September 12, 2007

Cal State Fullerton marks 50th year
Alumni kick-off university's golden anniversary this weekend.
By BARBARA GIASONE
The Orange County Register

FULLERTON - Barbara Calcagnie Glaeser has been cheering for Cal State Fullerton for 33 years.

The rah-rah began in 1974 when she was elected university cheerleader while studying for her bachelor's degree, and continued while pursuing a master's in counseling in 1979.

Even when Glaeser, 53, "immigrated" to the University of Kansas for her doctorate, she slipped into her cheerleading outfit when she learned the CSF girls volleyball team would arrive for a Midwestern match.

Indeed, the entire Calcagnie clan is Titan territory as it has been for many of the university's graduates in the past 50 years.

Brothers Kevin and James earned business degrees, and sister Gina introduced Glaeser to her future husband, Vincent Glaeser, at a CSF club meeting.

Glaeser now teaches at the university as do many alumni, who will help celebrate the campus' 50th anniversary this weekend.

The yearlong festivities at the second largest university in the state kick off Friday with a picnic, concert and fireworks – open to the public – at 6 p.m. Other weekend events include an open house and homecoming on Saturday and a tribute to the Hispanic-serving university on Sunday.

John Carroll, associate professor of geography and a two-time grad of CSF, said he's anxious to participate in the anniversary year.

Comparing his years as a student with today's campus, Carroll, 42, said he's impressed by the increase in classroom buildings and parking structures.

"I rode my bike to school and paid $300 per semester for tuition," he recalled. "I taught for a time in the Midwest, but my family is here and I was happy to get back to Cal State. There's so much more ethnic diversity here."

Glaeser, too, mentioned the ethnic balance at CSF – and the burst of technology.

"And I think cheerleading has come back," she said. "The campus has come full circle."

NUTTY SCHOOL: The elephant races - held on The Day of the Titan, May 11, 1962 - are credited with first associating the Titan name with the elephant mascot. On that sunny May afternoon, about 10,000 spectators arrived at "Dumbo Downs," a hastily converted cornfield near where the Titan Student Union now stands, to watch a series of five elephant races.Newsweek called the race "...the season's zaniest manifestation in many a May." Sports Illustrated dubbed it "The Race for the Peanuts" and carried a two-page centerfold of the Harvard elephant.