UNIVERSITY'S BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OVERSEES THE
NATION'S LARGEST SYSTEM OF
BACCALAUREATE -LEVEL HIGHER
EDUCATION -- 23
CAMPUSES INCLUDING CSU
BAKERSFIELD.
BUT IN THE BOARD'S 60
YEARS OF GOVERNANCE IT HAS NEVER
HAD A STUDENT TRUSTEE FROM KERN
COUNTY. NOW IT DOES.
17'S ROBERT PRICE HAS OUR
INTRODUCTION.
MEET KRYSTAL RAYNES, A 21- YEAR
OLD C-S- U-B SENIOR AND
INDEPENDENCE HIGH GRAD
WHOSE PARENTS IMMIGRATED FROM
THE PHILIPPINES.
RAYNES NAILED HER
APPLICATION TO JOIN THE
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY'S
BOARD OF TRUSTEES WITH THIS
MESSAGE -- KRYSTAL RAYNES: We're
shaped by our resilience.
There's
so many immigrant people that
live
here, my family being one of the
stories, being one of the many
stories, that have come here to
Bakersfield. Having that
strength of
community, to say that we
matter,
when pesticides are literally
killing
those people, takes a lot of
strength. And it has been
perpetuated
to this very day in the students
and
the youth. A lot of us want to
have a
better life.
NOW SHE WILL BE AN ADVOCATE
FOR STUDENTS IN KERN COUNTY AND
EVERYWHERE, SHE SAYS, WHO MAY
HAVE DEALT
WITH FINANCIAL HARDSHIP, FOOD
INSECURITY, HOUSING
CONCERNS AND A HOST OF OTHER
ISSUES THAT CAN GET IN
THE WAY OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS.
THANKS TO HER LASTING
CONNECTION TO HER PARENTS'
NATIVE PHILIPPINES, KRYSTAL HAS
KNOWN FIRST- WORLD POVERTY AND
THIRD WORLD POVERTY. KRYSTAL
RAYNES: Comparing my experiences
as a
kid going to the Philippines --
I remember that we didn't even
have a front door! We didn't
have a front
door and cats would come in and
out.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM ANNOUNCED HER
APPOINTMENT AS ONE OF TWO
STUDENT TRUSTEES ON THURSDAY.
NOW SHE WILL HAVE A VOTE ON
MATTERS RESHAPING THE FACE OF
HIGHER EDUCATION,
INCLUDING DISTANCE LEARNING, A
SERIOUS BUDGET SHORTFALL AND
NEW REQUIREMENTS THAT THE C-S-U
EXPAND THE
BREADTH OF ITS CURRICULUM TO
INCLUDE SCHOLARSHIP ON ETHNIC
STUDIES.
RAYNES, A COMPUTER SCIENCE AND
BUSINESS
MAJOR, HAS HELD SEVERAL STUDENT
LEADERSHIP
POSITIONS FROM 2018 TO 2020,
INCLUDING INTERIM VICE
PRESIDENT OF LEGISLATIVE
AFFAIRS.
C-S-U-B PRESIDENT
LYNNETTE ZELEZNY SAID RAYNES
DESERVES THIS UNPRECEDENTE D
OPPORTUNITY. LYNNETTE ZELEZNY:
I've
watched her in her leadership
roles in
the Associated Student Body. She
has held very prominent roles.
She has also had prominent
student
leadership roles at the state
level --
and she was the only student
trustee candidate that had that
full
range of experience. So I think
it's really appealed to the
governor's choice that she has
really
earned not only being nominated
but being selected to the
position.
IN THE 50-YEAR HISTORY OF THE
UNIVERSITY, RAYNES IS ONLY
THE SECOND TRUSTEE FROM CSU
BAKERSFIELD TO
SERVE ON THE BOARD, FOLLOWING
JOHN NILON
WHO SERVED AS AN ALUMNI
REPRESENTATIV E A FEW YEARS
AGO.
RAYNES HAS AN IMPRESSIVE
RESUME FOR ONE SO YOUNG, BUT HER
GREATEST
INFECTIOUS ATTITUDE.
KRYSTAL RAYNES: I laugh a lot.
I love people. I love being
around
people. You never know when it's
going to be your last day. So I
live with that philosophy and I
try to spread joy, try to tell
people I love them.
IN BAKERSFIELD, ROBERT PRICE, 17
NEWS.
JIM:
