Roberto Pomo, professor of theatre and film studies, won the John C. Livingston Award this year and gave the annual lecture Tuesday at the Alumni Center.

Livingston was a goverment professor for over 20 years before he died in 1981. The Distinguished Faculty Convocation Address was renamed five years in his name.

Pomo was introduced to the podium by last year’s recipient, Jackie Donath, professor of humanities and religious studies, and delivered his hour-long lecture, titled “In the Eye of the Storm: Preparing for California’s Higher Education Restructuring Paradigms.” The lecture focused on today’s problems and tomorrow’s solutions in regards to Sacramento State and other higher education institutions.

Nearly 150 people attended, including President Alexander Gonzalez, who presented Pomo with a check at the end of the lecture.

“I thought Dr. Pomo’s lecture not only was timely but I think provocative too,” Gonzalez said. “It’s really making the political future of what can happen to Sacramento State but to higher education generally. Are we really prepared to face the future and do the things that we think we’re going to need to do in order to meet that future head on, and serve you as students?”

Pomo discussed three specific areas that need improvement at Sac State.

“Number one, a concerted effort to nurture our students, faculty and staff as we continue to expand our academic resources. Number two, a swift restructuring of our general education academic infrastructure and number three, changing the paradigm of teaching while continuing to engage our students in a concerted process of discovery by combining innovative pedagogical tools,” Pomo said.

The importance of living up to the mission statement of the California State University was emphasized by Pomo as well as the idea that learning is a lifelong process.

Pomo said that involvement on campus and in the community raises personal self-awareness so that students come to the “realization that they are also able to change the society.”

Pomo advocated for hands-on learning outside of the traditional classroom environment and condemned the kind of passive learning that occurs in large lecture halls. If learning needs to take place in classrooms, Pomo said, classrooms should be equipped with modern technology.

“The inability to master technology, no matter how old we are, will mean that our students will be unable to connect with us both on the intellectual and personal level,” Pomo said.

Among the handful of students present, Natalie Gray, freshman psychology major, agreed with Pomo’s efforts to advance technological influence in the classroom.

“I agreed a lot with (Pomo’s ideas) of technology included in our teaching and how he talked about learning being a lifelong process. For me, that was really important because I completely agree with that. You never are really done learning and even after you educate others, you’re still learning too,” Gray said. “He had a lot of great ideas for improvement.”

Gonzalez feels like Pomo’s initiatives for improving the higher education system will be considered and eventually implemented.

“The discussion about general education is going on. I think the use of technology is already occurring. I think the overall admonition that we need to be faithful to the mission of the CSU, I think was an important point that he’s reminding us of and it’s really good,” Gonzalez said.

Duane Campbell, professor of bilingual/multicultural education also enjoyed the lecture. Having known John C. Livingston himself, Campbell is pleased that so many different topics have been presented, as part of the award, throughout the years.

“There’s so much in Livingston’s time here that a variety of speakers over the years have emphasized,” Campbell said. “It’s good that the university can get together and talk about issues like this.”

Pomo’s lecture ended with standing applause, followed by a reception for those present.

Inna Gritsak can be reached at [email protected].