Throughout 2024, we covered the CSU faculty, staff, students and alumni who are serving their communities and striving for a better future. Look back at five inspiring stories you may have missed.
1. A Place to Call Home: How the CSU is Fighting Housing Insecurity
The CSU is dedicated to ensuring students have the holistic support they need to succeed academically. That includes helping students meet their mental, emotional and physical needs—and with the recent increases in the cost of living and housing in California, the CSU has continued expanding its efforts to battle housing insecurity and homelessness among students.
Find out how the CSU helps students who are struggling with housing insecurity.
2. From CSU to the Podium: Paris Olympic Games Medalists
During the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, more than a thousand medals were awarded to athletes from around the world. Several California State University student and alumni athletes participated in the Games, demonstrating their incredible skills and tenacity. Six of those athletes earned medals and returned home to Olympic glory.
Meet the Olympic medalists who kicked off their athletic careers at the CSU.
3. Getting to Work With Esports
As esports continues to grow as a global phenomenon, CSUs are taking advantage of its potential to equip students with career-readiness skills and academic resources. Beyond just competitive gaming, the CSU's increased support for its esports programs and facilities has provided students with more opportunities for hands-on learning experiences in event planning, broadcast, marketing and game design—preparing them to step into future careers.
Learn how CSU esports programs are preparing students to excel.
4. Pulitzer Prize-Winning Alumna Brings News Stories to Life
Cal State Long Beach alumna Caitlin Dickerson ('11) is a fierce defender of democracy who uses investigative journalism as a check against inequality. In 2023, Dickerson earned a Pulitzer Prize—arguably the top honor for a journalist—in the explanatory reporting category for her coverage of the Trump administration's policy separating children and parents who had migrated illegally.
Read how her CSU education inspired her career.
5. Corps Strength
The #CaliforniansForAll College Corps program provides college students with meaningful work experience and helps them pay for their education while forging more equitable communities across California. The first program of its kind available to AB540-eligible Dreamers, the initiative connects students with service opportunities in fields like K-12 education, food insecurity and climate action.
See how the program impacts California communities.