California State University Chancellor Mildred García received the Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence in Higher Education last month from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association Institute, and students and staff at San José State have mixed views.
The award is named after former University of Notre Dame president, humanitarian and Catholic priest Theodore M. Hesburgh and given to those who embody his commitment to support higher education, according to a web page from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association Institute.
García, who became the CSU chancellor in
2023, is the first Latina in the country to preside over a four-year public higher education learning system, according to a Feb. 12 press release from the CSU.
The same press release mentions a quote from Surya Kolluri, the head of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association Institute, explaining why García is the recipient of this award.
“The California State University is rated among the best higher education systems in the nation on affordability and for promoting social mobility and Chancellor García has played an enormous role in making that happen,” Kolluri said.
SJSU President CynthiaTeniente Matson spoke highly of the chancellor and made it clear that García is deserving of the award.
“I know that Chancellor
Correction
On Monday, the Spartan Daily published a story titled “SJSU reacts to A.S. resolution outcome” in which the title of Sahithya Swaminathan, the Associated Students director of co-curricular affairs, was misstated in the infographic.
The Spartan Daily regrets this error.
García has had a very distinguished career both as a faculty member (and) as an administrator,” Teniente-Matson said.
“So I think that award and what it exemplifies aligns very much with her values.”
The values that the president listed included supporting first generation college graduates, supporting historically underrepresented minority students and ensuring every student has an opportunity to succeed and graduate.
García served as the president of Cal State Fullerton where she led the university to record improvements in graduation rates, according to a CSU webpage.
During her tenure as president of CSU Dominguez Hills, she increased freshmen retention and eliminated a structural deficit of $2.8 million, according to the same source.
“She does an extraordinary amount of work, representing the CSU in many forums,” Teniente-Matson said.
Also during her time at CSU Fullerton, out of 290 staff members hired, 52% were people of color according to an institutional report from the university.
While some people agree that she is
Why not cut back some of the administrative bloat at the chancellor’s office and get that money to student instruction.
deserving of this award, SJSU California Faculty Association (CFA) president Ray Buyco wants to see the chancellor give more money to support universities.
“You know, you figure if we’re having a budget crisis, since the chancellor’s office is not actually educating students directly, maybe you would prioritize education,” Buyco said.
“I’m not trying to indict the Chancellor here. I'm just saying these are tough decisions that I don't think have been made right.”
Buyco was involved in a statewide CFA strike in Jan. 2024 that was demanding fair wages for university workers, according to an article from San Jose Spotlight.
The CFA and the CSU management were able to come to a consensus where faculty received a 5% salary increase, according to the same source.
“Why not cut back some of the administrative
bloat at the chancellor’s office and get that money to student instruction,” Buyco said. “She won the award (and) good for her but she needs to go back to the Spirit of Reverend Hesburgh and ask herself whether (or not) she’s living up to these principles.”
Khangerel Ganzorig, a fourth-year biology student, feels that Chancellor García is undeserving of the award with one of the reasons being the implementation of the Time, Place and Manner policy, under her administration.
The policy, which was implemented in the 2024-25 academic year, is set in place to make sure that acts of protest do not infringe on university operations or others, according to a CSU web page.
“I think she needs to take a look back at the Time, Place and Manner policy and the other policies she has,” Ganzorig
said. “There’s got to be some fundamental change with how we let the board represent students.”
As a student at SJSU, Ganzorig is experiencing the tuition increase firsthand.
While the decision to enact the multi-year plan came on Sept. 13, 2023, a few weeks prior to her inauguration according to a webpage from the CSU, Ganzorig wished that the chancellor would give more attention to it.
“Just because it’s something that has been passed on that doesn’t mean you can’t do something about it or make your stance clear on it,” Ganzorig said. “So while she has not completely contributed to the passing of (the increase), it doesn’t help when you haven’t said anything (about it).”
Students revel in Korean games
By Fayoo Ahmed STAFF WRITER
From playing Korean folk games seen in “Squid Game” to trying traditional snacks, San José State students immersed themselves in Korean culture at the latest Global Connections meetup in the Student Union on Monday.
The event Global Connections: Discover Korea: K-dramas, K-Pop, Squid Games, and more aimed to foster cultural appreciation and student engagement, according to the Global Connections Events web page.
Students were first introduced to Korean culture through a presentation by Minji Yang, an intern training coordinator at Counseling & Psychological Services and Noman Jilani, a student assistant and event coordinator for the College of Professional and Global Education as each provided a wide overview of Korea’s rich cultural history.
