Preview Day

Eagle Fest to showcase Cal State L.A.
to prospects, community

Los Angeles, CA – Cal State L.A. will welcome hundreds of high school seniors and community college students—and their friends and family members—Saturday, Feb. 17, for Eagle Fest, a day of free entertainment, food, prizes, campus tours and workshops to help prospective students.

Eagle Fest activities will include scholarship giveaways, a chemistry “magic show,” a students club and organization fair, performance excerpts from the hip hop musical “Groovaloo,” a backstage tour of the Luckman Theatre, and a Golden Eagles baseball game. There will also be biological lab demonstrations, displays of geological artifacts and greenhouse plants, screenings of student films, a martial arts presentation, and an exhibit of Cal State L.A.’s award-winning solar car.

New this year will be a “Future Career Pavilion” offering information on how to approach specific professions academically.

About 40 different academic majors will host information booths. Other booths will focus on the admission process, campus resources, on-campus housing, studying abroad, the Library, Associated Students (student government), campus safety, and other topics. Workshops on financial aid and “What parents need to know” will be offered in English and Spanish, as will campus tours.

Cal State L.A. is accepting applications for the Fall Quarter 2007.

“Having prospective students come on campus makes a huge difference,” said Vince Lopez, festival coordinator and the University’s outreach director. “They see first-hand the range of possibilities and the learning environment. And they can picture themselves here.”

What particularly impresses prospects, he said, is meeting professors one-on-one and talking about a specific field. “It tends to solidify their interest—like when an anthropology professor invites students along on digs,” said Lopez.

Many Eagle Fest visitors arrive unaware of the university’s programs, he said, “and then they walk away realizing you can get a first-rate education at Cal State L.A.”

Even those familiar with the University may not be aware of new major facilities currently under construction on campus: the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, a new University-Student Union, and a state-of-the-art Integrated Science Complex.

According to Lopez, in the past two years, Cal State L.A.’s freshman class has grown by roughly 500 students. Last June, the University bestowed 3,600 bachelor’s degrees and 1,300 master’s degrees to its Class of 2006.

Established in 1947, Cal State L.A. serves more than 20,000 students. Most are from the Los Angeles area and San Gabriel Valley; and their backgrounds reflect the region’s diversity and dynamism. The campus’s major “feeder schools” are Pasadena City College, East Los Angeles Community College, Glendale Community College and Los Angeles Community College; and Theodore Roosevelt High School and Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles.

The campus rests on 175 hilly acres five miles east of downtown Los Angeles, at the gateway to the San Gabriel Valley, near the junction of the 10 and 710 freeways.

The Cal State L.A. faculty includes many nationally and internationally accomplished scholars and artists. Programs are offered in fields ranging from business to biochemistry, from aerodynamics to urban analysis, and from technology to theater.

The University is noted for the Luckman Fine Arts Complex and critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra; its focus on alternative energy technology; the unique Early Entrance Program for gifted youngsters; undergraduate research-mentoring programs in the sciences; the pioneering Charter College of Education; and a renowned forensic science graduate program, among many others.

For Eagle Fest or admission information, contact the Office of Outreach and Recruitment at Cal State L.A., (323) 343-3839.

Calendar listing:
Eagle Fest at Cal State L.A.

When:
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Where:
California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, 90032

Information:
Admission and parking are free.

For details:
Cal State L.A. Outreach and Recruitment, (323) 343-3839

Description:
Cal State L.A. offers Eagle Fest to introduce prospective students and others to the campus and its programs. The festival will include music, a chemistry “magic” show, geological and botanical displays, workshops on financial aid and applying to Cal State L.A., food, prizes, campus tours and information about student services, clubs and organizations.

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 190,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, to be housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center now under construction. www.calstatela.edu