above), who died in 2008, funds the Scott M. Weiss Memorial Scholarships.

An endowed scholarship is helping two students reach their dreams of working in the film industry. Alejandro Echevarria and Ryan Roope, students in California State University, Northridge’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts, each recently received a Scott M. Weiss Memorial Scholarship of $5,000 for this academic year.

Created in 2010 with an anonymous endowment of $1 million dollars to the university, the scholarships honor Scott Weiss ’01 (Multimedia Production), who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2008, at the age of 32. Each year, the endowment funds scholarships for Department of Cinema and Television Arts students in their senior year at CSUN.

Echevarria, who is a film major, was particularly thankful for the scholarship because it will allow him to devote more funds to his senior thesis film project, which requires a significant financial contribution from each student to pay for production costs. He will also have more financial security as he moves into the professional art world after graduation.

Echevarria recognizes the role philanthropy has played in his education. “CSUN has been, over the past four years, a material contributor to my intellectual, creative and professional development with its highly qualified faculty, staff, facilities and student body,” he said. “Philanthropy in higher education is of utmost importance because it will expand the opportunities for students … I would not have the opportunities that I have today without the important contributions from [donors].”

The man behind the named scholarship is Scott Weiss, who transferred to Northridge in 1999 after having completed his general education requirements at Pierce and Valley Colleges. He enrolled in what was then the Department of Radio, Television and Film, aiming to eventually work in the entertainment industry. He graduated in 2001 and went on to successful career for the next seven years, working for two post-production companies and Fox. He was killed on July 12, 2008.

Karen Kearns, a faculty member in the Department of Cinema and Television Arts, had Weiss as a student in fall 2000.

“Scott was in my single-camera television class,” she said. “He and his group created a wonderful, five-minute piece called ‘Silver Lining.’ It was about a little girl who was hit by a car and killed. Her organs were donated and the family met the little girl who received their daughter’s heart. It was very touching. It also was the first time one of our television projects won a CSU Media Arts award. Scott was the editor on that team.”

“He was a great student. He was funny and he worked really well with his group,” Kearns recalled. “He just added so much to the team and its ability to create this wonderful story.”

Kearns said she was “touched” that an endowment for cinema and television arts students was created in his honor.

“It is so difficult to think that a student this young has left us,” she said. “Yet, his legacy will live on in the work of these other students he is able to help.”

For more: Learn more about the Scott M. Weiss Memorial Scholarship and read about Alejandro Echevarria’s experience at CSUN in the Meet a Matador series.

Your donation can make a difference! Help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

A team of Business Honors Program students presents their recommendations to the panel of judges at the annual Business Honors Case Competition. Photo by Erin Goldfarb.

On Feb. 21, the California State University, Northridge College of Business and Economics held the final round of the Business Honors Case Competition, an annual event in which student teams from the Business Honors Program complete real-world case studies. This year, 20 students participated. The winning team — Amber Deegan, Steven Spanton and Joseph Zapantis — split a $6,000 scholarship award. Steven Spanton also received the $500 Presentation Award scholarship.

Out of five teams who participated in the first round, three were selected to move on to last week’s final round, where they presented their recommendations to a panel of distinguished College of Business and Economics alumni.

Penny Bahn ’84 (Finance), currently the principal at Bahn Valuation Group, returned to CSUN as one of the competition’s judges and was excited to be part of such a crucial learning experience for the students. “Presentation skills are so important in the business world,” Bahn said.

The winning team — Steven Spanton (left), Amber Deegan and Joseph Zapantis — split a $6,000 scholarship award. Photo by Kimberly Khieu.

“Whether you are presenting your analysis or idea to your peers, your superior, your client or a potential client, the ability to articulate your thoughts in a concise, professional manner will determine the success of that moment,” she continued. “Not only did these students present to CSUN leaders, each team presented to outside executives and answered substantive questions on the spot. Next time, whether it’s another competition or their first presentation in their first job, it will be just a little easier.”

Kenneth Floyd ’80 (Business Administration), chief executive officer at Artissimo Designs, also served on the judging panel. Floyd credits CSUN with his business success and wants to instill the same values in current students.

“I have had success as a businessman, due in large measure to the hard work that I experienced as a college student,” Floyd said. “It’s time for me to share my story of hard work and perseverance to the many students at CSUN that need examples of courage and sacrifice. There is nothing that cannot be achieved if you believe in yourself. I’m proud to be a CSUN alum.”

For this year’s final round, the students presented recommendations for the Harvard Business School case, “Nanda Home: Preparing for Life After Clocky,” in which they assumed the role of business consultants presenting recommendations to the management (played by the judging panel) of a new product called Clocky.

