A digital rendering of the Health, Wellness and Recreation Center, scheduled to open in 2026, photo courtesy of Student Engagement Team.

By Saida Maalin, Staff Reporter

By any measure, the student referendum this April that finalized financing of an $85 million Health, Wellness and Recreation Center will have a an enormous effect on the student experience at CSUDH.

But though a clear majority of 53 percent voted in favor of raising tuitions in the semester the center opens (currently projected as fall, 2026), the vote was hardly a landslide.

One of the people who pushed for the center the hardest, Associated Student Inc., Presiedent Obioha Ogbonna, believes that one key reason why 47 percent voted against the referendum was the mistaken impression that the money that will be spent in the future could be spent on resources students need now.

“I explained to them—it doesn’t have to be this or that. You aren’t sacrificing your housing needs to get a recreation center and hindering any future plans. We aren’t taking from you to build this, the state has already invested so it’s there for you to see how much you want to invest in yourself,” said Ogbonna.

A team of influential students from different groups on campus were put together to engage and educate the CSUDH community to cast their vote and share their voice this past Spring 2022.

Everyone had a role and collaborated together to find the best way to get the information out with the time they were given. From there the student engagement team was created with the help of Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr.William Franklin.

“We worked really hard as a team to educate the student body as a whole and make them feel as included and involved as possible,” former Athletic Liaison for the ASI, Katrina Felipe said.

It is estimated the facility will cost $85 million but will offer 83,000 square foot space dedicated to overall health and wellness, with a wide range of amenities and resources for Toros to utilize.

“We needed the students’ involvement to pass this because it involved student tuition,” Felipe said.

In order to attain necessary funding to support construction and operational costs, students attending Fall 2026 will see a $215 increase in tuition. The increase may differ for shorter sessions. The intent of the referendum was to get the students permission to increase tuition.

“And when involving student tuition, you need the students’ permission to increase
it,” former ASI President and Co-Chair of Student Engagement Team, Jonathan Molina Mancio said.

Both Mancio and Felipe previously held the position Co-chair on the student engagement team and worked unanimously with select students from different social and academic groups on campus to push the referendum.

From the estimated cost to build the HWRC an approximate $20 million was gathered from the $60 million budget administered to CSUDH through the Gov. Gavin Newsom 2021 state budget. The funds are intended to be invested in different infrastructure projects to better the aesthetic and foundation of the campus.

“As ASI President last year one of my goals was to make sure that students had a proper voice and in order to do that they needed a proper space as well, that was run by students” Mancio said.

Although the center is not set to open for another 4 years Felipe shared the importance of why voting now for future students is necessary. She explained that we are leaving a legacy on campus and by making this decision now for the future of future toro’s we are setting them up for
success.

Just like any other past infrastructure projects which involve students such as the LSU building required current students to vote for future students.

“Alumni who I have spoken to that didn’t have an LSU are so proud of this building because it’s their voice that pushed to get this created,” Ogbonna said, “I know there’s some students that may not see the utility in this but along the line in the future it should be something to be proud of. To be able to say my voice was a part of this! I voted for this!”

The team worked closely with Dr. Franklin and designers who came up with the conceptual renderings provided to showcase the potential look of the HWRC.

“The student engagement team had heavy input through every stage of the design process. It was brought to us and we would observe, analyze and give our feedback on it and they would fix it according to that within reason,” Mancio said.

According to the voter information guide the facility will have recreational spaces including two basketball and volleyball courts, a multi activity court, an entirely new 9000 square foot fitness center, a 6000 square foot wellness center, indoor jogging track, study and relaxation spaces, and much more.

“It’s not just the recreation center where you can go to work out. It’s somewhere where you can go get your mind together. You can zen out, find mindfulness, meditate, make healthier decisions for your life now and then build on those healthy decisions and habits for your future,” Felipe said.

Other CSU campuses have gotten the experience to have access to their own HWRC facilities and at last CSUDH will too. Felipe expressed how Cal Poly Pomona and some CSU’s have similar facilities
but are nowhere near what we will have.

The facility will be next to the torodome and the field house located near the tennis courts which will be knocked down in order to begin construction. When construction will begin is still in question due to financial reasons and final design decisions.

“Our field house is very small and mostly dedicated to the athletes on campus. We needed something to serve the student population as a whole and the Athletic Association too, because that field house that we have can only really hold one team at a time, and that’s not doing the service to our school,” Felipe said.

On the CSUDH Linkedin page an update was posted regarding the turnout and a
former alumni stated how this new center will be an amazing place for students to utilize.
Others shared their pride in their alma mater and how this is long overdue.

Hopefully, this new state of the art Health, Wellness and Recreational center can boost future student enrollment.

The team will reconvene in the future, possibly for future infrastructure projects involing the student’s best interest. Current students and staff can follow @getcenteredtoros on Instagram to learn more.