In marrying tradition with a new, visually appealing digital platform, our hope is to inform and delight Spartan alumni who have been a key Washington Square audience while, at the same time, engaging our broader community — and cultivating new supporters who wish to learn about all the ways we are transforming higher education and serving our students. This issue includes a little bit of everything happening at San José State University, from the introduction of a new academic building on campus and the way our Records Clearance Project is opening new doors for thousands of people to how we’re fighting fires before they burn, with captivating stories of personal transformation in between.

This fall, we conducted robust public surveys with our stakeholders on social media as we considered whether an update to the magazine’s existing name was in order. Although several wonderful and creative names were suggested, it was gratifying when survey respondents ultimately chose to keep the name Washington Square. Those who have gotten to know me over the years understand my love and appreciation for history and tradition, so the name Washington Square resonates for many of those kinds of reasons.

Most members of the SJSU community probably know that our university is the oldest public institution of higher education in the western United States. But what you may not know is San José State was founded as Minns’ Evening Normal School in San Francisco in 1857; five years later, the name changed to California State Normal School. Eventually, the state legislature chose the City of San José as the school’s new home. The cornerstone of the new university building was laid on Oct. 20, 1870, at its current location of Washington Square, which was donated by the city.