Yang explained the country’s ancient origins dating back to 2300 B.C. and how historical events, such as the Japanese occupation and the division into North Korea and South Korea, have shaped the nation’s identity.
She also addressed the great impact of the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. During this period,
FOOD REVIEW
Japan implemented policies aimed at suppressing Korean culture, including the prohibition of the Korean language in educational institutions, according to an article from History. She emphasized the lasting emotional impact of Korea’s division, noting how many families remain separated to this day.
“They say (Han) was created during this time after colonization, that it describes the mixture of words of maybe sadness, resentment, frustration, kind of all in one … keeping it in your heart for being colonized,” Yang said.
Yang continued to discuss further Korea’s division post-World War II, when the peninsula was split along the 38th parallel into Soviet-backed North Korea and American-backed South Korea, leading to the Korean War in 1950, according to a Feb. 9, 2018 article by the History Channel.
Jilani, who has visited Korea multiple times for military deployment, offered additional insights into the country’s evolving cultural landscape.
He spoke about the influence of Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, which has propelled Korean music, dramas, and fashion to international fame.
“The only thing I knew about Korea was kimchi
before I went there. So I had no idea when this happened in Korea. When I came back to America, I saw this K-Pop boom, even with K-Dramas,” said Jilani.
As of December 2022, the number of Hallyu fans worldwide reached 225 million across 119 countries, a 24-fold increase from 9.26 billion in 2012, according to Korea.net.
He also discussed the lasting legacy of King Sejong, who created Hangeul in the 15th century to make literacy more accessible to all Koreans.
Hangeul is the Korean alphabet, created in 1443 by King Sejong the Great to improve literacy among commoners.
Unlike traditional logographic scripts, The Korea Times reveals that Hangeul is a phonetic writing system with 14 consonants and 10 vowels, designed to be single and accessible, and it remains to be the official script for both North and South Korea.
Students were educated about the Korean language by learning how to write their names in Hangeul.
Pop-up chicken
By Elizabeth Bravo Rebolloso STAFF WRITER
A new eatery has been bringing the heat to San José State University which is worth the hype.
The Student Union has a hot, new sizzling place and it is only there until March 31, according to a Spartan Eats web page.
Cluckin Hot Chicken is a temporary food pop-up at the Student Union food court which hosted its grand opening on Feb.10 and offers a variety of spicy hot chicken dishes and sides with a mix of American Nashville style.
The menu highlights consist of a variety of sandwiches, sliders, tenders and bowls, not to mention delicious sides.
When it comes to hot chicken, the trick is to get the flavor and tenderness right with the perfect amount of spice. The biggest takeaway is that it should not be so dry.
I saw the various options offered and could not decide what was worth getting. I went to the counter to ask for the current most popular order and I am glad I did.
Rule of thumb, if you are not sure what to order, ask
for the most favored meal. The service was friendly and fast and they helped me out in deciding what to get.
The vibe of the pop-up has a mix of casual comfort food and a quick grab-andgo meal. I would say this is a good place to fill up your tummy on campus.
They recommended the most ordered dish, the Mac Attack Bowl with a side of pickles. They also offered the option of choosing the level of spiciness that ranged from mild, medium,
hot and no spice.
While my tolerance for spicy food is high, I wanted to be sure that I would enjoy the food with gusto and not be sniffling after every bite.
I like to enjoy and savor my meals, so initially, I was thinking of going for the mild-level spice but then I changed my mind and went with the medium level.
Before making up my mind on the medium spiciness, I was curious about how spicy it was, and I was offered a sample of the spice they use
on the chicken.
It was not as hot as I thought it would be but it was just right in my taste, spicy and tangy. I kept the
Younha Lee, a third-year linguistics and sociology student, helped students write their names at the event.
“Once you learn the basic letters, reading in Korean becomes much easier,” Lee said.
Aamina Shabeer, a psychology intern at SJSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services and one of the event’s organizers, shared her thoughts on the importance of supporting international students.
She emphasized that the events that the Global
Connections take on help international students feel less isolated and more integrated into campus life.
“As an international student myself, I understand the challenges they face, and it’s rewarding to be part of something that brings students together,” Shabeer said.
Editor’s Note: a longer version of this article is available at SJSUNews.com
leftover sample and ended up adding it to the Mac Attack after I got it.
The Mac Attack is a bowl constructed with layers that include seasoned fries at the base, a layer of their signature medium hot chicken and creamy homemade mac and cheese topped off with Cluckin Hot Chicken’s sauce, chili powder and a side of pickles to ease the heat.
