California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

History

Humboldt State Normal School was established as a teacher's college on June 16, 1913, by California governor Hiram Johnson. It was one of about 180 institutions founded by state governments to train teachers for the rapidly growing public schools. The cities of Arcata and Eureka (and to a lesser extent Fortuna) competed with one another to host the new campus. Arcata was selected after William Preston and the Union Water Company donated 55 acres (22 hectares) to serve as the site of the new school's campus. It opened on April 6, 1914, before construction at the location was complete, in the former Arcata Grammar School building, with 78 students enrolled and 5 faculty members teaching. The first class, comprising 15 women, graduated on May 26, 1915.

The school was put under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Education, renamed Humboldt State Teacher's College and Junior College, and moved to its current location in 1921. In 1924, during the presidency of Ralph Waldo Swetman, the Associated Students and the Alumni Association were organized and The Foghorn, the first student newspaper, was published. Bachelor's degrees began being offered in 1927. The school was renamed Humboldt State College in 1935, and the following year an official mascot was adopted: the Lumberjack. In 1937, the students opened a cooperative bookstore and soda fountain, which would exist for the next 40 years as the center of student life.

During World War II, Arcata's city defense council suggested camouflaging Founder's Hall, which is visible from the Pacific Ocean, so it would not be a target for Japanese submarines. The council made its request in 1942, but Founder's Hall was not painted until the spring of 1944. The building remained camouflage green until 1948. Over the course of the war, President Arthur Gist corresponded with hundreds of the students who had left Humboldt State to serve in the war. The "Arthur Gist Letters," an archive of more than 1,000 individual letters from 365 servicemen and women who wrote to Gist while serving in the military, were donated to the school after his death and are available for viewing at Cal Poly Humboldt Library's Special Collections & Archives.

Graduate programs were first offered in 1947. Under President Cornelius H. Siemens in 1952, HSU continued expanding by accepting students from abroad, including some from Yugoslavia, Germany and the Near East, as well as U.S. territories such as American Samoa, Guam and Hawaii. KHSU began broadcasting from the school as a 10-watt carrier current radio station in 1947 (using the call sign KHSC until 1972), and on October 17, 1960, it became the first licensed, non-commercial station operated by a state college in California. Also in 1960, the college became a part of the newly-formed California State College system. The school's junior college program, terminated in 1962, was re-established in 1964 at College of the Redwoods (CR), located only 17 miles (27 km) to the south in Eureka. The two institutions maintain a close working relationship, with many students transferring to Humboldt after graduating from CR.

Name

The university, founded as Humboldt State Normal College in 1913, took the name of the county and nearby bay, which was originally named after the famous German scientist Alexander von Humboldt.

On May 23, 1972, fourteen of the nineteen CSU campuses were renamed to "California State University," followed by a comma and then their geographic designation. The five campuses exempted from renaming were the five newest state colleges created during the 1960s. The new names were very unpopular at certain campuses. Over the objections of CSU Chancellor Glenn Dumke, state Assemblyman Al Alquist proposed a bill that would rename the San Jose campus back to San Jose State. A few years later, some other CSU campuses, the Humboldt campus among them, also secured passage of similar legislation, and California State University, Humboldt was renamed Humboldt State University from 1974 until 2022.

On January 26, 2022, the university was officially renamed to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, becoming the third polytechnic university in the state. The change is backed by a $458 million investment from the state of California.

Academics

The university is divided into three colleges: the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the College of Natural Resources and Sciences; and the College of Professional Studies. There are 48 undergraduate majors and 69 minors. The two largest majors are biology and art, both with over 20 faculty members and extensive facilities on- and off-campus. This CSU campus offers a wildlife undergraduate degree. There are several credential programs and fourteen master's programs, of which natural resources and social work are the largest. The new Energy, Environment, and Society graduate program is unique to the CSU, and provides graduates with interdisciplinary training in engineering, economics, and climate policy. In April of 2026, the university announced it was launching five new academic programs: Applied Humanities, Critical Agriculture Studies and Agroecology, Community Health, Health and Medical Science, and a master's degree in STEM Education. This is the second of three waves of program launches designed as part of the school's transition to a polytechnic university, with a target completion of 2029.

