CONTACT: Jason Foster
SDSU Marketing & Communications
Phone (619) 594-2585 Pager (619) 620-1184
foster@mail.sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO, December 15, 2004 – San Diego State University today honored former state Senator Dede Alpert (D-San Diego) by re-naming its City Heights Center the “Dede Alpert Center for Community Engagement.”

Dozens of elected officials and education and community leaders, including Congresswoman Susan Davis, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and SDSU President Stephen L. Weber, were on hand to see the center’s new name unveiled on the building and laud Alpert’s legislative efforts to improve access, quality, resources and testing for public education, as well as to support victims of domestic violence and at-risk youth.

“This is the perfect match between someone whose focus has always been on helping families succeed, and a center which aims to be a catalyst for propelling families toward a better future,” said Davis (D-53rd District), whose district includes City Heights.

“I can’t think of a way to be honored that’s better than this,” said Alpert, whose mother, father-in-law, husband, three daughters and grandson also attended the ceremony. “The work that goes on here epitomizes what I was trying to do in the Legislature.”

The Dede Alpert Center for Community Engagement, located at 4283 El Cajon Blvd., is a unique collaboration between the university and community to improve educational skills and opportunities in City Heights, one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods. The center first opened in 2000 and houses a bevy of programs run by SDSU faculty and staff from the College of Education and other departments with the aim of improving educational and family support resources in the area. Among the programs are:

· The Literacy Center, which trains teachers to become reading specialists and provides members of the community with high-quality, low-cost tutoring.

· The City Heights Educational Collaborative, a partnership among SDSU, Price Charities, the San Diego Unified School District and the San Diego Educational Association designed to improve curriculum, instruction, and student achievement in neighborhood schools.

· The CHOICE program, which works with youth between 9 and 17 and their families to stabilize behavior and prevent at-risk youth from advancing in the juvenile justice system.

· The South Coastal Information Center, which is run by SDSU’s Anthropology Department and houses cultural resource records, reports and maps.

· The Community Technology Center, which provides 100 computer workstations and technology instruction to students in City Heights Collaborative schools.

· The Child/Family Counseling Center, which provides culturally competent and compassion mental heath services.

· The City Heights Community Development Corporation, which aims to enhance available resources for residents of the neighborhood.

· The SDSU School of Social Work’s Consensus Organizing Center, which develops the talents of local students and community residents to effect community improvements and form positive, civic-oriented partnerships.

· The R.E.A.D. Books store, a nonprofit K-12 children’s bookstore conceptualized by SDSU business students.

· A full-service branch of Mission Federal Credit Union staffed by students and graduates from Hoover High School.

Alpert left office earlier this year because of term limits. Prior to serving two terms in the Senate, she served three terms in the Assembly, beginning in 1990. Her educational accomplishments include legislation implementing new standards for teacher credentialing programs, increasing funding to build and modernize libraries, reauthorizing standardized testing in grades 2-11, and enhancing reading and math instruction.

Superintendent O’Connell said Alpert’s public service has touched every corner of California’s school system.

“There are 6.2 million children in public schools in California, and they are all much better off today because of the work of Dede Alpert,” O’Connell said, highlighting Alpert’s work to make schools more accountable for student achievement and to provide funding to help make that happen. “She’s been a maestro in the area of public education.”

The SDSU Foundation purchased the 84,000-square-foot building in 1999 and owns and operates the facility on behalf of the university. To date the Foundation has spent more than $3 million to purchase, renovate and run the center.

“There is a strong connection between Senator Alpert’s exemplary public service and the good work carried out daily by SDSU faculty and staff at this center,” President Weber said. “Senator Alpert and the programs at this center share similar goals.”

San Diego State University is the oldest and largest higher education institution in the San Diego region. Since it was founded in 1897, the university has grown to offer bachelor’s degrees in 81 areas, master’s degrees in 72 areas and doctorates in 16 areas. SDSU’s nearly 33,000 students participate in an academic curriculum distinguished by direct contact with faculty and an increasing international emphasis that prepares them for a global future. For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu.

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