Dear Matadors,
As a core value, I believe in leading through listening, and over the course of thousands of conversations in these first 100 days, I have seen incontrovertible evidence of what makes CSUN such a special place. My discussions with proud Matador students, faculty, staff, alumni, business, industry, and community members have provided me with greater clarity and have instilled in me pride in serving our academic community.
I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to everyone who participated in my Listening Tour. I appreciated learning about the opportunities and challenges that we face, as well as your aspirations for our shared future. Thank you for your candor and your honest assessment of where we are, where we have been, and where we want to go. As a leader grounded in evidence-based decision making, I found your retelling of history and the details of your personal journeys to be incredibly compelling, informative, and inspiring. This shared history and lived experience will serve as a starting point for building our future, together.
It was a genuine delight to connect with so many of you who contribute to making CSUN a learning environment that is truly unparalleled in American higher education. This remarkable achievement and CSUN’s long-standing history of resilience in the midst of challenges was on full display this year as you, once again, continued to advance our academic mission in service of our collective future in the midst of tragic, ongoing, and intersecting crises. I valued the opportunity to hear from each of you how our campus community responded with compassion, strength, and determination. Collectively, I am confident that we are making the world a more just and equitable place.
In the summary that follows, I’ve provided an overview of the themes that emerged in these 100 days of listening and learning, as well as some initial reflections on those themes. These themes capture the voices of individuals across every facet of our university and will serve as guideposts as we move into the next chapter of our illustrious history.
With gratitude,
Erika D. Beck, Ph.D.
President