Every year, up to four California State University, Northridge students receive funds from the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to live and study in China for an entire year. The awards, funded by the Chinese government, cover all tuition and living expenses, allowing CSUN graduate and undergraduate students from any discipline the opportunity to experience a year in China. The deadline to apply for 2013-2014 awards is March 12.

Thirty-three CSUN students have received these prestigious awards in the past 12 years, the largest number from any school in California, according to Justine Zhixin Su, Ph.D., a CSUN professor of educational leadership and director of CSUN’s China Institute.

Andrew Javidi (middle) with fellow students in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

In 1999, one of Su’s former colleagues in the Chinese National Ministry of Education in Beijing came to Southern California to lead the Education Office in the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles. He informed Su about the China Scholarship Council program and helped CSUN with the early process of receiving awards for its students, who have studied at many of the top Chinese universities through this program.

Studying in China furthers students’ understanding of Chinese culture, language and traditions as well as their knowledge in whatever specialized area they are pursuing.  “All CSC Award recipients from CSUN consider the study program an amazing, life-changing experience that opens up opportunities for their personal enlightenment, global friendship and success in their academic studies and career development,” said Su.

“We hope that more CSUN students will participate in this wonderful program!” Su continued. “The most important requirement for the full scholarship is a passion to learn with an open mind.”

Andrew Javidi, who graduated from CSUN in 2012 with a bachelor’s in political science, is now pursuing graduate work at Renmin University of China in Beijing. He has improved his Mandarin through intensive language classes, viewed international affairs through a Chinese lens and has been able to experience a crucial time of change in China firsthand. “Living in Beijing during a time of political change (a new leadership was announced and inaugurated over the past few months) has been exciting to experience from within the country,” he said. “The experiences and knowledge I’ve gained over the past five months alone will serve me well in my future career.”

Areeya Tivasuradej (bottom row, second from left) with fellow students.

Javidi calls the China Scholarship the experience of a lifetime to live in what will arguably be the most important country of the next century.

Areeya Tivasuradej, who graduated from CSUN with a bachelor’s degree in geography in 2010, received two years of funding to study at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital and a new economic hub of western China. Tivasuradej took Chinese language courses, worked on geographic information systems (GIS) projects with fellow students, co-taught some classes and also volunteered with a local environmental non-profit. “I gained new perspectives toward life, education, and the world that no college class could ever offer,” she said.

Dale Chang studied in China for two years and has stayed on to teach English.

Dale Chang, who received a teaching credential from CSUN in 2010, studied at Central China Normal University in Wuhan from 2010 to 2012 with CSC funding. He has since stayed on in China to teach English. Chang plans to eventually return to teach in Los Angeles and looks forward to sharing his experiences in China with his future students in Southern California.

“I would definitely encourage anybody interested to apply for this program,” he said. “The opportunity to live and study in China is truly an amazing experience.”

For more: Learn more about the China Scholarship Council and how to apply from CSUN’s China Institute.

CSUN Professor Emeritus Paul Lee and his wife, Amy, have endowed the Paul and Amy Lee Scholarship Endowment in Physics and Astronomy.

California State University, Northridge Professor Emeritus Paul Lee and his wife, Amy, have pledged $100,000 to the university to establish the Paul and Amy Lee Scholarship Endowment in Physics and Astronomy, adding to the 10 awards and scholarships already available to CSUN students in the field. Starting in the 2013-2014 academic year, the endowment will fund an annual scholarship of at least $3,000 for a student from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Paul Lee joined CSUN’s Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1975, after completing his graduate work and a fellowship at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. Lee’s research focused on nuclear and intermediate energy physics during the first decades of his career, but gradually his interests turned to the physics of medical imagery. He went on to conduct research in that arena for more than 20 years, developing ways to improve and quantify x-ray MRI and ultrasound images.

Amy Lee is a professor of biochemistry, serving as the associate director for basic research at the University of Southern California’s Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Tuition assistance that Paul Lee received while at the California Institute of Technology made his academic career possible. “When I was a student, I got help from CalTech,” he said. “They gave scholarships. Nowadays, students have a hard time. Tuition is rising all the time, so I felt that we should do something. That’s the motivation.”

Your donations can make a difference: Help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

With funds from the Suzan Jean Lebowitz Scholar program, Silvia Juarez Viveros, shown here at her undergraduate commencement from CSUN, is conducting graduate-level nutrition research in local schools.

Silvia Juarez Viveros, a California State University, Northridge, graduate student pursuing a master’s in nutrition and food science, has been named the inaugural Suzan Jean Lebowitz Scholar.

Juaraez Viveros, who earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition at CSUN, is using the funds to conduct field research on nutrition education in local elementary schools.

For her project, Juaraez Viveros has been teaching garden and nutrition lessons to parents of children at Van Nuys elementary schools. She will then be studying how the classes impacted the family’s diets. If effective, the program will be studied further and implemented in more schools.

Juaraez Viveros is excited at the opportunity to continue working with community members and impact health, especially childhood obesity. “I really look forward to putting all my energy and best efforts into each lesson and interaction with the parents. I know this will be essential to making the most positive impact in their lives and helping them lead healthier lifestyles,” she said.

The Suzan Jean Lebowitz Scholar program is funded by a generous endowment from Marty and Joanie Lebowitz ’75 (Home Economics). Named in honor of their daughter, who passed away at just two years old, the program provides funds for research in nutrition, a topic close to the Lebowitzes’ hearts, since Joanie studied it while earning her second bachelor’s degree at CSUN.

Marty and Joanie Lebowitz, photographed on the CSUN campus, have endowed the Suzan Jean Lebowitz Scholar program to fund research in nutrition. Photo by Lee Choo.

When her daughter passed away, Joanie Lebowitz began taking college courses, first at Santa Monica College and then at CSUN. “Cal State Northridge gave me a lot of comfort during a time of grieving, and they really helped me move forward,” she said. “The endowment is a way of honoring Suzan and giving back to Cal State Northridge, who gave a lot to me.”

The Lebowitzes decided to fund nutrition research in honor of their daughter, furthering CSUN’s ability to attract and support talented graduate students while also furthering nutrition’s crucial role in public health. “I think there are so many health problems that are going to solved with good nutrition,” said Joanie Lebowitz.

“Words can’t describe how thankful I am to Marty and Joanie Lebowitz for their generosity and kindness,” said Juaraez Viveros. “It’s a huge honor to be the recipient of this research grant because it comes from individuals who also have a passion for improving the lives of others.”

For the Lebowitzes, the ability to determine exactly how their gift would be used was crucial. “We were given the choice of directing our contribution in a way that gave us even greater pleasure than simply giving a general donation, so we picked nutrition, which is very dear to our hearts,” said Marty Lebowitz.

Joanie Lebowitz echoed his sentiments when asked about her advice to anyone else considering a gift to the university. “Give sincerely from your heart with lots of love,” she said. “Pick out something, a real worthy cause, and go for it!”

For more: Help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

The Oviatt Library student employee scholarship recipients, including Ashley English (center, with purple jacket), along with Marianne Afifi, associate dean (far left), and Mark Stover, dean of the library (far right). Photo by Oscar Kwok.

The Oviatt Library, heart of the California State University, Northridge campus, is home to thousands of volumes, priceless archives and innumerable resources for students, faculty and staff. However, one of the library’s greatest assets is its group of student employees. Every semester, more than 140 students work with full-time library staff to aid researchers, ensure collections are organized and keep the Oviatt running smoothly as an invaluable campus resource.

On April 17, library staff and donors gathered at a luncheon to honor student employees. Library officials presented 23 scholarships, totaling $22,000 in aid to deserving library student employees.

Virginia Elwood-Akers M.A. ’81 (Mass Communications), a retired university archivist who worked in the Oviatt Library for nearly 30 years, now funds one of the scholarships awarded at the event—the Virginia Elwood Scholarship—which this year was presented to Ashley English, a CSUN student who plans to graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in public health.

“I went to school on scholarships and working, so I know how important the scholarship can be,” said Elwood-Akers. “I hope that this little bit of money would keep Ashley going if she ever got discouraged. It took me eight years to get my B.A. I understand how hard it can be.”

English received the Virginia Elwood Scholarship as well as the Bonita J. Campbell Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Endowment Scholarship, one of the campus programs funded by a 2009 gift from professor emeritus Bonita J. Campbell of CSUN’s Department of Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management.

English was surprised and grateful for the awards. “I felt honored to be a recipient of the two scholarship awards,” she said. “By receiving these scholarships, I will be able to complete my education at CSUN and further continue my education by attending nursing school next year. I would like to thank the donors.”

English encouraged fellow students to apply for scholarships and be persistent.

“CSUN offers several scholarships for students,” she said. “The scholarships can be found on CSUN’s financial aid website, scholarship fliers around campus or at the Oviatt Library for student employees. I applied for a scholarship for the Oviatt Library last year and, unfortunately, did not receive one. However, this year I applied again and was a recipient of two.”

