Cal State Dominguez Hills officially opened the doors to its new Health, Wellness and Recreation Center on Oct. 29 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event capped off a daylong celebration of the university’s latest development projects, including the Dining Commons and Orthotics & Prosthetics Education Center.
The grand opening of the $87 million facility was attended by alumni, community partners, and Carson city leaders, as well as current and former university administrators. Open house events were also hosted across campus to introduce Toros to the new buildings and services.
Just prior to the actual ribbon-cutting, the university finally unveiled a 6,000-pound bronze Toro statue. The landmark serves as the centerpiece of the Gil Smith Plaza outside the Recreation Center—named in honor of the first Black mayor of Carson, who chaired the committee to establish CSUDH in 1968.
Smith died in November 2024, one month after the university officially broke ground on the projects.
Development was led by CSUDH President Emeritus Thomas A. Parham, who retired in December 2025 after seven years as the university’s chief executive. Parham told The Bulletin after the ceremony that when he arrived at CSUDH in 2018, the university had been subjected to “a lot of years of neglect around budget” and infrastructure.
Parham said he worked with faculty and staff to change perceptions that the university was a “ghetto campus.”
“Between the residence halls, the science buildings, the Innovation and Instruction, the national rankings, the philanthropic support and now the rec center…that is part of what a university campus ought to look like,” he said.
The former president said the ceremony marked the “transformation of a campus,” but he personally viewed it as the “celebration of a legacy” that he inherited. He jokingly described the Recreation Center as “the house that Parham built,” but credited student leaders at the time for organizing and passing a fundraising referendum.
“That represents a culture change—don’t ask us, ‘we’re too poor [to do this]’—we are the masters of our future, and we took control of our future and decided to build something we think we deserve,” Parham said. “I’m proud of everyone who had a hand [in this].”
Deborah Wallace, the university’s former chief financial officer, told The Bulletin that the facilities represented an investment in Toros’ long-term wellbeing.
“I hope that they begin to discover wellness at a very young age,” said Wallace, who also retired from CSUDH in June 2026. “You have to make that connection early in life, so that’s what this is all about.”
Interim CSUDH President Mary Ann Villarreal echoed her predecessor, noting that facilities like the Orthotics & Prosthetics Center will support the athletes of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.
“[The celebration] speaks to how many people love DH and how many care about its future,” she said.
Unions draw attention to contract negotiations
As the university celebrated the grand opening of its new facilities, members of the faculty and staff unions at CSUDH rallied to raise awareness of their contract negotiations with California State University.
Up the walkway near the entrance of the Torodome, away from the ceremony, members performed a skit denouncing the cuts CSU has made across its 22 campuses. Afterward, they marched toward the celebration chanting “No more cuts!”
“Faculty are part of fighting to ensure [students] have a [good] quality education and that they get the resources they need as well,” said leadership professor Yesenia Fernandez.
Other unions bargaining for new contracts include the Academic Professionals of California and local Teamsters.
“We’ve gone years now without a raise,” explained Steve McFarland, labor studies chair and CFA bargaining team member. “I was in school for two years now without a raise, and we’re trying to increase our visibility [and] the urgency from the administration of the CSU to come to the table with a fair contract offer.”
McFarland told The Bulletin the unions had planned their rally expecting CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia to be in attendance. He described Garcia, a former CSUDH president, as someone who provided fewer opportunities for engagement.
“We take our opportunities when we get to speak with her and try to let her know our position,” McFarland said. “We thought this had been an important moment, when a lot of eyes are on our campus to get the message out that we need a fair contract and that the cost of living is going way up and our salaries and workload needs some changes.”
McFarland lauded the new facilities as “terrific” for students, saying CSUDH is one of the lowest-funded campuses in the Cal State system. He said it was “an outrage” that Toros were without some of the amenities that other CSU students have enjoyed “for so many years.”
“A lot of us see this as indicating statewide kind of racism and classism—where students that come to our campus because of their backgrounds and where they come from weren’t seen as deserving of the same amenities and facilities,” he said.
Alfredo Carlos, a labor studies professor, echoed his colleague, saying the unions attended the ceremony to remind the campus community that while the new facilities were a great addition, the university should not ignore the needs of its faculty. Carlos pointed to the bull installation as indicative of the unions’ concerns.
“We’re unveiling a new statue that donors donated money for—from my understanding, it’s a very expensive statue.” Carlos told The Bulletin. “To me, this is kind of outrageous in the context of the fact that we have classrooms right over there in the village that are bungalows that are really old.”
“I’m wearing a shirt that says, ‘I don’t want to strike, but I will’ and that’s like ‘Oh, yes, let’s have a good time. Oh, yeah, that’s happening too’,” he said. “Don’t forget that we’re in the middle of these contract fights.”