By Mark Muckenfuss and Walter Ryce

President Vanya Quiñones’s investiture ceremony was a blend of formality and entertainment, tradition and freshness. 

Marylou Shockley, interim dean of the College of Business, said it  “embodied everything about this university that’s special: diversity, collaboration and support.”

She continued: “To have a mariachi band, Rosa Azul, singing the National Anthem— that is absolutely over the top.” 

After the investiture ceremony, the platform party filed out of the building while a CSUMB choir sang “We Are the World” and audience members waved their lit-up cell phones. 

Everyone walked up the block to University Center where there were more delights in store at a reception party stocked with food from different countries and regions, a variety of candies, furniture and decorations, live and DJ music, dancing, and more. 

Patterson Emesibe, from the Alumni Association, emceed the event with his customary energy and positivity. Jeff Rensel, director of the Otter Student Union, lead the crowd in performing TikTok and line dances. 

Then they turned over the sound system to DJ Hanif Wondir, who kept people dancing to salsa, party jams, and globally minded mash-ups. The spacious room was filled with good vibes as Vanya circulated, chatted, hugged, and danced. 

Then she got on the mic to address the crowd.

“An investiture is not about me,” she said. “It’s about all of us together. We all believe in CSUMB. We’re together doing this.”

She emphasized how important the day was for her and her family, and restated the university’s “commitment that students can achieve.”

“We’re going to open doors for them," she said, later adding that she wants to "ensure that students' paths are easier than ours, by eliminating obstacles and bumps that they might face.”

One student, first-year Cinematic Arts and Technology major Diego Delgado, admitted he had mainly came for the food. But he also said he was “really interested in seeing what the partying was about.”

Of Vanya, he said, “I do like what she’s doing for the school in terms of the campus culture.”

Closing out the event was the 10-piece Salinas band Everyday People, which includes members who are CSUMB alumni, playing classic Latin rock to keep the energy and dancing going until the end.  

“We are here to enjoy ourselves,” Quiñones said. “Let’s dance like otters and enjoy the day.“

Read about the investiture ceremony that preceded this community reception.