Long Beach State Sports : Re: More Info

As you said, some good and some ???! Since he has been in the CSU system before, he must know something about D1 sports, since a good portion of the CSU system has D1 sports and teams. Time will tell! I had really hoped that we could have kept Andrew Jones as a full-time president since he has specific knowledge of Long Beac State. He has said since he got here that there was no chance that would happen!!!

Previous Message

https://www.csulb.edu/news/article/loren-j-blanchard-to-serve-as-president-of-cal-state-long-beach

Of Note
"He previously served six years as the CSU’s executive vice chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, where he led the development of Graduation Initiative 2025, the CSU’s 10-year student success effort that resulted in improved educational outcomes across the system."

A bit of a familiarity hire, which can be good bad or neutral. Who knows.

Univ Houston Downtown only has club sports from what I can tell. All this means to me is that he doesn't have recent experience with a university with DI athletics programs. I bet he's very aware of the challenges though.

Previous Message

Loren Blanchard. Here is the text of the email I got.

Dear Beach Community:

The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees has appointed Loren J. Blanchard as the next president of Cal State Long Beach. He will assume the presidency on May 1.

Blanchard currently serves as president of the University of Houston-Downtown.

“I am deeply honored and profoundly humbled to be named Cal State Long Beach’s next president,” Blanchard said.

Loren J. Blanchard
“CSULB is renowned for being a student-centered university that fosters a culture of holistic support, community engagement and inclusive excellence. I look forward to joining the Beach community in the transformational work it does every day to turn dreams into reality for thousands of diverse and talented students.”

Blanchard succeeds Andrew Jones ‘82, who has served as acting president since August 2025 following the retirement of Jane Close Conoley.