(UPDATE: Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro’s Feb. 28 visit to Bethesda Apostolic Church will be rescheduled in March due to illness. Other visits Feb. 28 indicated in the updated version below will proceed as planned. Thank you).
A team of University officials will speak at several local churches on Sunday, Feb. 28 as the final day of the CSU Super Sunday campaign — a three-week CSU African-American Initiative project that focuses on college achievement for African-American students.
Ten local congregations are part of 100 predominantly African-American churches statewide that are participating in CSU Super Sunday, a system-wide effort to inform communities about opportunities to earn a college degree in California.
Launched in 2005, CSU Super Sunday is an annual event where leaders throughout the 23 CSU campuses work together to help underrepresented students access the tools they need to successfully enter college. To date, almost 600,000 churchgoers have received information about financial aid and CSU.
The local three-week campaign began Feb. 14 with three churches and continued Feb. 21 with another three.
The final four churches that will be visited on Feb. 28 include:
- Lynette Zelezny, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church (10:45 a.m.);
- Paula Castadio, vice president for University Advancement, at Saints Community Church of God in Christv (10:30 a.m.);
- Malisa Lee, associate vice president of Enrollment Management, at City of Refuge (10:15 a.m.);
- Martina Granados, Fresno State’s director of University Outreach Services, and Kornya Lansana, Fresno State recruitment counselor at Bethesda Apostolic Church (10:45 a.m.).
Dr. Frank Lamas, vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, spoke Feb. 21 at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.
Other churches visited were Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church, West Fresno Christian Center, Saints Rest Missionary Baptist Church, Family-Word Fellowship Church and Westside Church.
Throughout California, CSU campus presidents, trustees, the chancellor and other officials have been speaking from the pulpit about college readiness and the possibilities for obtaining financial aid.
After the services, parents and students meet the CSU representatives, obtain posters on how to get to college and navigate CSUMentor.edu — a website to help students explore campuses and majors as well as apply to the CSU.
“Reaching out to our local churches reinforces our relationship with our community and builds a better educational foundation for our next generation of students,” said Lansana. “We are our community; investing in our youth guarantees a brighter future.”
The CSU African-American Initiative is a partnership between CSU campuses and leaders in the African-American community dedicated to increasing the number of African-American students who attend and graduate from college. The CSU has formed many other partnerships aimed at increasing college opportunities, including initiatives for the Asian-American and Pacific Islander, Latino and Native American communities.
Other measures the university uses to connect with students include the annual African American Educational and Academic Success Conference held in the fall semester.
For more information, contact Granados or Lansana at 559.278.2048.