The University Library supports students and faculty from all three academic colleges. Humboldt State University Press (now called the Press at Cal Poly Humboldt) was launched in 1991 to showcase research and scholarship across the campus. The Forestry department building's walls are completely paneled with different species of wood. The building was rebuilt in October 1980 after the original building was burned down. The original building stood for 17 years before an arsonist, whose identity is still unknown today, set the building on fire in 1979.

Cal Poly Humboldt is one of only two universities in California to offer a major in botany; the other is California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Its botany program is the nation's largest undergraduate program. Cal Poly Humboldt is the only university in California to offer a degree in rangeland resources and wildland soil science. The Native American Studies major and the Oceanography major are also unique to the California State University system. The university offers unique minors including multicultural queer studies, scientific diving, and appropriate technology.

The university's location on the North Coast provides access to the Pacific Ocean, lagoons, marshes, estuaries, and the Fred Telonicher Marine Laboratory, which provides opportunities for "hands-on" experiences and research for the sciences. The Marine Lab was opened in 1966, the lab is open during the academic school year (mid August-mid May).

Statistics

As of fall 2018 Cal Poly Humboldt had the largest enrollment percentage of Native Americans and the third largest enrollment percentage of multiracial individuals in the Cal State system.

Number of enrolled students: 6,045 (fall 2024)

5,976 (fall 2023)

5,858 (fall 2022)

Gender:

56.0% female

44.0% male

Rankings

Cal Poly Humboldt is one of the colleges profiled in The Princeton Review's book, Colleges with a Conscience: 81 Great Schools with Outstanding Community Involvement. The school was selected because of its record of having excellent service-learning programs and its blending of academics with community work.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Cal Poly Humboldt tied for 37th out of 127 schools in the Regional Universities (West) category for 2021, and in the same category also ranked it 17th best public school, 22nd best for veterans, 33rd for best value, and tied for 34th best for social mobility.

Student life

The Humboldt Energy Independence Fund (HEIF) is unique to the CSU, and uses student fee money to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects on campus. HEIF provides a rare opportunity for students, faculty, and plant operations staff to work together collaboratively towards a goal of a lower-carbon and energy-independent future. Compost and recycling bins are more common on campus than trash cans and many events are encouraged to be zero waste, all coordinated through the student-run Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP). The Associated Students fund WRRAP, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, and the Sustainable Living Arts and Music Festival (SLAM fest).

Cal Poly Humboldt built the first building in the CSU system to be LEED-gold certified for its eco-friendly features. The Behavioral and Social Sciences Building has facilities for rainwater collection and sustainably harvested wood native-plant landscaping, among others.

There are over 200 clubs on campus; these include a variety of options that range from social interests, academic, Greek life and sports.

Student media

The university has multiple publications. The Lumberjack is the university's only student-run weekly newspaper.

The university also has a monthly student-run newspaper, El Leñador, which is bilingual and produced by students with minority backgrounds. El Leñador received first place in competing against other monthly and bi-weekly papers from four- and two-year colleges and universities across California.

Osprey is the university's student-run magazine, published twice annually. It has won first-place awards in major regional competitions, including the Society of Professional Journalists' "Mark of Excellence" Awards and the California Intercollegiate Press Association awards.

Cal Poly Humboldt is also the only university in the CSU system to have a university press. The Press at Cal Poly Humboldt publishes high-quality scholarly, intellectual, and creative works by or in support of the campus community.

Athletics

The Lumberjacks program is affiliated with the NCAA on the Division II level and is a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Cal Poly Humboldt currently sponsors 12 intercollegiate sports programs — men's and women's soccer, basketball, cross country, track and field, women's volleyball, softball, rowing, and, formerly, football (in which it competed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference).

In addition to NCAA sanctioned athletics, Cal Poly Humboldt also supports club sports including, archery, baseball, cheer, climbing, cycling, disc golf, fencing, logging sports, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's rugby, men's and women's ultimate Frisbee, men's crew, and men's volleyball.

Women's (2)

Softball (2): 1999, 2008

On-campus housing

As of 2022, 2,069 beds were available on campus. As Cal Poly Humboldt enrolls nearly 6,000 students and as there is an acute housing shortage in Arcata, homelessness is prevalent among the student population. The university has sought to restrict and penalize students who are forced to live in cars, RVs or vans on campus. A 2018 study concluded that almost 20% of Cal Poly Humboldt students had experienced recent homelessness, double the rate of the CSU system as a whole.

