California State University, Los Angeles leaders take the pulpit during CSU Super Sunday

Feb. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Los Angeles, CA – Staunch partners in a tireless effort, Cal State L.A. President James M. Rosser and Vice President for Student Affairs Tony Ross will address parishioners at three churches during the annual CSU Super Sunday to educate African American students and families regarding how to prepare for college.

Each February, the CSU Chancellor, trustees, presidents and other higher education ambassadors visit more than 100 predominantly African American churches across the state to communicate the need for students to begin preparing for college as early as the sixth grade. They also learn how to apply to a CSU campus and to receive financial aid.

Rosser will speak Feb. 26 during the 9:30 a.m. sermon, at Bible Enrichment Fellowship International Church, located at 400 E. Kelso Street in Inglewood. Ross, who helps oversee the CSU’s entire African American Initiative, will address two churches during Super Sunday. The first at Covenant Worship Center in Berkeley on Feb. 19, the second on Feb. 26 during both the 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. sermons in Gardena at City of Refuge Church, located at 14527 S. San Pedro Street.

“Our commitment to motivating African American students to prepare for college and obtain a university degree is unwavering,” said Rosser. “California and the nation are struggling to come to terms with an unusually long economic crisis, but there is certainty that the recovery will be driven in large part by education. The jobs that emerge as the economy continues to improve will be available first to those with the proper education. This is one of the most critical messages we want to communicate.”

During each Super Sunday event, churchgoers have the opportunity to pick up the award-winning How to Get to College poster, and other college application and financial aid-related materials as well as speak with CSU outreach experts.

As the main component in the African American Initiative, Super Sunday kicks off a yearlong commitment to education that includes Summer Algebra Institutes, counselor conferences, and training workshops. Super Sunday also led to the development of Super Saturday, the popular college fair that takes place each August.

“Another important message we want to convey during Super Sunday is that parents and guardians need to be active partners in their children’s education. This is why we reach out to the community year round,” said Ross. “The CSU also wants be a partner in the success of their children, but it starts with the parents and guardians. By working together, we can ensure that every child has an opportunity to go to college and graduate.”
   

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles' civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 220,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city's dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu