CSUSB Palm Desert Campus Celebrates 25 Years

Tina Howe examines old pictures of California State University – San Bernardino Thursday morning with a colleague. The pictures depict CSUSB’s early years on the College of the Desert’s campus.

“We were in a half-circle building,” she said. “We had six classrooms back then, and we had no restrooms.”

CSUSB’s Palm Desert campus began in 1986. It was known then as the “Coachella Valley Campus.” It had less than 90 students enrolled.

Howe, a staff member since 1991, said the college’s first dean registered the students out of a car trunk.

CSUSB faculty member Bob Leo described the classroom environment in which he worked. “In 1994, we taught in portables. We had students in the evening. All of them worked full-time.”

“It feels good to talk about the good old times,” he added. “But, it feels great to talk about the good times now.”

In 2002 CSUSB made the big move to its present location near the corner of Cook St. and Frank Sinatra Dr.

Howe said the move was both emotional and exciting. “We didn’t want to leave our friends here at COD. We were moving up to Cook St. There wasn’t much development up there at that time.

The current campus contains several new buildings including the $14.5 million health sciences building.

“We have state-of-the-art facilities,” said Leo, who teaches distance learning. “I teach students who are in San Bernardino and students who are here [in Palm Desert]. They’re all connected by state-of-the-art technology.”

The college’s humble beginnings are undeniable. Its bright future is unbelievable.