CSULB to celebrate 75th anniversary with live music, food, beer and more
The three bands — Mariachi los Tiburones de CSULB, Higher Ed and Knyght Ryder — all have ties to the university.
Students have been receiving their higher education at Cal State Long Beach, originally known as Los Angeles-Orange County State College, since it opened on Sept. 28, 1949. Exactly 75 years later, the university will celebrate its diamond jubilee with live music, food, beer and more.
The 75th anniversary kickoff concert is set to take place Saturday, Sept. 28 from 3 to 8 p.m. on the north lawn of the Walter Pyramid. The free family-friendly event will feature food trucks, a beer garden, a kid zone and more. Parking is also free.
Live entertainment will be provided by three bands, each with ties to the university: Mariachi los Tiburones de CSULB, Higher Ed and Knyght Ryder.
Mariachi los Tiburones de CSULB features student musicians interested in mariachi music and Mexican culture, regardless of musical experience. The group comprises 15 core members, including violinist Ariana Hernandez, a fourth-year chemical engineering student.
"It’s just about coming together for us, and playing the music that we love,” Hernandez said in a statement. “It does hold a special place in our hearts.”
Higher Ed is a rock band headed up by CSULB College of Health and Human Services Dean Monica Lounsbery on lead vocals, with associate professor of criminology Robert Schug on guitar and former psychology professor Collie Conoley on bass.
Knyght Ryder, known best for their ’80s cover sets at Gaslamp and other venues across Long Beach, will close out the night. Guitarist Travis Goertz graduated from CSULB in 1993 and has worked in the university’s College of Continuing and Professional Education for almost 25 years as a digital media designer.
“I've been at CSULB forever, and it'll be exciting to play the 75th kickoff event,” Goertz said.
The band’s drummer, Rick Campos, graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2023.
The event also will include alumni meetups and a display of campus memorabilia.
Today, the university has some 39,500 students and employs 3,600 people, making it the second most attended campus in the Cal State University system behind Fullerton. But its beginnings were much more humble.
On Sept. 28, 1949, the fledgling college welcomed its inaugural class of 169 students and 13 full-time faculty to a converted apartment building at 5401. E. Anaheim St.
A selection committee tasked with finding an ideal location for a more permanent university unanimously settled on a 322-acre site on the outskirts of Long Beach, a sacred site known by the Gabrielino-Tongva Indian Tribe as Puvungna. In June 1950, the city of Long Beach purchased the land for $1 million
Construction of the pedestrian-friendly campus, initially drawn up by Ed Killingsworth and his firm, began in the summer of 1951. By 1958, the first dormitories were completed, making the campus a residential rather than a commuter college.
In 1994, the university opened its most iconic landmark in The Long Beach Pyramid, now known as the Walter Pyramid.
Over the last seven and a half decades, CSULB has been an epicenter for athletics, arts and culture in the city. In the sports world, Pat McCormick, a Cal State Long Beach student and swimmer, competed in the 1952 Olympics. Since then, CSULB has been represented at every Summer Games.
In 1965, the university hosted the first International Sculpture Symposia. The following year, faculty member Maulana Karenga, who works at the university as the department chair of African Studies, created Kwanzaa.
American Indian Studies was introduced to the Long Beach campus in 1968. Two years later, the university hosted its inaugural Pow Wow, a gathering of American Indian and Native American tribes from across the country to honor indigenous cultures — an event that continues today.
The Earl B. Miller Japanese Garden opened in April 1981. The first High Tech Center in the Cal State University system opened at Long Beach in 1984. In 1994, the Carpenter Performing Arts Center opened its doors.
The list of milestones, achievements and accolades is long, as is expected after 75 years and more than 400,000 alumni.
“Our beginnings may have been modest, but over the last 75 years Cal State Long Beach has grown in size, reach and reputation,” President Jane Close Conoley said in a statement.
“Today, CSULB stands tall as an institution renowned for its exceptional faculty, groundbreaking research and unparalleled dedication to student success,” Conoley continued. “As we celebrate this momentous anniversary, we look forward to the next 75 years of innovation, leadership, and service."
We need your support.
Subcribe to the Watchdog today.
The Long Beach Watchdog is owned by journalists, and paid for by readers like you. If independent, local reporting like the story you just read is important to you, support our work by becoming a subscriber.
