William A. Covino invested as Cal State L.A.’s seventh president on Friday, May 9, 2014. “Engagement, Service, and the Public Good” was the theme of the ceremony at the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex, which marked the formal installation of William A. Covino as president in front of a large audience and the media.
He was appointed in September, 2013 as president of Cal State L.A. by the CSU Board of Trustees. First in his Italian American family to earn a college degree, Covino is deeply committed to providing opportunities for students to achieve academic, personal, and professional success, and helping them to develop a high regard for the intellectual and cultural diversity that distinguishes Cal State L.A. and its surrounding community.
As the chief executive officer of Cal State LA President Covino leads the multifaceted efforts to pursue the three major priorities of the Strategic Plan: Student Success, Engagement and Public Good. These priorities encompass all aspects and areas of University such as academics, facilities, budget and finance, student life, athletics, fund raising and external relations.
Prior to his appointment at CSULA, Covino served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Fresno State since 2009. In addition to his leadership of the university’s eight schools and colleges and oversight of academic goals and educational policy, Covino provided ongoing leadership for the Campaign for Fresno State, the university’s fundraising campaign which has raised in excess of $214 million.
Previous to his position at Fresno State, Covino held leadership positions at CSU Stanislaus and Florida Atlantic University. He also has held faculty positions at the University of Illinois at Chicago and San Diego State University. Covino earned his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds M.A. degrees from CSU Northridge and the University of Southern California and earned a Ph.D. in English from USC in 1981.
He was installed on by Chancellor Timothy P. White of the California State University. The investiture was preceded by a Presidential reception in the Luckman Gallery at which five distinguished Political graduates were recipients of The Presidential Medallion of California State University, Los Angeles. Remarks were made by William A. Covino.
The Presidential Medallion is the highest honor given by California State University, Los Angeles. Since its inception in 1983, only five medallions have been awarded. It is presented to individuals whose lives have exemplifies distinguished service to others. To commemorate the investiture of William A. Covino, and in accordance with the theme of “Engagement, Service, and the Public Good” the President has chosen to honor alumni of Cal State LA. whose lives epitomize distinguished civic leadership. In recognition of their years of dedication, President Covino is proud to confer this honor upon Supervisor Gloria Molina, Councilman Tom LaBonge, former Congresswoman Diane Watson, former District Attorney Steve Cooley and former Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca.
Investiture, a practice rooted in the Middle Ages, is a formal ceremony at which honors or rank are conferred on an authority. Delegates from other academic institutions marched in the inaugural procession with Cal State L.A.’s own esteemed faculty, dressed in full regalia. The ceremony was comprised of a formal induction and an address by Covino.
In his remarks he spoke of his Italian heritage and his grandfather’s love of the mandolin which he played at all family events, giving him a good example of “Engagement” along with heated family discussions. He said “By engagement, I mean the active, generous, and often lively interaction with others.
Representing the more “cooperative” aspect of cooperative competition is my mother’s side of the family. The Tartaglias were made up of a host of musicians, many of them playing guitar or mandolin. While there was also plenty of hands-flying and high-decibel talking at family events, they also spoke to one another through their music. Through such a dynamic dialogue, we refine and perfect our own ideas and perspectives. We become—in the best of worlds—more sensitive to opposing views and more inclusive of multiple perspectives.”
“This is what a Cal State L.A. experience is and should be: suffused with engagement that begins in classrooms alive with dialogue among students and professors who address questions that can’t be reduced to a simple answer. Put another way, Cal State L.A. should be a prominent site for cooperative competition. Cooperation, by itself, can lead to acquiescence and conformity—the tendency to accept the views or requirements of others without question. Competition, by itself, promotes an individualism that can lead to injury to others. In such cases, competition becomes a fundamental element of conflict.
Cooperative competition, however, requires us to maintain and voice our own perspective (that’s the competitive dimension, “here’s what I think”), while also searching for common ground (that’s the cooperative dimension, “what goals or values can we all agree on?”). The dynamic energy of cooperative competition should fill our classrooms, fuel our partnerships, and drive our scholarship,” he said during the ceremony.
Covino wants this spirit to prevail throughout the university, within the local communities, across the city and county of Los Angeles, and well into the regions beyond. In these places, with a population that represents some of the richest ethnic and cultural diversity in the world, every conceivable challenge—and opportunity—arises, making our unique milieu a living lab for bringing distinctive voices together in the service of innovation and transformation, he said.
Covino grew up in the San Fernando Valley after his family moved from Connecticut. He graduated from Reseda High School and was the first in his working-class family to attend college, earning a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA, master’s degrees from Cal State Northridge and the University of Southern California and a doctorate in English from USC. He credits his Italian heritage as the genesis of his ambitious leadership strategies being implemented at Cal State Los Angeles.
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