Philanthropists and CSUN alumni Ronni and Shepard Goodman, along with their $10 million gift to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (CSBS), will be honored in the official renaming of Maple Hall later this spring semester.
The CSU Board of Trustees unanimously approved CSUN’s request to rename Maple Hall to Ronni and Shepard Goodman Hall on Nov. 19, after the passing of Ronni Goodman this past June.
“My beloved Ronni’s legacy is one of love, service, generosity and promise. We have long believed in education’s power to transform lives, particularly for first-generation students like we were. In tribute to her life and legacy, I am honored to continue championing the causes most important to her and to us, ensuring that CSUN’s students will be able to achieve their academic dreams for generations to come,” said Goodman, according to the CSUN Newsroom.
The $10 million gift sets a record for the CSBS, being the largest gift in the college’s history. This gift will allow new opportunities for the students enrolled in the college, such as new technologies, scholarships and active learning.
“Usually when a hall is named after someone, they have something to do with the study or major that hall is for,” CSUN student Amin Malekpour said, expressing his understanding of the name change.
However, with the name change also comes concerns over finding the building.
“I think it’ll create more confusion,” student Caprice Gonzalez said. “I had to search it up on Google Maps.”
The building, still currently Maple Hall, opened in March 2024, marking CSUN’s first new academic building since 2009. It holds many rooms for the CSBS, sitting between Etiwanda Avenue and Manzanita Hall.
”It’s a big deal,” Dean of the CSBS Yan Dominic Searcy said. “I am excited about the commitment to not only CSUN but the commitment to CSBS in particular, and the work that places students at the center in this college. This gift represents a commitment to social values and to people. It reflects trust in the relationship between the Goodmans and CSBS as we pursue shared values.”
The couple met while attending CSUN, which was then known as San Fernando Valley State College. Shepard Goodman earned his degree in business administration in 1964, and the couple married that same year. Ronni Goodman later earned her degree in history in 1966.
The renaming to Ronni and Shepard Goodman Hall will allow their legacies and long-lasting partnership with CSUN to continue.
