By Joseph Baroud
Staff Writer
At this year’s Fall Convocation on Thursday, California State University, Dominguez Hills’ President Thomas A. Parham, gave a speech addressing the campus.
Parham used the time as a way for the campus community to get to know him better and see what his vision is for CSUDH.
“For those of you who are wondering about your new president,” Parham said. “What is it that lies beneath the academic degrees, awards, scholarships, the publications, the pictures you may have seen, the videos you may have watched, other things you may have read. Please understand that I recognize there is an important distinction for what you do for a living and who you are at the core of your being.”
He continued,
“Please understand who I am at the core of my being. I’m a product of a single parent household. Growing up with my mom and three siblings in Los Angeles. I am the father of two lovely and bright and grown and feminist daughters Kenya and Tanya. I am a friend to selected men and women who share my extended family space. I’m a strong man in my community committed to making this community, this nation and this world a better place.”
He promised a positive outlook for the university’s future if students fostered a community mindset. And, stressed the importance of students not having a “pinball experience” where they only went to class, purchased food from the Loker Student Union and went home.
While addressing the faculty and staff, he encouraged them to imagine a 50 to 60 percent graduation rate where employers would seek out viable candidates for open positions from CSUDH.
“I love being part of this Toro nation,” Parham said before completing his speech. “I’ve embraced this historic legacy. The privilege of serving in this role is not a job, it’s a call. We want to be Toros. Be strong, powerful, be fearless, be persistent, be stubborn…. In the right ways that are going to help our students elevate so, they become masters of their own fate. That’s what it means to be part of this Toro nation.”
Before Parham’s speech, Laura Talamante, an assistant professor of the History Department and Associated Students, Inc. President Christian Jackson spoke to the attendees about what being a Toro meant for them, mentioning the importance of students building and maintaining Parham’s communal vision throughout the community.
