As the oldest higher education institution in San Diego, San Diego State University is celebrating 125 years of educating the community this year.

There is a lot of history packed into 125 years and more to come.

The founding of the school dates back to 1897. That is when the San Diego Normal School was in a building in Downtown San Diego.

Move forward nearly 25 years and San Diego Normal School would transition to San Diego State Teachers College. The school would relocate a decade later to its current location on Montezuma Mesa. In 1935, San Diego State Teachers College would take on a new name; San Diego State College. The school would become known as San Diego State University in 1974.

While the names and faces have changed over time, SDSU’s commitment to a first-rate education remains the same.

SDSU history curator and anthropology professor, Seth Mallios, noted the school is honoring the anniversary in a number of ways over its 600-day celebration.

The number is significant because there are exactly 600 days from when the institution was founded (March 13, 1897) to the first day of instruction (Nov. 1, 1898). There are four signature events and smaller key activities. Those four events are spaced out one each semester.

They include: 2022 birthday celebration which (was in March); fall 2022 homecoming (slated for early November); commencement ceremonies on (March of 2023); and a re-enactment of the first day of school on (Nov. 1, 2023).

“In between these signature events, we have many other celebratory events, including significant milestones for the SDSU Africana studies department (50th anniversary), 90th anniversary of associated students, 10th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s visit to campus, etc.,” Mallios commented. “They are gradually being uploaded to our anniversary website: (125.sdsu.edu).”

According to Mallios (has been at the school 21 years), SDSU will graduate its 500,000th student this year during commencement.

The anniversary is also important to many SDSU alumni.

Jim Herrick, SDSU’s alumni association executive director, noted all alumni are not actual graduates, as the school also counts those who attended. “But, yes, at commencement this May we will officially surpass the half-a-million mark. This puts us in elite company with only a handful of U.S. universities having more than 500,000 alumni,” Herrick stated.

“I can tell you as the university history curator, every week I am contacted by someone who has a story, an artifact, or memory to share,” Mallios commented. “For example, I was emailed by a relative of a former SDSU employee asking for a 125th anniversary pin so that he could place it in the dirt above his father-in-law’s Fort Rosecrans grave. He knew that SDSU meant that much to his father-in-law.”

“As part of the 125th celebration, I wrote a script for a short movie that KPBS produced,” Mallios said. “The video will be online at our website shortly.”

Mallios’ script opening read, “San Diego State University is the oldest and most diverse institution of higher education in the region. With nearly half a million alumni, campuses across the globe, and a dedication to meeting challenges and changing the world, SDSU’s future promises to be as legendary as its 125-year past. San Diego State’s vibrant heritage consists of a dynamic blend of histories, traditions, and values that have been passed down with care for years.”

Among some famous students to attend SDSU are Tony Gwynn, Gregory Peck, Raquel Welch, Carl Weathers, Marshall Faulk, Kawhi Leonard, Art Linkletter, and Marion Ross.

SDSU has played a huge role in the community since its founding.

Mallios noted, “There are many ways to measure impact and I could go on at length about it. Even back in the 1940s, it was clear to many civic leaders the importance of San Diego State. Economically, the current impact can be measured in dollars. San Diego State University has a $5.67 billion annual impact on our region. The university supports some 42,000 jobs that generate $2.01 billion in salaries and wages. In addition to the $5.67 billion in industry activity, SDSU produces $457 million annually in state and local taxes.”

“More than 2,000 folks attended our March 14th events, celebrating our signing of the charter/birthday on campus,” Herrick commented. “Our SDSU alumni board members were out in force all day talking up SDSU.” Alumni and friends have been awestruck by SDSU history and its portrayal in Mallios’ exhibits and vignettes.

When it comes to staying in touch with alumni, there are programs including a monthly electronic alumni magazine that goes out to 196,000 alumni. “We have an active mentorship program called AMP (Aztec Mentor Program) where thousands of alumni have helped students,” Herrick said. “We have a robust ‘Aztec for Life’ membership program with 11,000 members.”

One individual who has been both a student and professor is Ramona Perez.

Perez, a professor of anthropology, is also the director of Latin American studies.

According to Perez, who was a student at SDSU in the 1990s, teaching at her alma mater has been both an amazing gift and a burden.

“I say burden because I feel very responsible for assuring that the legacy of student-focused teaching continues while also emphasizing research as major component of what I bring to the classroom,” Perez commented. “I was a non-traditional student when I came to SDSU in 1989. I was a mother with two little girls and was leaving a very established career in banking to put on a backpack and achieve my true dream of going to college. Giving all of that up so I could finally go to college was a huge step – (and a financial leap of faith). SDSU and the anthropology faculty made my dreams come to life. Every class allowed me to grow and the faculty cared about student success, which then pushed me to succeed even further. I try to emulate that exact level of care and commitment to my students, remembering that their compassion and mentoring was what kept me believing in myself.”

Perez has noticed many changes at SDSU. Over the past three decades, Perez said, “There are so many changes! I graduated in 1992 when the CSU system was struggling and SDSU was closing departments and laying off tenured faculty. Since that time, I have been educated under a wide variety of presidents and under high and low moments of funding for higher education, and I have worked under an even larger number of presidents and economic scenarios. I think the realities of economic fragility have become an element of teaching and learning that were not as evident prior to Reaganomics. That may sound like an odd scenario to list as a change since the 1990’s, but trust me, it is significant.”

Perez also noted that online teaching was seen as an economic strategy. It was not at any point intended to be an innovative teaching method to benefit learning. In fact, it was seen as a strategy to engage more individuals in higher education and grow enrollments while limiting the cost of physical space.

When the pandemic hit, the limitations of online learning were more notable and reinforced the need for classroom learning.

“Despite these limitations, both supporters and detractors of online programming found themselves immersed in creating classroom environments that were online but that replicated a ‘live’ classroom – a hybrid experience,” Perez stated. “This was a change for both folks that had gone to asynchronous online teaching formats and those of us that had no desire to do online teaching. A new form of teaching and learning became normalized in an extremely short period of time. Add to this the advances in technology, and you realize that 30 years has brought enormous changes. All of that said, what has not changed and in fact has become an even more important method of teaching is experiential learning. Students learning alongside faculty while they conduct research can’t be replicated through technology – labs, field schools, research assistantships, community internships, and other such opportunities to learn while doing so under the mentorship of a faculty stands as a foundation for higher education across time.” As Perez sees it, SDSU is in a great position to offer this to students via outstanding research-focused faculty, the school’s urban location that is public-facing, SDSU’s binational engagement, and the school’s international stature means students can accomplish whatever their minds might imagine.

Perez said the most enjoyable thing about being a student and professor is “Watching SDSU reach its full potential. I came to SDSU to achieve my dream and coming back as faculty and working toward SDSU achieving its dream of being an exemplary public urban research university with a global impact brings me great joy. I have been part of our global growth, witnessing the opening of our campus in Georgia and being part of the opening of our new site in Mexico. I hope to be here when we hit R1 status, when our Imperial Valley campus is linked fully to the Mesa and Mission Valley campuses, and to be in the stands on the opening day of the new stadium on (Sept. 3).”

Whether a SDSU student or professor now or a former student or professor, countless individuals appreciate all the school has given them over its 125 years.

(Photos courtesy of San Diego State Special Collections and University Archives)