For more: Help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

Oviatt Library Scholarship Recipients

Marianne Afifi Scholarship
Tiffany Navales
Rachele Pedraza
Daniel Ramos
Paria Soroushi
Vince Morel Vilan
Gaja Yoon

Bonita J. Campbell WISE Endowment Scholarship
Ashley English

Mary & James Cleary Scholarship
Anuradha Krishnamurthy

Dr. Karin Duran Scholarship
Luisa Gonzalez

Virginia Elwood Scholarship
Ashley English

Ardis Flenniken Scholarship
Erika Panosian

Friends of the Library
Cristina Gutierrez

Bernice and Leonard Haber Scholarship
Juan Garcia

Richard and Diana Homer Scholarship
Edrina Younan

Anne and Dave Perkins Scholarship
Tiffany Argumedo
Jose Avendano
Zachary Burgenbauch
Mehrbanoo Farehi

Lois & Ralph Prator Scholarship
Rebecca Harris
Liliana Jimenez
Edras Lepe-Zapata

Ronald & Elizabeth-Ann Purcell Fellowship Scholarship
Carlos Vazquez

Cindy Ventuleth Scholarship
Jose Gonzalez

Arts Council member Amy Sosa (left) presents the Amy E. Sosa Scholarship to theater students Chelsea Beyries (center) and Tiana Cohen. Photo by Hailey Lutz.

More than two dozen scholarships were awarded to California State University, Northridge art, music and theater students at the CSUN Arts Council Awards Ceremony in early May. An annual tradition, the ceremony is hosted by the CSUN Arts Council, a group of community members who support arts programs at the university.

Officially founded in 1971 but with roots dating back to 1963, the Arts Council’s 95 current members provide a multitude of services for CSUN’s Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication. The council directly supports about a dozen student scholarships, funded by donations from council members, each year. The members are crucial volunteers at the CSUN Art Galleries, which present a rotating set of student and faculty exhibitions throughout the year. Arts Council members conduct K-12 school tours in the Art Galleries and host gallery exhibition opening events.

Members also manage and staff the Art Galleries Store and the Music Shoppe in Cypress Hall; profits from the stores benefit the respective academic departments. Members also serve as ushers during student musical and theatrical performances.

In addition to their service to the campus, Arts Council members meet on campus once a week for a lecture by a member of the CSUN arts faculty, drawing on the university’s wide breath of talented artists and art educators to create a continually compelling slate of speakers.

Nancy Reed, a charter member of the council, said that the council’s support of art students is particularly fulfilling. “I think that it’s important to be able to support students no matter what,” Reed said. “Students are in great need of scholarships in today’s world and I would hope that others realize how important and personally fulfilling it is to help a student.”

Chelsea Beyries, a junior theater student at CSUN who received a scholarship funded by Arts Council member Amy Sosa at the ceremony, expressed her gratitude for the scholarship. “Receiving the scholarship has enabled me to continue to focus on my studies and theater work, without the worry of finding [outside] work,” said Beyries. “As a theater major, finding a job that accommodates rehearsal schedule can be difficult and the Arts Council gave me a way around it.”

Reed also values the council’s mission to connect the university and the surrounding community through art exhibitions, theatrical performances and other events. “It’s important to raise money,” she said. “But we also want to be involved in the community coming to campus.”

For more: Get involved by attending arts events or joining the Arts Council.

Harmanpreet Panesar will conduct DNA research during her year as a Presidential Scholar.

Harmanpreet Panesar—a California State University, Northridge senior—isn’t only going to class and planning her life after graduation like many undergraduates. She’s also working on DNA research that could someday save a life.

Panesar is one of the eight recently announced 2013-2014 Presidential Scholarship recipients. Each year, a handful of CSUN undergraduate students are selected to receive this prestigious award, which includes a $5,000 scholarship, recognition at the fall convocation, a reception at the university president’s residence and, perhaps most importantly, the opportunity to conduct a year-long, faculty-mentored research project. Each year, the scholars present their work to the university president, administrators, faculty and fellow students at the annual Northridge Scholars Program Exhibit in May.

Ram Wolman will study how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.

Panesar’s research will focus on identifying and synthesizing a compound that binds tightly to DNA.

“A good DNA binder may be used to repair damaged DNA sequences,” Panesar said. “One or more of these compounds may be used to treat life-threatening diseases such as cancer and other genetic disorders.”

Several of the other Presidential Scholar recipients will also conduct health-related research. Ram Wolman, a fourth-year molecular and cell biology major, will be studying promoter regions of bacterial genes to determine how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.

Molecular and cell biology major Tania Benyamin will be synthesizing a catalyst for the element ruthenium.

Fellow molecular and cell biology major Tania Benyamin will be synthesizing a catalyst for the metallic element ruthenium, which as applications in producing in several commercial materials, including pharmaceuticals.

Psychology major Alina Valdez will be exploring a different aspect of health: stress. She will be validating quicker methods for measuring stress to determine if they are as effective at predicting stress-related complications like anxiety and depression as traditional, longer tests for depression.

