An Aztec in the Family

The history of San Diego State comprises three campuses, five presidents, dozens of new buildings and hundreds of thousands of students. That adds up to a great deal of change over the course of 110 years.

Tracing SDSU’s legacy through the families that have walked Monte­zuma Mesa generation after generation, it becomes clear how much as changed – and how much hasn’t.

The campus remains a place for realizing career aspirations, for sharing meals at midnight, for passionately cheering the Aztecs, for seeking challenges that hone identity, for making friendships that last forever, for sharing experiences that determine the course of entire lives.

New buildings arise and entire majors go the way of the dodo, but the people don’t change.

“We like tradition”

Betty Hamlin prefers the smaller San Diego State of memory. She graduated in 1948, when the students numbered 5,000, people laid claim to their special table in “The Caf,” bridge was the game everyone played and the campus celebrated the return of the WWII veterans.

Though most students commuted to school, there was an amazing sense of camaraderie because the campus was so much more intimate.

“The last time I was there, I could hardly tell where anything used to be,” she said. “I can’t imagine being on campus with so many people.”

Her mother, who attended San Diego Normal School, might have said the same thing about Betty’s time. And Betty’s daughter, Lisa Hamlin-Vieira, might someday say the same thing about her granddaughter’s SDSU, if the Hamlin tradition of enrolling at State continues as it has for four generations.

“My family is really close,” said Lisa, a 1978 graduate who majored in insurance. “SDSU was an obvious choice for us. We like tradition, so we keep doing the same things from generation to generation. Besides, it’s a great school.”

It was at SDSU that Lisa met her husband Glen Vieira. He was a pole vaulter, and his coach suggested the team enroll in a dance class to increase agility. So, Lisa became Glen’s ballroom dance teacher. The couple produced three more Aztecs: business major, Cathy; Beth, who’s completing a teaching credential; and Anne, a hospitality and tourism management major.

Defining experiences

Within the Hamlin and Vieira families, there are more than 20 SDSU alumni or current students. Lisa’s father, two aunts (one of whom was homecoming queen), an uncle, four cousins, brother and sister, three brothers-in-law, and at least five cousins have attended SDSU.

Not surprisingly, the Hamlin and Vieira families share Aztec traditions. Joining Kappa Alpha Theta was a defining college experience for Betty, Lisa and Beth. Anne chose the life of an athlete over the sorority scene.

She says that being on the pole vaulting team – like her dad – gives her the sense of community that her grandmother enjoyed with the entire campus, just on a smaller scale.

So will she be continuing the Hamlin-Vieira trend?

“I probably will encourage my kids [to attend SDSU], but I will definitely let them go to the school that fits them,” Anne Vieira said. “It’s all about personality. I think the SDSU is a good place for our family because most of us are outgoing and like to be around people.”

Breaking down barriers

Many alumni will say that SDSU changed them, but few can say that they changed SDSU. Robert Moss, Sr. can make that claim.

A basketball player, Moss was the first black athlete at San Diego State College. For him, it was about getting to play ball, but for his family and every African-American athlete to follow, it was an historic feat.

“If you were an African-American in the late 30s, you were limited in what you could do,” said Moss’ son, Robert Moss, Jr. “A lot of people don’t talk about it these days, but it was a major achievement to break these barriers down.”

All of Moss’s experiences at SDSU – good and bad – helped prepare him for a career in the U.S. Postal Service, which would also have its share of firsts. After 15 years as a letter carrier, he was promoted to manager of customer services, making him the first African-American supervisor in USPS history.

Big man on campus

Pioneers like Moss helped turn SDSU into a more welcoming place by the time Robert Moss, Jr. arrived in the late 1950s. Building upon his father’s accomplishments, he lettered four years in football and three in baseball. In 1961, he was Senior Athlete of the year.

“I really didn’t take my studies seriously and my reward for that was a 1.8 grade point average,” he said. “The two biggest miracles of my life were becoming eligible for my sophomore year and graduating in four years.”

Though fraternities were officially supposed to admit African-Americans, many didn’t see diversity as positive, the younger Moss recalled. He served as president of the predominantly African-American fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi.

Later, Moss parlayed the leadership skills he gained as fraternity president into a career that included umpiring minor league baseball, teaching in the San Diego Unified School District (he was the first African-American in the San Diego region to coach a major sport at the high school level) and joining the University of California, San Diego as a professor of physical education.

Hooked on publishing

Unlike his father and grandfather, Parry Moss was more interested in scholarship than sports.

“Their desire to relive what it was like for them at State was fulfilled when I played baseball my freshman year,” he said. “Sports are as much a part of my dad’s life as magazines are a part of my life now.”

A young Parry Moss was introduced by his grandparents to magazines like Time and Sports Illustrated. Hooked on publishing, he used his own resources to introduce the magazine, Ujamaa, at SDSU.

Moss’s publishing savvy, along with regular contributions from SDSU Africana Studies professors, made Ujamaa a success. The knowledge that his father and grandfather overcame difficult challenges had given Moss the confidence to do something bold.

He remembers feeling his family’s presence on campus. A photograph of his grandfather’s championship basketball team hung in the Jack in the Box restaurant across the street and his dad’s stats were displayed in the baseball clubhouse.

“I always felt like I really belonged on campus,” he said. “I reaped the benefits of the changes that my dad and granddad were part of.”

Today, diversity at SDSU is a bragging right, but it was hard won by people like the Mosses.

“We get together and we talk about the good points,” said the eldest Moss. “Overall, the conversation is on the plus side.”

New perspectives

Change was part of the fabric of the 1970s at most college campuses. By 1978, when Patricia Lozada-Santone gradu­ated and her mother, Antonia Molina, enrolled at San Diego State, political protest and women’s liberation were synonymous with campus life.

“I really felt part of the American movement of the time,” Lozada-Santone said. “But for my mother, being around so many outspoken young women who were politically active, that was a big eye-opener. I saw my mother change and grow in her openness to a relationship with me and my sister.”

Lozada-Santone studied hard, often taking up residence in a lounge in the Aztec Center, and taking occasional breaks to keep tabs on the “General Hospital” Luke and Laura saga. Within four years, she earned a bachelor’s degree in public health.

Her mother was more than proud, she was inspired. Molina was fascinated by her daughter’s knowledge of new programs in public health that could make a difference in the community. She enrolled at SDSU to study health science and education.

Though Lozada-Santone’s career was in full swing, she decided to come back to SDSU for a master’s degree in public health and a doctoral degree in education. Currently, she is assistant dean of student affairs for SDSU’s College of Education.

Another generation

A passion for education infected not only Lozada-Santone and her mother, but also her son, J.P. He recently graduated from the social science program and enrolled in the single-subject teaching credential program.

“It’s cool to know that my grandma, my mom and myself, we all walked these same halls and were doing the same things.”

Almost 30 years after Molina’s life-changing experience on campus altered her relationship with her daughter, the daughter’s relationship with her son is changing as a result of their SDSU bond.

“We discuss how my teaching is going, what my class is up to, and what lesson plan I have written for my next class. It’s cool to bounce ideas off her,” J.P. said.

Change is certain to be a prominent theme in SDSU’s future. “The Caf” gives way to the Commons, acceptance makes way for diver­sity, and one war replaces another as the hot topic of debate.

The SDSU experience keeps families like the Lozada-Santones, the Mosses and the Vieiras coming back, generation after generation.