Broadcast celebrates CSUB alumni

Alumni Hall of Fame ceremony to air on TV, online

By California State University, Bakersfield

February 17^th, 2021

The extraordinary impacts CSUB alumni have made in their careers and on their communities will be featured Saturday when the university’s Alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony is broadcast on television and online for the first time.

The CSUB Alumni Association will induct five more members of the `Runner family into its Hall of Fame and continue the university’s celebration of its golden anniversary during the hour-long show.

The 2021 Alumni Hall of Fame class includes:

Mary Barlow, superintendent of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office.
Raji Brar, chief operating officer of Countryside Market & Restaurants and a local philanthropist.
Jeremy Gunn, head men’s soccer coach at Stanford University.
Clark Jensen, founder of the international humanitarian organization Global Family Care Network.
John Means, vice chancellor of educational services for the Kern Community College District.

“We are thrilled to honor these five amazing alumni,” said Sarah Hendrick, director of CSUB’s Office of Alumni Engagement. “As people who are advocating for students, combatting human trafficking, teaching life skills on the soccer field and bringing awareness to the Sikh community, Mary, John, Clark, Jeremy and Raji are exceptional individuals and role models for our students.”

It was disappointing not to be able to hold an in-person Alumni Hall of Fame ceremony as has been tradition for 14 years, Hendrick said. But the pandemic’s impact on the event turned out to have a silver lining.

The ceremony will air on KGET Channel 17 for the first time as well as on KGET’s app and several social media sites. That means CSUB alumni and friends will be able to watch from anywhere in the world, giving the Alumni Association a chance to show off many of its accomplished graduates to the widest audience ever.

The broadcast will feature profiles of the five inductees, a video and photo slide show chronicling 50 years of CSUB history, and remarks from university President Lynnette Zelezny highlighting the career and community impacts alumni have made over the past half century.

The event also raises money for scholarships awarded to CSUB alumni pursuing their graduate degree on campus and alumni-student mentoring.

“Guests can watch anywhere, from any device,” Hendrick said. “Many members of the CSUB family will be watching together, in spirit, from the safety of their homes. We hope the community will join us.”