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Mariachi music, with the sonorous rhythms of violins filling the air, greeted the first arrivals to the campus’ 75th Anniversary Kickoff Concert. The opening day of a milestone year was an occasion for Cal State Long Beach alumni and others in the campus community to gather for a day of music, festivities and nostalgia.

As the warm afternoon of an early fall day progressed into evening, an audience of nearly 2,500 people including many alumni and their family members gathered on the North Lawn near Walter Pyramid. Three bands each had a turn on a stage set up in front of the pyramid, and members of the crowd could relax on lawn chairs, toss footballs or kick soccer balls around the grass or view exhibits memorializing Beach history.

“Go Beach,” proclaimed Gaby Acosta ‘13, '18 while standing near a collection of vintage yearbooks. “It’s our birthday. We have to celebrate.”

Acosta, early childhood program specialist for the Long Beach Health & Human Services Department and a fan of Beach volleyball and basketball, came to the Kickoff Concert with her husband. She encountered a “real sense of community here” while being part of a crowd that included alumni from different eras of the campus’ history.

“It really is a moment in history for us, but it also marks our celebration of what we’re doing now and our dreams for the future,” President Jane Close Conoley said while addressing the audience. “Looking back to Sept. 28, 1949, just 169 students took their first steps into what was then a former apartment building in Long Beach, and they transformed that into a college.”

“So that was 169,” Conoley continued. “You know how many we have now? 40,895. That humble beginning set the stage for an incredible journey that’s changed lives and shaped the landscape of Southern California.”

State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez ‘09, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jeremy Harris ‘04 also had time onstage to extol The Beach’s accomplishments to the crowd.

“I was a young mom, but I graduated,” Gonzalez said to the audience. “What we do, is we give so much opportunity to people that were like me. That were working, they had kids and doing all the things that they needed to do to better themselves.”

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Among the alumni who made the concert into a family affair, Jontae Marquez ‘05 attended with her husband and young son, John. Marquez appreciated how “you can run into your friends and family” at the event and John was agreeable to the idea of attending �°������ϲ����� when he’s old enough for college.

What does he want to be when he grows up?

“A doctor, probably,” John said.

Decades of memories

Alumni who showed up for the concert shared memories of how their time at The Beach led to transformational events and lifelong memories.

• Annette Fruehan ‘66 met her husband of 57 years before teaching at Orange Coast College.
• Mike Mottola ‘76, who studied recreation and leisure studies before serving in Catholic diocesan organizations that, for part of his career, took him to Honolulu.
• Charles Forrest Minetree ‘80, served in student government, played the tuba and euphonium and marched with the campus band during the 1977 Rose Parade.
• Kieran Geralde ‘22, now helping special needs children as substitute paraeducator with a local school district.

Geralde enjoyed meeting alumni who attended in earlier years, while also being able to spend time at The Beach with the sense of ease that comes from knowing he’s already completed the tasks that composed his to-do list on the way to graduation.

“I graduated, so let’s just see and feel the nostalgia,” he said. “I also don’t have homework.”

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Sounds of The Beach

The concert lineup included three bands – , and - with members representing different branches of the Beach community.  

“It was great to put it together and perform for the school,” said Mario A. Redondo Luna, who studies vocal performance and took the stage with the other student members of Mariachi los Tiborones. “I feel like mariachi is underlooked.”

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Higher Ed’s members include Monica Lounsbery, dean of the College of Health & Human Services, who is the band’s lead singer; Robert Schug, professor of criminology and guitarist; and Collie Conoley, former psychology professor and bassist.

“Isn’t The Beach simply the best?” Lounsbery said before Higher Ed closed with an appropriately titled Tina Turner cover.

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Knyght Ryder played a 1980s-heavy playlist with veteran Beach staffer and alumnus Travis Goertz ‘93 on guitar and Rick Campos ‘23 handling the drums. Playing from sunset until after nightfall, the band delivered an electrified conclusion to the day’s festivities.

“It was amazing to see the community come together with such excitement for this event,” said Noemi Guevara, director of alumni engagement. “From working with the student performers, to hearing the tunes of Higher Ed and Knyght Ryder to collaborating with our sponsors, campus partners, neighbors, alumni, students, staff, and faculty, it truly took a village. The hard work was worth it, and it was heartwarming to witness everyone uniting to kick off our 75th Anniversary.”

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