SDSU Imperial Valley News

Staff and students at SDSU Imperial Valley join local volunteers who serve hot meals every single night and see the faces behind the numbers Staff members and students of San Diego State University Imperial Valley have been involved from the beginning. When Maribel Padilla, an active local volunteer, put out a call in 2014 seeking help with housing the homeless, her friend Norma Aguilar was among the first to respond. Aguilar, student affairs academic advisor and coordinator for the Student Ability Success Center at SDSU Imperial Valley, persuaded the Calexico Unified School District to open up the high school gym and the like-minded volunteers brought in those seeking shelter.

Overcoming odds to become outstanding student of the year, Chelsea Castañeda embodies the success students at San Diego State University Imperial Valley can experience when they persevere and make full use of opportunities. She was given the award by faculty in SDSU Imperial Valley who voted for her. Nominees are graduating seniors with a GPA of 3.5 or above. They in turn nominate the professor who had the most influence on them, and she chose Jeanette Shumaker, her English professor, as the most influential faculty member.

Faculty and students from San Diego State University Imperial Valley have been actively involved in summer research that took them to different parts of the valley as well as Mexico, Austria and Hungary. Their work helps us better understand the trauma that migrants from troubled regions experience, the cultural beliefs that guide treatment decisions made by cancer patients, and the corruption and organized crime rampant in border regions.