Dear Editors,

Cal State’s President Qayoumi will soon leave for the SJSU presidency.

He came to Cal State from CSU Northridge and San Jose State University, both significantly larger than Cal State. Yet, both schools carry local names. CSUN is an un-incorporated county area name, and SJSU is a city name.

CSU Northridge is one of several post-WW II CSUs that changed campus place names from regional to local when their respective names were less than 20 years old. Moreover, all the regional to local name changes were made before the unprecedented CSU Hayward changed to CSU East Bay, a name change from local to regional.

Cal State in Hayward is also a post-WW II CSU. Hayward had been its campus place name for 42 years. However, in 2004, its then-president publicly stated that no community, faculty, staff or student referendums on the name-change would alter her decision to recommend dropping the 42-year old Hayward campus place name for the regional “East Bay.” The tightly scripted January 2005 CSU Chancellor and Trustees meeting severely limited pro-Hayward speakers.

After Cal State Hayward’s very closed name-change process,

SJSU students initiated a very open “CSU San Jose” name-change campaign. It concluded with a campus-wide referendum. “SJSU” won over “CSU San Jose.”

Since January 2005, CSU in Hayward has grown its enrollment due to additional student housing, a first-ever dining commons and overflow from the closing of enrollment at other CSUs. Name-change or no name-change, Cal State in Hayward’s enrollment growth would have been about the same.

By any criteria of “regional” naming, even if evenly applied to all 23 CSUs, CSU in Hayward is poorly named “East Bay.”

There are four Bay Area CSUs: North, South, East and West: Sonoma State (North), San Jose State (South), CSU San Francisco State (West). Yet, they retain their local names.

CSU East Bay is a serious misnomer. Within the CSU family it is a bastard, oddball, pretentious, pseudo-name.

CSU Hayward is the right name for Cal State in Hayward.

As Dr. Qayoumi departs, he could heal a divide by separating Cal State in Hayward from the city/community of Hayward by strongly recommending that the CSU Trustees restore the name “Hayward” and rescind “East Bay” as the campus place name. He would simultaneously kick-start much more positive community relations for his successor.

Sincerely,
Peter D. Reimer
Hayward, CA
Life-Time Member, CSUH Alumni Association