Every year during February, campus presidents, administrators, faculty and students with the Cal State University system partner with nearly 100 predominantly African American churches throughout California to share college-related information in order to expand access and opportunities for Black and African American students.
For the ninth year, Cal State University President Fram Virjee attended a Sunday service at an African American Church in Orange County to speak to the congregation about the lengthy list of benefits derived from a college education.
Virjee spoke from the podium at Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Irvine at the invitation of Pastor Ralph E. Williamson as part of the California State University system’s 18th annual Super Sunday event.
“A college degree can unlock life-changing and transformative opportunities for you,” Virjee said. “For you and your family and your community. Cal State Fullerton is here to partner with you every step of the way to make sure you are prepared and that you can afford college and you can succeed at Cal State Fullerton.”
A college degree is a ticket to success, a pathway to prosperity, better-paying jobs and self-fulfillment, the president said.
“It is a pass key to unlock the future that will lift up your life, lift up your family, lift your community,” Virjee said. “It doesn’t matter if you are the first in your family to go to college or returning. There is a place for you.”
By design, Super Sunday always takes place during Black History Month, and Virjee made it a point to talk about CSUF being a forerunner in breaking through some of the barriers African Americans have had to contend with.
In 1981, CSUF became the first major university west of the Mississippi to appoint an African American woman as its president — Jewel Plummer Cobb.
When Plummer Cobb embarked on her educational journey at the University of Michigan, she was not permitted to live in the…
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