To get a taste of everything, I wanted to try each layer of food and I dug my fork in the bowl to get a bite of the fries at the bottom. They were crispy, soft, and savory and the cut was perfectly done.
I moved on to the mac and cheese which was pretty appetizing, though I am not a big fan of this dish usually. Mac and cheese often is slimy or has a weird gooey, tacky texture and the cheese is usually not tasty.
Undoubtedly this is by far
the best cheesy pasta I have ever tasted. The macaroni pasta was cooked just right, and the cheese sauce was creamy and flavorful, melting in my mouth. I also got to taste the Cluckin Hot Chicken tenders and let me say that I am glad it was not just balls of fried batter.
The tenders were excellently covered in a thin layer of house batter and seasonings.
Upon taking a bite, I could immediately savor the spicy yet tangy flavors, and the deliciously cookedto-perfection chicken meat–crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.
Every bite was worth it, the zesty spice not providing just heat but every flavor put together to make the meat deliciously addictive.
It is like a party in your mouth and the pickles were a perfect addition to the meal, balancing the flavors well.
I do see myself frequenting Cluckin Hot Chicken, and I would tell your friends about it before it’s gone.
ELIZABETH BRAVO REBOLLOSO | SPARTAN DAILY
Electrical engineering freshman Hayden Farriester plays a quick game of bowling before opening day.
JACKSON EATS
Jackson Lindstrom CONTRIBUTOR
Kiwis are awesome.
Unfortunately, kiwis are also an underrated fruit and if someone were to ask you to think of any random fruit, kiwi would probably not be the first one to come to mind.
But kiwis have a lot of health benefits with their high amounts of vitamin C and K and some vitamin E, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Not only are kiwis healthy but they are also very enjoyable. As a fruit, kiwis contain fructose, a carbohydrate molecule that is actually around 150200% sweeter than sucrose, another carbohydrate molecule that is synonymous with table sugar, according to a Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology journal.
This is why you see ingredients such as highfructose corn syrup in things like soda, because it is used to further sweeten the beverage to make it taste better, instead of just using plain sugar, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Foods that are typically called “health foods” are not known for tasting the best, but fruit is the biggest exception to this rule.
This is important because
Americans do not eat enough fruit, and our diet often replaces it with other food.
Only 12.3% of Americans met the daily recommended fruit intake set by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, according to a 2019 CDC survey published in 2022.
Taste is subjective and it’s impossible to compare how tasty a kiwi is to ice cream, for example.
But it is hard to deny that kiwis do taste pretty good if you like a sour, citrusy fruit. Kiwis are like a combination of a lemon and a plum because it’s very juicy but sour at the same time.
The juices are nice, refreshing and make you feel energy entering your body, while the citrusy sourness gives a nice little kick.
Some of the beneficial health markers associated with kiwis include improved gut health and reduced oxidative stress, according to a Feb.1, 2023, Cleveland Clinic article.
Oxidative stress is an imbalance in your body that can lead to cell damage and in the long term have a role in the diagnosis of conditions like cardiovascular disease, cancer or kidney disease, according to another article from Cleveland Clinic.
Kiwis reduce oxidative stress because they are a source of antioxidants.
Other good sources of antioxidants generally include other fruits and vegetables as well, such as strawberries, watermelon and bell peppers according
to Better Health Channel.
This is not to say that you should not eat other fruits, of course as every fruit has its own unique amount of nutrients it can provide you to benefit your health.
However, kiwis have a great level of nutrient density, or the ratio of calories to the amount of nutrients in a food, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Vitamin C is also an essential nutrient in kiwis that can reduce the risk of many health morbidities such as cancer and eye diseases as well as reducing the length of a cold, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In 100 grams of a kiwi, you would expect to have 92.5 milligrams of Vitamin
C, which is 2.5 milligrams above the minimum daily recommended intake by the FDA, according to the same website.
Kiwis also have a great amount of fiber, which also helps with a number of health benefits.
In total, 100 grams of a kiwi, containing 61 calories, will have about 3 grams of fiber, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Kiwis, among other fruits, are low in calories but high in volume. This means that you can eat a lot of fruit before you start to gain weight.
Increased fiber intake has also been associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, or the risk of any cause of death, according
to a meta-analysis from the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Many people choose not to eat the skin of a kiwi, but when they do this, they are actually throwing away some benefits they could potentially get from eating it.
Kiwi skin and flesh are both good sources of fiber and antioxidants alongside folate, a nutrient that is particularly important in early pregnancy, according to Cleveland Clinic.
