Toast a New Era at CSUN

Picking a university president, mused a Cal State Northridge professor back when the university was trying to do just that, is like entering into a marriage. In November 1999, the California State University Board of Trustees proposed Jolene Koester, then the provost and academic vice president at Cal State Sacramento, for the job. This week CSUN celebrates the wedding.

It’s a little late by non-campus standards; Koester accepted the offer more than a year ago and took office July 1. But universities like their pomp and circumstance, thank you very much, and they like to do it up right. Thursday’s inaugural and the week of festivities leading up to it have been seven months in the planning.

Koester is wisely using the occasion to celebrate CSUN and to highlight the university’s ties to the community.

The public is invited to a free concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Performing Arts Center to hear CSUN’s African Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Jazz “A” Band and other groups.

And the public is invited to the inauguration itself at noon Thursday. The investiture ceremony will feature no brides in lace, but plenty of professors will march across the Oviatt Library lawn in the robes and tassels of academic regalia. A reception, also free and open to the public, will follow at 1:30 p.m. in the adjoining Sierra Quad.

The daughter of German immigrants who grew up a community “of extreme cultural homogeneity” in Plato, Minn. (population 250), Koester may seem an odd match for one of the most diverse universities in the country. Not so. In nine months at Northridge, she has embraced the 29,000-student campus, with its mix of ethnicities, languages and backgrounds, as enthusiastically as she had earlier sought to broaden her horizons through college and travel.

Like many CSUN students, Koester was the first in her family to go to college. She knows firsthand the challenges that brings, as well as the opportunities.

CSUN has propelled many first-generation graduates to the middle class through the increased earning power that is one benefit of higher education. Another benefit is exposure to the world of culture and ideas. CSUN is a cultural center--a multicultural center--for the surrounding San Fernando Valley, a role highlighted by this week’s concerts and other festivities.

Come and see for yourself--and toast the future of this university and its president.

To Attend: The Inaugural Concert takes place Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. To reserve seats for the free concert, call (818) 677-3943. The inaugural ceremony and speech begin at noon Thursday on the Oviatt Library lawn. The public can park in parking lot C on the east side of campus along Zelzah Avenue north of Nordhoff Street. For more information and a complete schedule of inaugural events, see the CSUN Web site (www.csun.edu) or call (818) 677-2130.