Founding faculty: Professor remembers CSUB as "Dartmouth of the Desert"

50th anniversary faculty spotlight: Dr. Steve Suter

By California State University, Bakersfield

September 8^th, 2020

The year was 1969 and a young Steve Suter was finishing his Ph.D program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

At the same time, in California, a new college was underway -- California State College, Bakersfield. Deans, department chairs and other administrators were hard at work recruiting faculty in a nation-wide search.

In 1970, the first chair of the psychology department at CSUB, Patsy Sampson, was on the East Coast doing research at Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., and sent a letter to Johns Hopkins University, asking if they had anyone who would be interested in becoming part of the new university

“It was on the west coast – it looked like Bakersfield was practically right on the beach,” said Dr. Steve Suter, emeritus professor of psychology at CSUB, chuckling after noting the map he’d seen of the campus.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to me, to be involved with a new college,” he added about the offer, although he quickly found it wasn’t next to the beach.

Once he left Johns Hopkins, he packed everything he owned and drove to Bakersfield. However, the college didn’t have Dr. Suter’s information, nor did he have theirs. The two weren’t able to connect after the initial offer and acceptance of the job.

Dr. Suter soon arrived at the campus, but all he found was a chain link fence. There was no one around to talk to, so he went back to his hotel and saw in the newspaper that the college had an office downtown. He decided to stop by and say hi. As soon as he walked in, there was a buzz through the office when they realized it was Steve Suter.

He’d gotten there at just the right time, as the secretary let them know that they were getting ready to hire someone in his place that afternoon, since they hadn’t heard from him.

Dr. Suter claimed the job and the rest is history.

Founding faculty: Professor remembers CSUB as "Dartmouth of the Desert"

“I was, I think, too naïve at the time,” said Dr. Suter. “I didn’t even know if I was going to stay or whether that was the jumping off point to someplace else.”

After almost 50 years at the university, it’s safe to say, it worked out.

In the meantime, campus has also shifted along the way.

“Physically, there weren’t any stoplights between downtown Bakersfield and the college. It was a two-lane road,” he said, adding that Park Stockdale was in the process of being built and Quailwood was just a field at the time.

Of course, it’d be remiss to not mention the Basque sheepherders in the fields on campus with their sheep on the land near Faculty Towers in the winter.

The college also worked to add more student-life to the campus. Freshmen at the time were used to taking all of their classes in a row from high school, with just a few minutes in between, but now they had longer breaks to wait for the next class.

With nowhere to go on campus, students would go back to their cars to help the time pass.

“This is not the kind of bonding we really want to see,” Dr. Suter said of the lack of student life at the time.

That is where the idea of the Academic Village concept was born – it allowed each commuting student to be linked to a dorm, so they had a place to hang out. It created more of a community among the students.

While the college is a place for students to find themselves, it was also a place where Dr. Suter found himself.

“As a scientist and researcher, it turned out to be an ideal kind of spot for me,” said Dr. Suter.

“It was a place in which there was support and encouragement for scholarly activity, but there wasn’t so much pressure that it was anxiety-inducing for someone like myself who enjoyed doing research,” he added.

For teachers in the K-12 grades, there’s an outline or more guidance on what to do in the classroom, but as professors, it can feel like being thrown into it. Team teaching and interdisciplinary instruction were encouraged on campus and gave another opportunity to learn.

Because of the smaller environment that the college offered, and still offers today, it allowed more of a one-on-one experience with students. It allowed him the chance to encourage the students he advised that they were very lucky to be there, as it was a great place to be.

“Our best students are as good as anybody’s best students,” said Dr. Suter.

One of the early administrators referenced the college as “Dartmouth of the Desert” – campus was in the middle of nowhere, but was making a name for itself.

“People started to realize that we needed to become more of a regional service university and serve the needs of the region, which is what we have become.”

Some of Dr. Suter’s fondest memories over the last 50 years are of his research and working with students. The thing he’s most proud of is getting students interested in science.

“It’s unlike teaching at Stanford or another university where many of their parents are professionals and they know about higher education,” said Dr. Suter. “Many of our students are the first of their families to go [to college]. To have the opportunity to see them blossom is great. It’s really kind of a privilege.”

As the university celebrates its 50th anniversary, Dr. Suter reflects on what it means to him.

“It’s kind of melancholy in a way, looking back. I think 50 years, how did the time fly by so fast?’”

Dr. Suter recently finished a course with Dr. Jackie Kegley called “Personhood,” last year, which was also a highlight of his time at CSUB, as part of their team-teaching strategy.

“To me personally, that’s where [at CSUB] I spent practically all of my grown-up life,” said Dr. Suter, looking back on his time of accepting the job, after receiving his Ph.D. “That was a very familiar, comfortable, happy kind of place. I think of it as a place of great opportunities for students.”

He is proud to be a founding faculty member and has been involved with the campus, even after reaching emeritus status. He noted that it was a good sign he didn’t just pack his bags and never look back.

“I wish people knew that it’s a perfectly good strong option. A place to get a great undergraduate education. I wish that were more widely-known. I think it’s a real stepping-stone for students.”