If you don’t like kiwi skins, then don’t feel the need to eat them just, because eating something you don’t want to eat just because it’s good for you probably isn’t conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
There is also some evidence that kiwis may
be beneficial in supporting sleep quality by consuming it before bed.
A study that looked at the sleep quality of athletes after consuming 2 large green kiwis an hour before bed, found that it may have had a noticeable effect on improving the participants' sleep quality, according to the Nutrients journal. There are a lot of benefits to eating kiwis, but it would be beneficial to their health if Americans just ate more fruit in general.
The next time you go grocery shopping and you stop by the produce section, get some kiwis.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JACKSON LINDSTROM | SPARTAN DAILY
Follow Jackson on X (formerly Twitter) @jacklindst
2026 brings joy back to sports in the Bay
By Nicole DeVries STAFF WRITER
The Bay Area is scheduled to host multiple of the world’s biggest sporting events in 2026, uniting the faithful fans while offering the potential to attract new sports fans to the Bay.
Levi’s Stadium is selected to hold Super Bowl LX and six FIFA World Cup matches, according to the Bay Area Host Committee.
For a region that prides itself on its passionate sports culture, this is more than a couple of big events but a statement about what the Bay represents to the world of sports.
The return of the Super Bowl to Levi’s Stadium, which previously hosted Super Bowl 50 in 2016 according to a Levi’s Stadium web page.
apart of our tradition for our teams. Whether its the 49ers during football season or the Warriors during basketball season.
The Chase Center hosted the 74th NBA AllStar Game in February, which follows past All-Star games in Oakland (2000), and Daly City (1967).
The Bay Area Host Committee – which includes the 49ers, Earthquakes, and the Warriors – is working on plans for the events, but these efforts could have long-term effects on locals who will feel the changes made in preparation.
This is an exciting moment for football fans to experience two of the most viewed sporting events once again, bringing the energy and excitement of the game back to the Bay Area.
recent loss of all-pro wide receiver Deebo Samuels Sr. to the Washington Commanders in exchange for a fifth-round pick, according to an NFL article.
the honor from the New Orleans Host Committee.
San José has the opportunity to host tailgates, watch parties, and a variety of community gatherings, which will bring much-needed energy to the city.
The Bay Area has always been comprised of diverse sports loyalties, with the 49ers faithful, Earthquakes fans, or the deep pride of the Warriors’ since its time in Oakland.
I’m excited that there will be more attention to the area but also so I can feel prideful of my home.
However, as these largescale events approach, I
the g inging ement the es, and may face challenges to manage the influx of people. There is potential the number of may increase from the 70,000 at the 2016 Super B owl, to Levi’s
attendees people seen Bowl, according to Levi’s Stadium webpage.
After a disappointing 49ers’ season, the idea of Levi’s Stadium being the center of the football universe again offers a much-needed morale boost.
The sting of this season cuts even deeper with the
While the 49ers prepare to lose one of its major players, the Bay Area Host Committee is preparing for its largest hosting events yet.
According to the 49ers website, the official handoff to host the Super Bow took place in New Orleans, with regional leaders including 49ers’ CEO Jed York, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, and Bay Area Host Committee President Zaileen Janmohamed accepting
Beyond the Super Bowl, Levi’s Stadium will be one of 16 host venues for the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup games, welcoming 5 group-stage matches and one knockout round game according to a FIFA webpage.
While the Super Bowl is popular on a national level, the FIFA World Cup will bring an international audience to the Bay Area. Soccer boasts one of the largest fan bases globally, and according to FanNational Futbol, the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final surpassed the Super Bowl by 1.5 billion streams.
As a Bay Area local and a 49ers fan with a dog named “Deebo”– I guess he’ll need a name change now – the anticipation of these events make up for it.
This mix of passionate fan bases is what makes the Bay Area’s sports culture so unique and vibrant, with each group bringing its unique traditions and celebrations.
For my family, whenever I come home, we wear Bay Area gear as we watch the game together, which is
In efforts to prepare for the Super Bowl, New Orleans Governor Jeff Landry deployed Louisiana State Police troops dedicated to clearing homeless people and encampments off streets, according to a Jan. 15 Associated Press article. While these events offer excitement for sports fans, the reality of their impact on the local community may be more complicated. Although 2026 offers a rare opportunity to experience multiple major sporting events, the Bay Area finds ways to balance the excitement leading up to these events with long-term solutions for the challenges that come with them.
