The CSU East Bay community formally celebrated the investiture of their fifth president, Leroy M. Morishita, last Friday, as he thanked attendees and expressed his plans for CSUEB.

“I am excited to be here and I am extremely proud and honored to have been chosen for this very important leadership role,” said Morishita. “I am committed to those values and principles that are the foundation of public higher education, shared governance, access-diversity-inclusion, free-speech, accountability and transparency and I will work diligently to uphold them.”

The morning began with the traditional presentation of colors by the university’s police department, the Hayward Police Department’s Color Guard and a singing of The Star Spangled Banner by CSUEB student Pablo Benavente, who was accompanied on the piano by student Emily Tian.

CSUEB’s Provost Dr. James L.J. Houpis proceeded to present CSU Chancellor Charles Reed, Robert Linscheid, Chair of the CSU Board of Trustees, State Senate Majority Leader, Ellen Corbett and Counsel General of Japan, Hiroshi Inomata, among others.The Houpis then presented Mitchell Watnik, chair of CSUEB’s Academic Senate, who congratulated all of CSUEB’s faculty members through a Faculty Honors Convocation in which faculty members received promotions, were honored for their 25 years of dedicated service and for their emeriti status.

Chancellor Reed then took the podium and proceeded to present the reasons why President Morishita was a qualifying candidate for the position as president of CSUEB.

“Leroy Morishita is the right person at the right time,” said Reed. “Choosing a president is one of the most important responsibilities given to the chancellor and the board of trustees. “That is why when it came time to choose
a president for Cal State East Bay, we chose Leroy Morishta.”

After Reed praised Morishita for his natural leadership abilities, he turned to him and stated, “I hereby invest you with the office of President of California State University, East Bay.”

President Morishita then approached the podium and was honored with a presidential medallion, which was placed over his head by Linscheid.

Attendees stood on their feet and proudly applauded for their new president. After receiving his medallion, Morishita thanked his wife Barbara and his two sons Kyle and Derek.

“Barbara provides balance to my professional and personal life along with our sons, now successful young men, who have grown up to be a deep source of pride and joy for us and our families,” he said

“It is easy to be president when the times are good. It’s when the times are difficult that people need to step forward. I have chosen to step forward,” said Morishita.

Morishita referred to his childhood in Fresno, and how growing up on a farm, he “learned to focus on what you can control.” He added in these “difficult and exigent financial times,” for higher education in California, CSUEB “must focus on what we have control over as we face challenges both internal and external to the university.”

“We must be faithful to our university motto at this critical time in our history. Our university motto, ‘aspera ad astra’ literally translated from the Latin means ‘through adversity to the stars’,” concluded Morishita.

The investiture ceremony was followed by al Fresco, a fall welcome back event in which 97 different campus and local groups and clubs exposed CSUEB students to various  job and involvement opportunities. It also featured African drumming, different dance team performances, an introduction to CSUEB’s athletic teams and a short raffle.