California State University, San Bernardino will award alumnus Lou Monville, who had served on the CSU Board of Trustees for 10 years culminating with two terms as the board chair, an honorary doctorate in humane letters during the university’s commencement exercises on June 17.
Monville, who served as president of the CSUSB Associated Students Inc. as an undergraduate, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication, will be honored at the university’s College of Arts and Letters graduation exercises.
“I am humbled, there is no greater honor one can receive than an honorary doctorate from your alma mater,” Monville said. “So much in our life has been shaped by the remarkable experiences Elizabeth and I had as students at CSUSB; I don’t have the words to describe how grateful we are for all the opportunities CSUSB gave me and my family.”
CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales praised Monville for his outstanding volunteer work to the university.
“We are very proud of Lou for his remarkable service to Cal State San Bernardino and the CSU,” Morales said. “His hard work and dedication to the community personifies the volunteer spirit that we value and instill in our students and alumni as a key to overall success. I can’t think of a more deserving person to receive an honorary doctorate.”
After graduation, Monville continued to serve Cal State San Bernardino by participating the Coyote Athletics Association; the CSUSB Alumni Association board, including serving as president; the Ambassadors for Higher Education; the CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation Board of Directors; and the CSUSB Advisory Board. He currently serves on the CSUSB President’s Advancement Council and Communications Studies Department Advisory Board.
Monville is the senior vice president of the Raincross Corporate Group, a collection of business entities involved in real estate development, strategic business advisory services, convention center management, operations and catering, and convention and sports sales and marketing.
Monville has more than 20 years’ public affairs and public relations experience. Formerly he was vice president of OPR Communications, where he led a team that specialized in land-use entitlement, infrastructure project development, public education and community outreach, governmental affairs, and strategic counsel.
Previously, Monville served in Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration, directing the activities of the governor’s Inland Empire office. In that position, Monville advised the administration on public policy impacts relating to business and economic reform, class-size reduction and infrastructure development. Monville has extensive experience in California politics, including providing strategic counsel to statewide initiatives, grassroots organizations, and presidential races. He also worked for two members of the California State Assembly.
Before entering the political and policy arena, Monville worked in the sports industry, where he served as the public relations coordinator for the Riverside Pilots minor league baseball team and conducted marketing and promotions for Coyote Athletics at Cal State San Bernardino.
He was named the “2009 Small Business Advocate of the Year” by the California Chamber of Commerce in recognition of his passionate volunteerism for the betterment of local and state communities and economies. In 1999, the Inland Empire Business Journal named him one of the region’s top 40 business leaders under 40 years of age.
In 2004, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Monville, who was just 33 at the time, to the California Community College Board of Governors. Two years later the governor appointed Monville to the CSU Board of Trustees, in recognition of his dedication to developing the state’s future workforce.
When his eight-year term to the board was scheduled to end in 2014, Monville was appointed to another full term on the board by Gov. Jerry Brown. But in recognition of his growing young family, he ultimately accepted a two-year term of service from the CSU Alumni Council. Monville capped his 10 years of CSU board service by serving as board chair from 2014 to 2016.
During Monville’s service, the board led the CSU through its most challenging budget crisis precipitated by the Great Recession. At the same time, it selected a new system chancellor and 27 campus presidents; it approved three new doctoral degrees and added or modified 1,200 degree programs, graduated nearly 984,000 graduates, saw a graduation rate increase of 19 percent; all while focusing the system on greater value to the state and students, and achieving greater educational equity for all groups.
In addition to serving on the CSU Board of Trustees, Monville has previously served many community organizations, including the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, where he served as chair; and on the boards of the California Inland Empire Council Boy Scouts of America, and Inland Action, which seeks to improve the Inland Empire’s economy.