Computer science major Matthew Newbill will spend the year testing the design of a new digital microfluidic biochip, a device used to mix fluids to precise concentrations at a sub-millimeter scale.

Computer science major Matthew Newbill will spend the year testing the design of a new digital microfluidic biochip.

The experience of conducting a research project from initial design to final presentation is invaluable for the students.

“I will be able to gain experience designing and running a study from beginning to end on my own,” said Valdez, “and will also gain the experience of writing up my results and, hopefully, sending them out for publication. This project gives me some preparation, experience and guidance on what I may expect in a Ph.D. program.”

“I am very excited to have the opportunity to present my data analysis to President Harrison, the faculty and the scholars,” said Panesar. “It has reinforced my desire to excel as a scientist-in-training and as a student.”

The Presidential Scholarships are funded by generous donations from the Associated Students, the Bayramian Family Scholarship Endowment, the Blenda Wilson Scholarship, the Diane Ryan Scholarship Endowment and the Medtronic Minimed Endowment.

For more: You can help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

CSUN student Wynnona Loredo recently received the $8,000 Mary Bayramian Arts Scholarship.

California State University, Northridge student Wynnona Loredo didn’t know her life was about to change when she opened a letter from CSUN’s Valley Performing Arts Center. Loredo expected the envelope to contain routine correspondence about her former job at the VPAC. Instead, she learned that she had received the $8,000 Mary Bayramian Arts Scholarship.

“It’s life-changing,” Loredo, a junior ambitiously pursuing three majors—photojournalism, economics and business honors—said of the scholarship. Loredo had been working up to 35 hours a week at three jobs to cover her cost of living and tuition. She worked during shows at the VPAC, as a clerical assistant in the CSUN Foundation and as a sushi chef at a local sushi restaurant. The scholarship will allow her now to focus on classes, rather than making California rolls.

“Last semester, I was working a lot, and [worrying about] money was my primary focus,” said Loredo. She didn’t have enough time to complete all the required reading for her courses, and the Dean’s List student saw her grades beginning to slide.

Then, Jerry De Felice, CSUN’s director of development for student affairs and athletics, encouraged Loredo to apply for scholarships, which she previously believed would be too competitive for her to benefit from. With De Felice’s support, Loredo applied to several scholarships and received the $8,000 Bayramian Arts award.

Loredo’s Mary Bayramian Arts Scholarship is just one of the many scholarships funded by a $7.3 million bequest left by CSUN neighbors Mary and Jack Bayramian. After years as a homemaker, Mary returned to college in her late 30s, earning a bachelor’s degree in art from San Fernando Valley State College (now CSUN) in 1963. She then taught art at San Fernando High School. In 1971, Mary and Jack, a telephone company technician, retired to Laguna Beach and began renovating and managing real estate. Their retirement venture proved very fruitful, allowing them to make their bequest, one of the largest gifts in the university’s history.

Loredo wishes that the Bayramians could experience the effect their gift had on her and fellow scholarship recipients. “I wish they were alive so that they could see us and they could personally see the impact they make in people’s lives,” she said.

The other eight scholarship recipients this year were Melissa Del Pino (Communicative Disorders-Speech Pathology), Eli Falk (Music), Alexandra Fung (Broadcast Journalism), Matthew Lengyl (Film), Arsalan Nami (Music Therapy), Andrew Porteous (Cinema and Television Arts), Zachary Torres (Environmental & Occupational Health), and Mark Winterlin (Cinema and Television Arts).

For more: You can help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

President Dianne F. Harrison (left) with, from left to right, Harrison Leadership Award winner Madalyne Handy, finalist Karla Montenegro and finalist Ashley Kritzer. Photo by Lee Choo.

This year’s California State University, Northridge Freshman Convocation included a new element: the presentation of the first annual Dianne F. Harrison Leadership Award to sophomore Madalyne Handy.

Created upon the occasion of President Harrison’s investiture as CSUN’s president last spring, the $5,000 award recognizes a student who has completed the freshman year for his or her leadership, as demonstrated by involvement in student government, a campus club or a student organization. Awardees must have a GPA of at least 3.0. To be presented each fall, this scholarship supports the university’s emerging student leaders, furthering a culture of leadership on campus while also building the community’s next generation of leading voices.

Handy, a kinesiology major, completed 57 units by her third semester at CSUN with a GPA of 3.96. In addition to excelling in the classroom, Handy is also a member of the Matador softball team. As President Harrison shared during the award presentation, Handy’s coach, Tairia Flowers, wrote that that Handy “pushes herself and everyone around her to be better, work harder and to become mentally tougher.” Handy also serves as a Supplemental Instruction Leader for statistics, working with a class of about 20 statistics students.

