Our History

When California State College, Bakersfield opened for classes in September 1970, it was the realization of a decades-old dream. It is especially fitting that CSB was created from the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960.

A staunch advocate and friend of public education, Dorothy Donahoe represented the residents of Bakersfield and Kern County in the California Assembly for many years. During that period, community leaders from Bakersfield and throughout Kern County sought to bring higher education to the area.

That community-wide grassroots effort bore fruit in 1970. Since then the university has become a major intellectual and cultural center for the burgeoning southern San Joaquin Valley. The university’s growth has kept pace with the community, as Bakersfield has become one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the state and the nation.

| Sept. 1970 Classes begin as California State College, Bakersfield opens as a four-year university

| June 1971 First commencement was held with 100 graduates, students who had transferred from the Bakersfield campus of Fresno State College, known as Fresno State Extension

| 1973 Nursing Building Dedicated

| 1974 Dr. Jacob Frankel becomes the second president of CSUB

| June 1977 Construction on Doré Theater begins