Saldivar, Diana. Interview transcript April 14th 2023.
California State University San Marcos. Associated Students Incorporated
California State University San Marcos. Cross-Cultural Center
California State University San Marcos. Kamalayan Alliance
California State University. Multicultural Programs
Filipino Americans
Human rights
San Diego State University
Student success
Diana Saldivar is a California State University San Marcos alumna. She graduated with her degree in Communications, Sociology and Ethnic Studies. Saldivar worked at the Cross-Cultural Center from 2004-2007 and was also involved in the Asian Pacific Islander Student Society, Kamalayan Alliance, and with Associated Students Incorporated (student government). In her interview, Saldivar discusses how the Cross-Cultural Center provided her with a sense of belonging on campus and served as a second home. Saldivar explains how the center provided her with lifelong friendships, skills and connections that has helped her become the person she is today. Saldivar recounts how the CCC provided a safe space, allowing for conversations with others that are often deemed controversial, and how the center encouraged those to constantly seek knowledge. This oral history was created in collaboration with the Cross-Cultural Center and was generously funded through the Instructionally Related Activities Fund at California State University San Marcos.
Diana Saldivar
California State University San Marcos University Library
Madeleine Meyer
Geneva Martinot
English
San Marcos (Calif.)
Schaffman, Karen. Interview June 6, 2025.
Higher education
Dance Study and teaching
Improvisation in dance
Movement education
California State University San Marcos -- Faculty
Dr. Karen Schaffman is a Professor of Dance at California State University San Marcos since 2002. She has been pivotal to the development of the Dance program at CSUSM. For Karen dancing is a transformative, healing and transgressive force for self-awareness, political change and social communication. In this interview, Schaffman covers her early exposure to dance, her formal education, international work, and her time at CSUSM.
Karen Schaffman
Jennifer Fabbi
In copyright
Connecticut
Amherst (Mass.)
Riverside (Calif.)
San Francisco (Calif.)
Holland
Germany
Schaffman, Karen. Interview transcript, June 5, 2025.
Schaffman, Karen. Photographs, June 5, 2025.
Four photos related to the oral history of Karen Schaffman. Photograph #1 depicts dancers in a performance of the Experimental Dance Project titled "Poc-Chuc Iteraciión 4." Photograph #2 depicts dancers in a performance of the Experimental Dance Project titled "The Chameleon Complex." Photograph #3 depicts Karen Schaffman with with Ishmael Houston Jones in the Think Gravity Dance Project. Photograph #4 depicts Karen Schaffman with Darrell Jones in the Think Gravity Dance Project. Click on the thumbnails to view the full images in more detail.
Serrano, Lilian. Interview April 6, 2022
California State University San Marcos
Community organization
Undocumented immigrants -- California -- San Diego County
Lilian Serrano is a California State San Marcos alum. She graduated with a degree in Human Development. Lilian worked with the National Latino Research Center (NLRC) at Cal State San Marcos before moving on to work with Alianza Comunitaria and Universidad Popular. In this interview, Lilian discusses family life and growing up in Tijuana and Oxnard, her experiences as a student activist at CSUSM, and her work as an advocate for immigrant rights in North County.
Lilian Serrano
Robert Sheehan
Oxnard (Calif.)
San Diego County (Calif.)
Tijuana (Baja California, Mexico)
Serrano, Lilian. Interview transcript. April 6, 2022.
Undocumented immigrants -- San Diego County (Calif.)
California State University San Marcos University Library Special Collections
Kevin Vigil
https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en
Shaffer, David. Interview November 20th, 2025
United States. Air Force
Cold War
Consolidated Aircraft Corporation
Convair
Victory over Japan Day
Fort Bliss (Tex.)
Keesler Air Force Base (Miss.)
United States. Army Corps of Engineers
Six-Day War
Sinai Peninsula
Lajes Field (Azores)
Strategic Air Command (U.S.)
Hahn Air Base (Germany)
Lackland Air Force Base (Tex.)
United States. Federal Aviation Administration
Tinker Air Force Base (Okla.)
Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung (Germany)
World War, 1939–1945
United States. Air Force—Occupational specialties
Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (Ariz.)
McGuire Air Force Base (N.J.)
Ramstein Air Base (Germany)
Hitler-Jugend
European Recovery Program (1948–1952)
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944
Andrews Air Force Base (Md.)
United States. Department of Veterans Affairs
McClellan–Palomar Airport (Calif.)
Germany. Luftwaffe
Mikoyan (Firm)
Sukhoi (Firm)
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908–1973
Fulda Gap (Germany)
Freemasons
Agent Orange
Captain David Shaffer served in Europe as an air traffic controller during the 1960s. Shaffer was raised in San Diego County where his father was an engineer for Convair. From a young age, Shaffer aspired to become a military pilot, a goal which his tall height prevented. As an air traffic controller, Shaffer spent most of his deployment in Portugal and West Germany during the Cold War. He designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, although the conflict was over before they could be used. After leaving military service, Shaffer taught high school industrial arts in North San Diego County. He used the G.I. Bill to gain his master’s degree from San Diego State College and his private pilot license. In this oral history interview, Shaffer tells stories from his military service and reflects on the importance of patriotism.
David Shaffer
Jason Beyer
Europe
Colorado Springs (Colo.)
Colorado
San Diego (Calif.)
California
Texas
Philippines
Pennsylvania
Cortez (Colo.)
Shelter Island (San Diego, Calif.)
Azores (Portugal)
Portugal
San Antonio (Tex.)
Oklahoma City (Okla.)
Tucson (Ariz.)
Arizona
Mississippi
New Jersey
Israel
Middle East
Austria
Bavaria
Kastellaun (Germany)
Koblenz (Germany)
Libya
Africa, North
United States
Winston-Salem (N.C.)
North Carolina
Iowa
Vietnam
Berlin (Germany)
Frankfurt (Germany)
Berlin (Germany : West)
Germany (East)
Germany (West)
Soviet Union
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany)
Kitzbühel (Austria)
Zweibrücken (Germany)
Moscow (Russia)
Munich (Germany)
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Ohio
New Zealand
Australia
France
Canada
Carlsbad (Calif.)
Fallbrook (Calif.)
Arkansas
Shaffer, David. Interview transcript, November 20, 2025.
Sheikh-Arvizu, Sara. Interview March 30, 2023.
Chapman University
Civil rights
Education, Higher
LGBTQ+ activism
LGBTQ+ life
Orange County Human Relations Commission (Orange County, Calif.)
Sara Sheikh-Arvizu was Assistant Director of the Cross-Cultural Center at California State University San Marcos from 2008 to 2011. In this interview, Sara discusses her roles at CSUSM and the various programs she initiated or facilitated. Sara also briefly discusses her current work with Orange County Human Relations.
Sara Sheikh-Arvizu
Michael De Maria
Orange (Calif.)
Sheikh-Arvizu, Sara. Interview transcript March 30, 2023.
Sara Sheikh-Arvizu was Assistant Director of the Cross-Cultural Center at California State University San Marcos from 2008 to 2011. In this interview, Sara discusses her roles at CSUSM and the various programs she initiated or facilitated. Sara also briefly discusses her current work with Orange County Human Relations. This oral history was made possible in collaboration with the Cross-Cultural Center and with generous funding from the Instructionally Related Activities fund.
Aaron Williams
Orange County (Calif.)