University housing consists of six living areas: The Hill, Cypress, and Canyon for first-year students, and the College Creek Apartments, Campus Apartments, Creekview, and Cypress for other students. To address a housing shortage, Cal Poly Humboldt contracted with four local hotels—the Motel 6, Super 8, Ramada Inn, and Comfort Inn—to provide approximately 350 beds of "bridge housing" to students. By 2023, however, the university eliminated three of the four options, leaving only the Comfort Inn as the only motel option. A new off-campus housing complex, Craftsman Mall, will house a thousand residents and is projected to open in fall 2025; new on-campus housing for an additional 600 to 700 students is projected to open in summer 2027. Cal Poly Humboldt announced it was closing the Campus Apartments in late January 2025 on the recommendations of a consultant after mold tests conducted in a recently vacated room. The apartments are expected to be demolished after the new Hinarr Hu Moulik housing complex opens. In April 2025, it was reported that Hinarr Hu Moulik would open for up to 600 students in the Fall 2025 semester.

Klamath Connection Program

The Klamath River is the focus of the Klamath Connection, which is designed to help freshmen learn important skills for future science careers.

Y.E.S. House

The Y.E.S. House (Youth Educational Services) programs are created by students and led by student volunteer programs. There are currently 17 programs running.

Centers and institutes

Centers and institutes at the university include:

The California Center for Rural Policy at Cal Poly Humboldt - a research center to assist policy development. community building community, and promoting the health of rural people and their environments.

Humboldt Science and Mathematics Center - its mission is to enhance science and mathematics education. It was chartered in 2005, and offers programs and professional support for teachers and for students preparing for the professionals. The center is formally affiliated with a number of university programs.

The Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research (HIIMR) - founded in 2012 and seeks to improve the economic, social, physical, and environmental health of individuals and communities through the interdisciplinary scientific study of marijuana and marijuana extracts by working with users of the drug and local cannabis dispensaries to collect data. Since 2016, HIIMR designs, conducts, analyzes, and disseminates research; provides applied expertise to policy makers, researchers, students, health professionals, businesses, and the media; and archives and provides access to source materials (raw data, media).

Institute for Cartographic Design - affiliated with the Department of Geography and its Kosmos Lab for teaching cartography, this institute provides cartography students with an opportunity to engage in applied map design before graduation, provides a centralized cartographic design service on campus, in all formats from paper to web to animation.

The Institute of Health and Human Performance - supports the local community in activities for health promotion. It supports research and training for faculty and students in health, human performance, disease prevention, physical activity and nutrition.

The Institute for Entrepreneurship Education - designed to reach other academic departments on campus as well as the Redwood Coast business community. It is oriented around interdisciplinary study, with a focus on social entrepreneurship and an ethic of social responsibility.

Notable people

Alumni

Marisa Anderson, guitarist and composer, dropped out at age 19

Taylor Boggs (b. 1987), football player

Melissa Braden, sculptor and ceramic artist

Dean L. Bresciani, President of North Dakota State University

Ellie Cachette (b. 1985), technology executive, activist and author

Alex Cappa (b. 1995), football player for the Las Vegas Raiders

Raymond Carver (1938-1988), author and poet

Mark Conover (1960-2022), winner of 1988 Olympic Marathon trials

Dan Curry, visual effects producer

Chris Dixon (b. 1981), indoor football player and coach

Trevor Dunn (b. 1968), bassist for Mr. Bungle and Fantomas

Jack Fimple (b. 1959), former Major League Baseball catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Ken Fisher (b. 1950), billionaire CEO of Fisher Investments, long-time Forbes columnist, and author of books on investing

Harrell Fletcher (b. 1967), artist

David Gelbaum (c. 1950-2018), businessman, green technology investor and environmental philanthropist

Corey Gray, Native American physicist and science communicator

Faculty

Don Gregorio Antón (b. 1956), artist and educator (Emeritus Professor)

Marcy Burstiner, journalist

Jim Dodge (b. 1945), novelist and poet

Ronald A. Fritzsche (b. 1945) (emeritus), ichthyologist.

Robert A. Gearheart (b. 1938) (emeritus), environmental engineer

Victor Golla (1939–2021) (emeritus), linguist

Steven C. Hackett (b. 1960), economist

Vincent Ialenti (b. 1987), anthropologist

Eric Rofes (1954-2006), gay activist, feminist, educator, and author

Stephen C. Sillett (b. 1968), botanist

Brian D. Tripp (Karuk, 1945–2022), talk Native American art