The contributions of two longtime friends of the university and two faculty members will be highlighted when the Cal State San Bernardino Office of Community Engagement hosts its Community Collaboration Celebration at 9 a.m. Friday, March 4, at the Santos Manuel Student Union South Events Center.

Two of the awards will be the public recognition of CSUSB faculty members who were named to their respective honors while the university operated virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

June and Ernest Siva will be honored with the Outstanding Community Partner Award for their exceptional and sustained effort in developing service learning, research and internship opportunities for CSUSB students to engage in and learn from Native communities.

The Sivas are longtime friends and contributors to the university and the community. They founded the nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center in Banning in 2003, which is named after Ernest Siva’s aunt, to help preserve Southern California’s Native American cultures. The center provides cultural activities such as storytelling and hands-on learning for children and works as a liaison with teachers, schools, museums and others interested in Southern California Indians. 

In a Press-Enterprise article in October 2014, Morongo Tribal Chairman Robert Martin said, “It’s because of Ernest and his wife, June, that the Serrano language hasn’t completely vanished and is being taught today in the Morongo School. Ernest’s lifelong commitment to preserving our cultural identity, history and language has helped keep our heritage and values alive for future generations. His devotion to protecting our past and sharing its richness with others have made him a role model to Native American youth everywhere.”

Most recently, Ernest Siva was featured in an article and in a podcast by the Los Angeles Times, which also noted that he contributes to Cal State San Bernardino’s language program through an arrangement between the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the university. A class on the Native American language was introduced over a decade ago, but today, it is offered as a full-credit course. In 2009, CSUSB awarded Siva an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

Enrique Murillo Jr., founder and executive director of the Latino Education and Advocacy Days project, co-director of the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Program and professor of education, will be publicly honored for receiving the Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award, which he was given in the fall of 2020.

The Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award is presented as part of Campus Compact’s Impact Awards, which recognize the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education.

Murillo was “recognized for his ‘Netroots’ approach to scholarship that combines awareness-raising, education, promotion, advocacy, activism, analysis, discussion, critique, and dissemination to advance understanding of educational issues that impact Latinx populations,” according to the Campus Compact. 

Alexandra Cavallaro, assistant professor of English and director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Correctional Education, was the recipient of CSUSB’s 2021 Outstanding Community Engagement Award, which she was given in the spring of 2021.

She was recognized for her deeply innovative and engaged academic work; history of community collaboration and change, especially with the Prison Education Project (PEP); and her role in promoting Cal State San Bernardino as an institution committed to the development of a stronger and more engaged society through the Inside-Out Prison Education Program.

In addition to being held in-person, the celebration will be livestreamed on YouTube at "Community Engagement Award Ceremony."