On the first day of school, Guillermo and Gabriel Acosta attended their initial philosophy class, then stood anxiously outside Bizzini Hall, waiting for their next classes to begin.
Like so many students at California State University, Stanislaus, the twin brothers, freshmen from Modesto’s Enochs High, are among the first in their family to attend a four-year university.
Francis Sarguis believes he has found the perfect way to honor the memory of his mother — establishing a fund that will enable generations of learners to discover and, in turn, preserve modern Assyrian culture.
In that effort, he has established the Francis Sarguis Modern Assyrian Heritage Fund at California State University, Stanislaus. His $50,000 gift will allow the University library to acquire books and materials specifically about modern Assyrian culture.
Jose Godinez, a chemistry student at CSU Stanislaus, has been named a 2015 recipient of the CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement.
The $6,000 award identifies Godinez as a William Randolph Hearst scholar, and is one of 23 awards going to students representing each of the CSU campuses. The awards are given each year to those students who demonstrate superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.
Dr. Mark Grobner, who has been part of the California State University, Stanislaus community since 1997, has been appointed to the position of Interim Dean of the College of Science, effective immediately.
Grobner holds doctorate and master’s degrees in animal science from Oregon State University, and a bachelor’s in zoology from Colorado State University. He joined CSU Stanislaus as a part-time lecturer in 1997 and was appointed to the position of assistant professor in 2002. He was promoted to professor of biology in fall 2013.
For the 10th consecutive year, California State University, Stanislaus has earned a spot on the Princeton Review’s prestigious list of the nation’s best 380 colleges.
According to the Princeton Review website, the staff selects colleges “primarily based on our high opinion of their academics.” It collects data on more than 2,000 schools for the lists and rankings it includes in its annual guide to colleges, which it first published in 1992.
The value and affordability of a CSU Stanislaus education continues to be noticed on a national scale, with Money magazine ranking Stanislaus the No. 1 public university in the nation for helping students exceed expectations.
The magazine says its list is “based solely on value-added grades for graduation rates, earnings and student loan repayment, eliminating schools with a negative grade in any of those areas or a graduation rate below 50 percent.”
University President Joseph F. Sheley said the recognition is significant.