College Alumni Span Globe

The significance and world-wide distribution of College of Communications’ alumni became ever more evident to me in November. At that time, I was a co-leader of a tour to the Middle East which took me to Greece, Turkey and Israel. While visiting Haifa, Israel, I met Rita Tsukahira, a 1981 graduate of Speech Communication. Our meeting was by accident and brought to mind the cliché, “This is a small world."

Rita’s excitement paralleled mine when she found out who I was. In her ever gracious way, Rita could not hide her enthusiasm about her past classroom experiences in the early 1980s with outstanding faculty like Rich Wiseman (her thesis adviser) and the late George Enell (“an ‘incredible’ professor”) as well as others.

Rita shared with me what I hear from so many alumni: “The very strong undergraduate and graduate education (intercultural studies) I received at CSUF gave me an excellent foundation.” She explained how the department and its faculty prepared her for what she has been doing in Israel most recently and in Japan before that.

As a matter of fact, I interact with alumni frequently at various events and via e-mail. I hear the same story: Their communications professors, their classes and the hands-on experiences laid the perfect foundation for their careers. They share a feeling that their appreciation for their education has grown over the years, and they give a great deal of credit to specific faculty.

At the recent 45th Anniversary celebration for the Daily Titan, alumni from four different states were represented. Many others expressed via e-mail their desire to attend but simply couldn’t be away from their work or were unable to travel at that time.

Quite frankly, this appreciation works both ways. We faculty and administrators do indeed appreciate and respect our many alumni who have done so well and who have given back to the departments in the College of Communications. We recognize the impact that many of our alumni have had on the world making it a better place.

The College of Communications has a strong reputation locally, regionally and across the nation. Our alumni have helped make that happen. It is our desire that the relationship between the college and alumni continue to grow. We enjoy hearing from you!