During the ceremony, President Harrison also recognized the two finalists for the award: Ashley Kritzer, a deaf studies major, and Karla Montenegro, a management major. President Harrison thanked all three students for the “inspiring work that [they] have undertaken thus far as students who are truly models of success for all of our students and our new freshman class.”

Handy, who hopes to become a teacher, said the award will spur her to continue her focus on peer leadership at CSUN. “Being recognized as a leader on campus through this scholarship has already began to pave the way for my future involvement with our amazing institution,” she said. “These next three years, I commit to being the best leader I can be in the classroom, on the field and in the community.”

Handy, who said she strives to “lead by example through hard work, passion and dedication,” is grateful to the donors to the Harrison Leadership Award Fund, whose gifts fund the scholarship. “I want to thank the supporters for this scholarship,” she said. “Their help creates a stronger Northridge that is able to stay connected with its alumni and community. Donations like this and help from outside supporters truly makes CSUN the heartbeat of the Valley.”

For more: You can help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

For students wanting to experience life in one of the world’s most populated and fascinating countries, at no cost to them, California State University, Northridge has an option. The China Scholarship Council (CSC) provides students with funding to live and study for a full year in China. Funded by the Chinese government, the awards cover tuition as well as living expenses, giving CSUN graduate and undergraduate students from any discipline the opportunity to experience life in China.

Brandon Violette posing next to a lion statue along the Sacred Way, which leads to Beijing’s Ming Tombs.

This year, seven CSUN students and alumni received this prestigious award. Most described their experience in China as life-changing, with opportunities for developing skills and opening new doors to careers.

Brandon Violette ’13 (Cinema-Screenwriting), currently studying at the Beijing Film Academy, says the skills he’s gained in China can only be learned through experience.

“I’ve literally packed my life into two suitcases and made that blind leap to a foreign country to start over, make a few friends and see walks of life I’d only read about,” said Violette. “Once you go through that, with all the excitement and anxieties that go with it, it humbles you. It reminds you that you’re not at the center of the world like you once thought you were.”

Violette encourages every student to apply to the China Scholarship Council program regardless of their field of study. “It’s a tremendous opportunity that I still can’t believe is out there for people to grab,” he said.

Scholarship recipient Danielle Cabello in China.

Danielle Cabello ’05 (English) said one thing will carry on for the rest of her life from her experience is the importance to step out of your comfort zone. Cabello loved her experience in China so much that she decided to stay and teach English.

“After my scholarship was finished, I realized I didn’t want to leave China right away because I felt that one year simply wasn’t enough to really get to see and learn about such a vast country,” she said. “Now, four years later, I’m still in China studying for a master’s degree at Tsinghua University and plan on staying here for a few years after graduation to teach.”

Recipient Spencer Goad believes that the opportunity of living in China was the key to his continuing career.

After leaving CSUN, Spencer Goad ’09 (Music Performance-Percussion) earned his master’s at Arizona State University and began working as a college professor teaching music history in Phoenix. Goad applied to CSC and was accepted into Shanghai Conservatory of Music for one year as a visiting senior scholar.

Goad believes that the opportunity of living in China was the key to his continuing career as a college educator. “There is a whole other world outside of Southern California, the United States and the Western world little bubble we live in. [You have to] keep an open mind and be eager to learn or you will miss out on many wonderful things,” he said.

Andrew Javidi ’12 (Political Science-Government and Politics) believes studying in China has given him insight and knowledge for his future career and helped him focus on his interests in diplomacy and international relations. Studying Contemporary Chinese at Renmin University of China in Beijing has made him realize how central China is to international politics, the world economy and the coming century.

Andrew Javidi (middle) with fellow students in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

“Not only my studies, but the amount of news coverage, scholarly articles and media attention paid toward China just in the little over a year that I’ve been here has confirmed that this was the best decision I’ve ever made,” said Javidi.

Javidi encourages other students to pursue studies in China, especially through the China Scholarship Program. “No matter what field students want to explore, or what career path they want to follow, China will be a player for years to come, and learning about the country,” he said. “The culture and the language will prove beneficial to many people. The China Scholarship Program offers full tuition, board and a monthly living stipend; it really doesn’t get better than this.”

The other CSUN recipients this year were current students Eliza Corpuz (Music), Danny R. Lopez (Philosophy) and Robert Francis Megill (Philosophy).

Continuing a tradition of support for California State University, Northridge that goes back more than 25 years, the Encino Woman’s Club has donated $21,000 to the university for scholarships.

The gift was presented to university officials and six student scholarship recipients during a special tea at the club in June.

Lili Vidal, CSUN’s director of financial aid and scholarships, called the donation “transformative” for the students who received the scholarships.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet with a few of the representatives from the organization to thank them for supporting our students through scholarships over the years,” Vidal said. “But it’s been more than years — it’s been decades — that these women, many now in their 90s, have supported our students.

