Background

The CSUDH Campus and Our Story

California State University, Dominguez Hills was born out of the social justice movement of the 1960s. With a mission deeply rooted in expanding college access and helping to address societal inequities through scholarship and community engagement, CSUDH believes in the power of education to affect transformational change.

With six colleges, 79 degree-granting programs (53 undergraduate, 26 graduate), and an enrollment of 17,000+ students, CSUDH is a vital resource for Southern California’s South Bay community. For nearly six decades, CSUDH has been transmitting knowledge and information, helping students become critical thinkers and equipping them with the necessary skills to better their lives and their communities.

Demographic Profile

CSUDH educates a student body that is predominantly first generation, minority, or low income. In addition, many first-year students arrive needing additional academic preparation to achieve success.

Why is that important? While many UC and CSU campuses claim less than half a percent (<.5%) of the four variables above, at CSUDH, more than half of our student population reflects one or more of them. These factors paint a challenging portrait of our campus, yet we embrace them as a badge of honor. There is tremendous talent in the students we teach, train, and graduate, and that talent can only be realized when students have an equal chance to excel and succeed.

Why a Health and Wellness Center?

A health and wellness center at CSUDH will elevate fitness and self-care as vital components to student development, while addressing historic health disparities in our community. The 2021 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment of CSUDH students revealed that physical and mental health issues were widespread among respondents (see CSUDH Student Health Assessment graph). The best approach to teaching healthy behaviors is to intervene early, before there is a lifetime of habits to break. As such, incorporating fitness and self-care into the CSUDH experience is ideal for helping our students learn and develop long-term healthy behaviors.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the alarming disparities in health care and wellness resources, particularly for African American, low-income White, and Latinx people. Lack of access leaves these groups more susceptible to poor nutrition and inadequate health care, further exacerbating the comorbidity rates of already vulnerable populations. Factors that make these populations more vulnerable often have their origins in unhealthy lifestyle choices that are engaged in from an early age. As a university with 86% students of color, CSUDH must have a health and wellness facility to help address this inequity and start students on the path of wellness while they are still on campus.

A health and wellness center would be an invaluable resource for students. Its impact would reverberate into the future, as better health and wellness education and practices among our graduates spread throughout the Southern California community, where the majority of CSUDH alumni reside.