The “In Memoriam” section of SF State Magazine is usually devoted to University graduates. But this summer, two non-alumni passed away who each had a huge, lasting impact on SF State. In an issue with so much content looking back at University history, we couldn’t overlook their important contributions.
The Leader Who Made SF State ‘a Different Kind of Public University’
SF State’s 12th president from 1988 to 2012, Robert A. Corrigan passed away peacefully in his San Francisco home on July 5, 2024. He was 89 years old. At his inauguration, he spoke of his bold vision for SF State to become “a different kind of public university, one that is organized around the concept of urban partnership” with faculty members who view the surrounding “city as their classroom.”
“President Corrigan was a national leader in promoting the cause of civic engagement in higher education and reimagining the modern, urban university,” current SF State President Lynn Mahoney said. “Our campus owes him a debt of gratitude for his lasting and impactful contributions to our incredible university and students past, present and future.”
By the time he retired in 2012, there were more than 500 service-learning courses and dozens of University institutes and initiatives that linked the classroom and community. SF State earned national recognition for its approach to education, including a Presidential Award in President Obama’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Corrigan also made significant progress on another goal: to work with the city and its school district to change the conditions which have put so many urban students at educational risk.
In the late 1990s, Corrigan oversaw the placement of college tutors in K – 12 classrooms nationwide when he chaired President Bill Clinton’s Steering Committee of College and University Presidents for two initiatives: America Reads and America Counts, which focused on improving reading comprehension and mathematical skills, respectively.
“President Corrigan set for SF State the lofty mission of equity and social justice at a time when emphasis on these ideals was unheard of in most academic institutions,” said Professor of Biology Mike Goldman, who was a faculty member during Corrigan’s tenure. “At the same time, he never wavered from his love of the life of the mind and his pride in teaching, learning and research.”
Photo By Bill Peters/The Denver Post via Getty Images
‘The Father of Black Studies’
Nathan Hare passed away in San Francisco June 10, 2024. Known as “the father of Black Studies,” he helped pave the way for the nation’s first School of Ethnic Studies and Black Studies Department, established at SF State after the student-led Third World Liberation Front strike of 1968 – 1969.
Hare joined the faculty at San Francisco State College in 1967, recruited by Black Student Union leaders to chair a new department in Black Studies. Upon arriving on campus, Hare discovered that SF State was offering courses in Minority Studies, a title that he found to be pejorative. In response, he coined the term “ethnic studies.”
Hare was a faculty leader in the SF State strike. Although the strike succeeded in many ways, his contract was not renewed by SF State after spring 1969. He left academia and founded The Black Scholar: A Journal of Black Studies and Research. He later became a clinical psychologist, working in community health programs, hospitals and private practice.
After serving in the U.S. Army, Henry Niebolt (B.A., ’57) earned a degree in English and a California teaching credential. In addition to his long career as an educator, he was a musician. He was principal tuba player for the Golden Gate Park Band for 61 years, played with traveling shows like the Ringling Bros. circus and was a symphonic musician with the Marin Symphony, San Francisco Opera and more.
Michael McLaughlin, founder of McLaughlin Coffee Roasting Co. in 1983, didn’t start off in java. He earned a Physical Education degree in 1965 and a Master of Arts degree. After graduating from SF State, McLaughlin worked as a teacher for 20 years until his brother and cousin, co-founders of Royal Coffee, invited him to become a roaster. Now, McLaughlin’s sons Shaun and Mark run the company, and his wife Barbara is still involved in the business.
Lawrence Haynes (BSN, ’71) died on April 21, 2024. He had a long and successful career in the emergency room and operating room, and as a nursing home administrator. He always spoke fondly of his time at SFSU.
East Contra Costa’s Willie Mims (B.A., ’74) dedicated his life to civil rights and advocacy in education. Throughout his career, he advocated for students and families and worked to end disparities in achievement between Black students and their peers. His political involvement began as early as age 17 and, in 2020, the 75-year-old Mims participated in all six Black Lives Matter marches in Pittsburg.
Rabbi and author Ellen Bernstein (Credential, ’78) went on to establish Shomrei Adamah, America’s first national Jewish environmental organization. She believed the natural environment was connected to the precepts of the Hebrew Bible, seeing the climate crisis as a spiritual crisis that reflects people’s treatment of each other and Earth.
As a student, Philip Klasky (B.A., ’94; M.A., ’97) helped establish the Department of Environmental Studies. He returned to SFSU to join the faculty in American Indian Studies and Race and Resistance Studies. He was director of the Ethnic Studies Student Resource and Empowerment Center, a mentor for the New Leader Scholarship and more. His wife, SF State Librarian Catherine Powell, and his sister Ilene Avery Marwick established the Philip M. Klasky Climate Justice Scholarship to continue his legacy of supporting student activists committed to climate justice and community.
Journalism student Alex Kauffman died in March 2024. His parents adopted him and his older sister from a Ukrainian orphanage. They say his love for journalism started as young as age 6 when he’d watch newscasts while eating breakfast. He transferred to SF State in 2022 hoping to become a news anchor.