“The students have expressed how much this support means to them, not just financially, but in the knowledge that there are people behind them and who are interested in their success.”

For more than three decades, the club’s members have donated money to support CSUN students, funding more than 100 individual scholarships during that time.

“There aren’t very many of us, but we get together every Thursday,” said Mary Pritzlaff, who has been a member of the Encino Woman’s Club for 41 years and is chair of the club’s welfare and philanthropy committee. “You have a very fine university, and we like to give locally. You generate some amazing young people, and we hope that we can continue to give. Most of us are in our 90s, but we’ll carry on as long as we can.”

The club’s donations go to support high-achieving students majoring in science, math, engineering, computer science or education.

This year’s recipients are Katherine Peal, Edna Martinez, Bailey Hooper, Carolyn Smith, Porche Carter and Kelsey Almendral. Each received a $3,500 scholarship.

Trumpeter Michael Gutierrez is starting his freshman year at California State University, Northridge as CSUN’s first Ella Fitzgerald Memorial Scholar in Jazz Studies.

The honor includes a $5,000 scholarship for the 17-year-old Clovis native from the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, which was founded by the legendary “First Lady of Song” as a way to use the fruits of her success to help others. Gutierrez will receive $5,000 each academic year for two years, with the opportunity to reapply at the end of that term.

“It’s really quite an honor to be the first Ella Fitzgerald Scholarship recipient,” Gutierrez said. “It means a lot less stress and makes life a lot easier as I start out in college.”

Music professor Gary Pratt, head of CSUN’s acclaimed jazz studies program, called Gutierrez “an extremely talented young man” who deserved the honor.

“He is one of the finest young gentlemen that I have had the pleasure of meeting,” said Pratt, a nationally respected jazz artist and educator. “I go out to a lot of schools, and Michael distinguished himself immediately. He has so much enthusiasm and commitment to becoming a better musician. He is certainly one of the spotlighted young artists on the scene, and it is a great pleasure to have him here with us.”

Gutierrez said he discovered jazz in school when a teacher played some music in class. From there, he developed a passion for the jazz-funk band Tower of Power — the horn section in particular — and was inspired to pick up the trumpet in seventh grade.

He was a member of his high school’s marching band, wind ensemble, symphony orchestra and jazz ensemble. As a member of the high school’s jazz ensemble, he performed at the Delta City Jazz Festival, San Joaquin Jazz Festival and the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival, where earlier this year he won the award for outstanding soloist.

Earlier this year, Gutierrez was selected to play in the GRAMMY Camp-Jazz Session and invited to attend the 56^th annual Grammy Awards show and perform at the after party. He has played at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Noto and the Tomisato Jazz Festival, and has given performances in Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan.

Gutierrez said he was excited to start his university studies in CSUN’s jazz program.

“It’s one of the most fantastic programs in the country,” he said. “I had my first big band rehearsal yesterday and it was…wow! It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to my lessons here.”

Pratt noted that the generosity of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation and its executive director, Fran Morris Rosman, provide the opportunity for Gutierrez to pursue his music dreams at CSUN.

“We are really grateful to Fran Morris Rosman for working with us and are looking forward to further projects with her,” he said.

The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation was created and funded in 1993 by jazz great Ella Fitzgerald to fulfill her desires to use her success to help people of all races, cultures and beliefs. Fitzgerald hoped to make their lives more rewarding, and she wanted to foster a love of reading, as well as a love of music. In addition, she hoped to provide assistance to at-risk and disadvantaged members of the community.

The CSUN jazz program offers a progressive and innovative course curriculum spanning improvisation, theory, technique, history and performance. Working with top professionals from the very beginning of their college experience, students can take advantage of CSUN’s location in a hub of the music industry by attending clinics and concerts. The program also offers a range of ensembles, providing students with unparalleled performance experience. These include the Jazz “A” Big Band, which holds a record for first-place awards at the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival and regularly performs at the nation’s top jazz events, including four consecutive invitations to the Monterey Jazz Festival.

When Demonte “Tray” Thompson was approaching high school graduation in 2010, he already had started learning lessons about the importance of making sound economic decisions.

His family had little disposable income, so if he wanted to have money for high school activities like the prom, he had to earn it by working at a fast food restaurant.

So he was ahead of most incoming freshmen when it came time to look ahead to college and how to pay for it. Considering various universities, he kept coming back to California State University, Northridge. He wanted to major in finance, so the CSUN David Nazarian College of Business and Economics was quite attractive. He also looked at the tuition cost, which was significantly lower than other schools.

Yet Demonte and his twin brother, Demontea, knew they were going to need more help to afford college without incurring a lot of debt. So they reached out to CSUN’s Financial Aid office, where they found out about Pell Grants.

