Yasuda Center

A History of the Yasuda/CSUSB Relationship

Since 1987, through the expertise and resources of its American Culture and Language Program (ACLP), California State University, San Bernardino, has worked cooperatively with the Yasuda Institute of Education in Hiroshima, Japan, to provide specially designed, high-quality English language programs to the students of Yasuda. In 1990, CSUSB entered into a sister-school relationship with Yasuda and has had the privilege of hosting hundreds of Yasuda students, leaders, administrators and faculty on its campus since the relationship began.

For more than twenty years, CSUSB and Yasuda have taken great strides toward building a unique and lasting friendship. Yasuda has served as a very gracious host to several representatives of CSUSB, and has openly shared with these individuals its impressive heritage of academic excellence and cultural richness. Similarly, CSUSB has enjoyed the opportunity to share its campus and community with hundreds of Yasuda visitors. "The Heron," a beautiful bronze sculpture designed by Professor Richard Johnston of CSUSB Art Department, was commissioned by Yasuda in 1992 and stands in the main courtyard of Yasuda's university campus. CSUSB has welcomed Yasuda's visiting faculty members to its campus and continues to work toward making this activity a reciprocal one. Thousands of Yasuda students have studied in various College of Extended Learning-sponsored programs, ranging from three weeks to six months in duration.

The Yasuda Center for Extended Learning

On June 16, 1994, construction of a 15,600-square-foot classroom building began on the CSUSB campus, funded in part with a gift of 100 million yen (nearly $1 million) from the Yasuda Institute of Education. The building stands as a concrete marker of the special relationship the two institutions share. For California State University, San Bernardino, it is a symbol of how two diverse cultures and institutions can work together successfully toward the common goal of international education and global peace and understanding. It is a rare and beautiful gift to the campus for which CSUSB is eternally grateful.

The one-story classroom and conference building handles some 30,000 annual College of Extended Learning students as well as the hundreds of Yasuda students who participate in various programs at CSUSB. Five classrooms, a multipurpose room that can be divided into four smaller rooms, a language lab, two computer labs and a student lounge and patio area are among the building's features.

For more information about the CSUSB Yasuda Center, please contact Dr. Tatiana Karmanova at tkarma@csusb.edu or call (909) 537-3889.