Quiet, Serious Support
The general public, Holmes says, is often unaware of the behind-the-scenes negotiation involved in advancing Cal State Fullerton's agenda. These efforts, he says, rarely make headlines.

Johnson has had the longest history of involvement. In 1985, he promoted the development of more affordable student housing, cobbling together legislation that benefited Fullerton and other Cal State campuses as well. In 1989, Johnson was involved in securing funding for the Science Laboratory Center and setting up the university’s first satellite campus at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

That satellite campus was serving 1,300 students and straining its limits when the Department of Navy began hearing proposals for the conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. After Orange County voters defeated a bid to convert the property into a commercial airport in March 2002, university officials charted their strategy to secure part of the old base for a new branch campus, applying a full-court political press to win support on the local, county, state and federal levels. Royce and Rep. Christopher Cox, a fellow Republican whose district includes the old base, arranged for President Gordon to make Cal State Fullerton’s case personally with the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

“I think that was the most important meeting we had in moving that project forward,” Gordon says. “It has required very intense work from a lot of people. There were so many competing entities.”

Without the help of Reps. Royce and Cox, Holmes says, the university may not have been able to lease property that now serves more than 2,300 students, with plans to expand to serve 5,000.

“It was heavy lifting, and it still is,” Gordon adds. “But we have a lot of people who have been supporting us, and we feel really good about it.”

University officials hope they will be able to turn to alumni pols in the years to come, and elected officials say they will try to help when they can.

As the new State Superintendent of Public Instruction, O’Connell figures to take an even deeper interest in Cal State Fullerton and its sister universities. A large majority of California’s elementary and secondary school teachers are trained in the Cal State system. “It plays a huge role and will continue to play a huge role. We need a real emphasis on teacher training, teacher education and teacher recruitment.”

This is one reason why O’Connell, as state schools chief, also sits on the California State University Board of Trustees—another good place for Titans to have one of their own.

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