Pell Grants are government funds awarded to students based on financial need. The grants take into account the institution’s tuition costs, as well as other ancillary factors. When the Thompson twins found out that they qualified for this aid, that sealed their respective decisions to come to CSUN.

“It relates to needing the aid to figure out which university I would attend, as well as whether I’d be able to afford going to college,” Demonte said. “Without receiving the right amount of financial aid, it could affect our decisions to go to college at all or going to a community college.”

During the 2013-14 school year, 18,107 CSUN students received a cumulative $79,219,274 in Pell Grants. That was the most by far in the state of California, nearly $10 million ahead of the second university on the list (California State University, Long Beach). Nationally, CSUN was third in total Pell Grant money awarded at public universities, behind only Penn State and Arizona State. The fact that nearly 50 percent of CSUN’s student body receives some level of government aid is a testament to the situations of the people who make up the student body.

“High need. We bring in kids who are this region,” said William Watkins ’74 (Urban Studies), CSUN vice president of student affairs and dean of students. “We have made a decision here at CSUN to not become exclusive in ways that might cause some kids from that socioeconomic strata to not be here. Part of the demographic reality of our campus is that we draw from the region in a very authentic way. We don’t have a whole lot of standards that we keep some in larger percentage than others from being enrolled. If we’re enrolling kids from the community here — and if we’re attractive to them and they believe that they can achieve success here — to be able to offer them the aid that makes that possible is huge.

“The Pell Grant is a gauge for the economic status of your student body. It reflects, number one, who we have here, but also demonstrates the capacity of the staff in our financial aid department and all the other supporting cast that assists students in getting those financial aid applications in and processed on time — and then delivering that aid to them at a time when they need it to pay their fees and their other obligations in a timely manner.”

Lili Vidal has been helping students like Thompson reach for their dreams of a better future for more than two decades. As CSUN’s director of financial aid and scholarships, Vidal has learned over the years how important support in the form of Pell Grants can make the difference between going to college and not for a great number of CSUN students.

“It’s critical for them,” Vidal said. “They really can’t come to school. Students who are eligible for Pell Grants, they don’t have additional family resources. They don’t really have another place to turn.”

Vidal pointed out that along with the aid must come a fair amount of education. Many students receiving this financial aid are first-time college students, so there is no background knowledge in what college costs and what resources are available to help pay for it. In many cases, the parents are receiving the financial education along with their children, and for many Latino families that learning is done in Spanish as well as English.

“It’s not just the money, it’s the education we have to deliver to them,” Vidal said. “Their parents didn’t go to college. They don’t understand what this money is for. They could get a refund check for $5,000 that could be the income for a family for a year.”

The education brings with it a real-world lesson about the responsibilities that come with the aid. These students must maintain an academic standard that shows passing grades and consistent progress toward a degree. If their academic performance lags below standards, the reality that the support could go away is quite sobering for many first-time college students. This requires maturity early on to make the most of this opportunity. In some instances, this is a hard lesson.

“They don’t really understand the responsibility that comes with that opportunity,” Vidal said. “They do need to have discipline — academic discipline, financial discipline, social discipline. They’re responsible for themselves in a lot of ways.”

CSUN offers workshops on money management to help students with budgeting their financial aid money. There have been past instances when students received aid, but spent it only partially on their education — leaving them scrounging to make ends meet until the end of the semester.

“This financial aid is important to them,” Vidal said. “It’s important to their family, and it’s important to their community.”

Demonte eventually went to work for Vidal in the financial aid office. He’s been able to help other students facing a similar situation to his own. When he finishes his undergraduate degree in December (he’s already looking ahead toward graduate school), it will be clear how aid like the Pell Grant has helped him.

“It’s made an amazing difference,” Demonte said. “This grant and other financial aid I received let me know that I do have a cushion to help me with school. I won’t have to work as much so I can focus on my education.

“It has propelled me. Not only is my major finance, but I’m at a university that has a good business school. Even when considering pursuing an MBA, I know I have the support of faculty and staff.”

For Vidal, the reward is in knowing the difference she’s making in helping these students elevate themselves to earn a degree that can boost their future careers.

“I do get students coming back to tell me they wouldn’t be where they are without our help,” Vidal said. “We believe in them.”

Having someone believe in them gives many students the confidence to persevere through the hard work that lies ahead during their college years. But just knowing that a college education is possible because of aid like Pell Grants and people like Vidal is often the start that many need on the road to success.

“I have a tremendous respect and regard for the work that’s done through financial aid,” Watkins said. “When our recruiters go out, they can say affirmatively to kids that if you prepare yourself to come to college, we have the resources to make that possible. That’s huge.”