Back to Campus
I took a trip back to my past this Friday when I returned to my university alma mater for the first time in years.
I had to go to the library at California State University, Fresno (which we locals call “Fresno State”) to conduct research for a report I’m doing for the Madera County Historical Society and for the North Fork History Group.
And because I loved attending — and graduating from — Fresno State — and always enjoyed being on campus in those long-ago days — I decided to make this particular Friday visit a long one, involving not just the library but lunch on campus and a walk-around.
Yes, it was a chance to go into a time machine. Mine.
As I drove out of our Tesoro Viejo home in Madera County for the 25-minute trek to campus, I decided to really get “into the mood.” So I touch-dialed the “60’s Gold” channel on Sirius — and was immediately transported back to the time of the Beatles, the Supremes, even Herman’s Hermits. Man, I was rockin’. I knew all the bands. All the songs. All the lyrics.
And why not? They had been the soundtrack of my teen years when I was at Hamilton Junior High, Fresno High and then at Fresno State, where I became a freshman in 1968. And I’m sure it was no coincidence that the 60’s Gold channel on Sirius is number 73 — which happens to be how young I am. At least, I felt young as I was driving.
Once I arrived on campus and paid for my one-day parking pass (it was $5. Back when I was a student, an entire semester’s parking pass cost about $20) —
I headed to the library. It’s much bigger now than when I was there and has an impressive semi-circular tower out front. Inside, it has more than one million books and is said to be one of the biggest libraries in the entire California state system.
I headed to the Special Collections Research Center on the fourth floor, where I had arranged to see five boxes of documents, letters, notebooks and priceless black-and-white photos — about 5,000 pages of material. I won’t elaborate on what I was looking for — except to say I enjoyed the search.
I spent about three hours in the library, finding what I needed, making copies, and glancing briefly at some of the rest of the material. Then it was lunchtime. As I said, I had planned to make it a full day on campus and, by extension, make it a day of memories. 
So I had lunch at the nearby student union, which had just been built when I arrived in ’68. It’s still thriving. You have to go downstairs to the outdoor patio and then walk inside to the restaurant. There were more food choices on Friday than when I was a student — Taco Bell, Subway or Panda Express. I chose Panda.
Then I took it and my diet Pepsi (when I was a student, it would have been the “full” Pepsi) outside and sat under an umbrella in that very same patio my broadcast journalism buddies and I used to frequent almost every Friday afternoon in the spring and fall. We’d sit back, think big and talk big, and enjoy life. What we did not know — could not know — is that it would be the very best time of our lives. How could it not be? We were carefree. No responsibilities except to go to class. If we had part-time jobs — and I did, as a floor director and film editor at Channel 30 downtown — they were just that. Part-time. Fun and games while we attended classes.
Yes, I remembered all that this past Friday as I sat in the same spot we used to inhabit more than 50 years ago. Oh, those glorious, warm afternoons back then. Oh, the glorious and warm afternoon on Friday.
After lunch — and before getting back to the business of research at the library — I walked around campus. Fresno State has always been considered one of the prettiest campuses in the state system. Plenty of trees and grass — and, yes, a fountain in the middle. New buildings have gone up, of course — but the old ones — the ones where I spent so much time as both a student and, later, a teacher — are still there.
Also still there is the Collegian building. The Daily Collegian was founded more than 100 years ago. If you had anything to do with journalism as a student — you worked on that paper. I was a Collegian sportswriter (at the same time I was the football, baseball and basketball play-by-play guy for KFSR, our campus radio station). Sharon also wrote for it. And 35 years later, our son, Bradley, became the Collegian’s managing editor and, later, when he taught at Fresno State, the paper’s faculty advisor. Yes, the Hart family has deep — very deep — ties to the paper.
Unfortunately, the Collegian has just printed its last weekly edition (yes, it was reduced to once-a-week status). 
As with virtually every other newspaper in this nation, the Collegian suffered from reduced readership caused by the Internet. And that, of course, led to reduced advertising. I was saddened to hear about all this — and saddened to pick up two copies of the last weekly print edition. Bradley’s coming to visit us next month. One copy is for him.
I walked through the Speech Arts Building, which used to house KFSR Radio when I was a DJ there (yes, I started as a disc jockey, moved up to play-by-play sports, and went on to become the station’s news director. All for free. All for fun). There was no sign above the door that had led to our studio. Maybe they’ve moved it.
I walked some more, and then headed back to the library to wrap up that day’s research. And when it was time to go home, I hated to leave. I had spent so many hours in that building as an undergrad, researching term papers, reading all the daily papers that came in — just generally having a ball. I used to get up early Saturday mornings so I could get there to study. Yes, I loved being at Fresno State “back in the day” — and, it turns out, I still do.
So I guess I’ll have to make another trip to that library collections center. Only this time, when I drive to campus, I think I’ll touch-dial the Sirius ’70’s music channel. After all, I graduated from Fresno State in ’72, and got my M.A. there in ’77. And, yes, ’70’s music was the soundtrack of my life, as well.
And, of course, my next trip to campus also means another lunch in the student union. Taco Bell this time, maybe — and more memories. Definitely more memories.