Establishment The establishment of CSUN began in 1952 with the proposal of a new satellite campus for Los Angeles State College (now known as
California State University, Los Angeles), to be established in
Baldwin Hills. However, San Fernando Valley advocates persuaded state officials, including California Assembly member
Julian Beck, to change the location to
Northridge after a meeting at the
Brown Derby restaurant on
Wilshire Boulevard. The origins of San Fernando Valley State College trace back to September 1955, when classes first began in 10 leased classrooms at
San Fernando High School. The official groundbreaking of the university occurred on January 4, 1956, and was performed by, among others, the
Governor of California Goodwin Knight and Los Angeles State College President
Howard S. McDonald.
Ralph Prator was assigned as the first president of the university and enrollment reached 2,525 with a tuition of $29 per semester. Shortly thereafter, his opponent
Eugene McCarthy also held a rally at the university which drew a crowd of 7,000 spectators. No one was hurt and, under duress, the president agreed to their demands. After subsequent negotiations, minority enrollment was increased and both the Africana and Chicano/a departments were established. Despite an assurance of amnesty, 28 of the students involved were later charged with kidnapping, assault, conspiracy, and false imprisonment, according to scholar
Martha Biondi "the most serious crimes ever in the history of campus protest." Nineteen were convicted and three served time in state prison. Almost one month later, a fire started by an arsonist gutted the president's office. Furthermore, several massive antiwar demonstrations took place during 1969–1970, variously resulting in campus shutdowns, heavy police responses, violent clashes, hundreds of arrests, and in a few cases serious injuries to demonstrators. Aside from the demonstrations, the university also catered to
hippie culture when
Janis Joplin performed with
Big Brother and the Holding Company at what is now the
Matadome on May 12, 1968. Additionally, the
Newport Pop Festival was held at the
Devonshire Downs, now CSUN's North Campus, in June 1969 and attracted 200,000 attendees to watch performances by
Jimi Hendrix,
Ike & Tina Turner,
Marvin Gaye,
Jethro Tull and various others. Despite the turmoil during this period, the university continued to grow and construction of the
Oviatt Library began on May 19, 1971. The college also officially renamed itself to California State University, Northridge on June 1, 1972, by action of the Legislature and the Board of Trustees of the California State University. In 1975, the construction of the CSUN sculpture began at the southeast corner of campus after the design by alumnus John T. Banks.
1989–1997 In 1990, the Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics was established; the
Oviatt Library east and west wings were added; and the campus had the California State University system's only fully established astronomy department with a planetarium. Despite the extensive damage, classes for the spring term started only two weeks late. California State University trustees on March 15, 2006, voted their unanimous approval of Envision 2035, the Cal State Northridge planning initiative that framed the university's physical development for the next several decades. The vote approved the revised master plan as well as an increase in the campus' master plan enrollment capacity from 25,000 to 35,000 full-time equivalent students (FTEs). The trustees also certified the final environmental impact report on the plan. The university in 2007, with clean energy advocates, built the new 1 megawatt
fuel cell power plant which was the largest of its kind in any university in the world. This period also saw increased donations to the university, with gift commitments reaching a record $31.7 million in 2018. Major donations included $7 million from
Michael Eisner in 2002, $7.3 million from the Bayramian family estate in 2005, $10 million from
Mike Curb in 2006, $10 million from
David Nazarian in 2014, and a then record $17 million from
Younes Nazarian in 2017. In 2019, a record 11,627 students graduated from the university. The same year, president
Dianne F. Harrison announced she would retire at the end of June 2020. Two months later, the
California State University was the first in the nation to announce that fall instruction would also be almost exclusively online. The university saw major revenue losses as a result of the pandemic and announced a budget cut in August 2020, despite receiving the 7th largest amount in the nation from the first wave of Covid relief funds under the
CARES Act. In total, CSUN received the most federal Covid relief funds ($265 million) out of all universities in California after the three waves of relief funds from the
CARES Act,
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. In January 2021, CSUN became a vaccination site. When the site closed in June of the same year, around 250,000 people had been vaccinated on the campus. CSUN received the two largest donations in its history in 2021. On June 15, 2021, the university announced it had received a donation of $40 million from
MacKenzie Scott and her husband Dan Jewett; the largest gift from a single donor in its history. Three months later CSUN announced it had received the second largest donation in its history, $25 million, from
Apple. The donation, combined with $25 million of state appropriations and over $7 million in support from
Autodesk, was used for the establishment of a Global Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Equity Innovation Hub and construction of the Autodesk Technology Engagement Center (which houses the hub). The hub allows for collaboration from across the
CSU and other
hispanic-serving institutions to improve student success, equity, and prepare students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds for
STEM careers. Moreover,
Apple will provide technology, design support and creative support at the hub as the project matures. The
public–private partnership was made possible by political support from various state politicians, including
Governor Gavin Newsom and
Senator Alex Padilla, During this time period the university also completed construction of Maple Hall, which was financed by $49.9 million of CSU funds. The completion of this building cleared the way to renovate neighboring Sierra Hall, pending funding and construction approval. ==Academics==