College of Southern Nevada

Dear CSN Family,

Today we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day to honor Native Americans for their resilience and contributions to American history. It is more important than ever to honor the proud Native culture and to affirm the legacy of our Native communities, especially in Nevada with so many great tribal communities. Today we celebrate the many tribes and Indigenous People Organizations like the Yomba Shoshone, Walker River Paiute, Shoshone-Paiute, Moapa Band of Paiute, Duckwater Shoshone, Confederate Tribes of Goshute Indian Reservation, Fallon Paiute Shosone, Las Vegas Indian Center, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians, and Washoe Tribes.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day was first conceptualized by the United Nations in the late 1970s. Since then, many states have established observances and celebrations to honor Native Peoples’ and in 2021 and again this year, President Joe Biden issued presidential proclamations of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. I encourage each of us to reflect, recognize and celebrate the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to our CSN community and beyond.

Federico

Dear CSN Family,

Today, we remember the victims of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and we honor the courage of the service members and first responders who risked their lives to protect our freedom.

Dedication to the safety, security and well-being of others is a cause we know very well here at CSN. As I have mentioned before, the work we do can be difficult, but we choose to do it because it benefits our students and the wider world around us all.

Today, now known as Patriot Day — a National Day of Service and Remembrance, I encourage you to take a moment to remember the lives we lost and turn once again to one another to renew our commitment to enabling our students and communities to achieve succeed and prosper. 

Stay safe and God bless.

Federico

Dear CSN Family,

The Labor Day holiday on Monday will honor and recognize the American Labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the American way of life.

This Labor Day is of special significance to CSN because we have just wrapped up negotiations for a second collective bargaining agreement with the Nevada Faculty Alliance. I encourage us to reflect on the words of Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. “For me, the labor movement and public education are linked as the essential building blocks to a strong middle class and a path to the American Dream.”

As I mentioned at convocation, our work is not always easy, but it is always rewarding when our students succeed. Please accept my sincere appreciation for the hard work you do, day in and day out. Your individual commitments to CSN students and to each other make CSN the beacon of hope and Segway to the Middle Class and the American Dream for so many in our diverse communities.

Thank you for your continued hard work and for making a difference.

God Bless, stay safe, and enjoy your Labor Day holiday

Dear CSN Family,

Please join me in celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride Month during the month of June. This is a time to honor the legacy and annual observance of the Stonewall uprising on June 28, 1969. This month, our nation will again commemorate this decisive moment in the modern movement for LGBTQIA+ equality on a federal level.

LGBTQIA+ individuals have seen progress in the pursuit of social justice, but this community continues to face discrimination at alarming rates. Pride Month is an acknowledgement of the hard-fought battles for equality, a celebration of visibility and self-worth and call to action to end hatred towards the LGBTQIA+ community.

I am proud to support all the expressions of LGBTQIA+ Pride during the month of June and beyond because, our greatest strength lies in our ability to celebrate the beautiful diversity of our CSN family.

Federico

Dear CSN Family,

On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, the Office of the Governor issued this memorandum updating COVID-19 weekly testing for current unvaccinated state and NSHE employees that ends the testing program effective Friday, March 25, 2022. As you know, weekly COVID-19 testing has been a requirement for unvaccinated employees who had medical or religious waivers.

As the Office of the Governor has indicated and Chancellor Dr. Melody Rose notes in her memo, the discontinuation of the testing program is due to improvements in Nevada regarding COVID-19 infection rates.

We encourage our CSN family to continue to be diligent and to follow all COVID-19 health and safety protocols and best practices so we can continue to support the safety of our campuses and improvements in our COVID-19 trends. Please continue to report exposures, pending or positive COVID-19 results through our Wellness@csn.edu for case management, support and services. 

Thank you.

Dr. Federico Zaragoza

President

College of Southern Nevada

CSN Family,

On this International Women’s Day, I invite you to please join me in celebrating women, and the entire Women’s History Month during the month of March. This month is dedicated to celebrating contributions of women throughout the course of history.

Having grown up in a household headed by a single mom and two sisters, I can affirm to the courage, strength, talent, and dedication that women possess, as well as their tireless efforts to overcome gender biases inherent in society. This month we celebrate women who have advocated tirelessly to achieve gender parity by championing important issues such as equal pay, voting rights, reproductive rights and access to education.

At CSN, we proudly join the National Women’s Alliance in promoting this year’s theme “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” This year, we honor the work of caregivers and frontline health care providers nurturing our communities during the pandemic and reflect on the generations of women who have provided healing and hope throughout history.

Our values as an institution are deeply rooted in the contributions, achievements, leadership, and strength of the women who help make CSN the family that it is.

We will be hosting several events and opportunities to celebrate the many contributions women have made to shape this country. This will also be an opportunity to recognize, thank, and witness the current and past work of our CSN women colleagues in a variety of fields. I encourage you to join us on as many Women’s History Events as possible.

Federico

Dear CSN Family,

Today, Governor Sisolak announced that effective immediately the use of face coverings in public spaces will no longer be required. Following Governor Sisolak’s directive, NSHE employees, students, and members of the public are no longer required to wear face coverings while inside NSHE buildings irrespective of the COVID-19 vaccination status, effective immediately. This includes classrooms and workspaces.

As noted in the memorandum issued by NSHE, individual NSHE institutions do not currently retain the authority to unilaterally impose more stringent face covering requirements beyond Nevada law.

While we encourage the use of face coverings on campus, we respect personal choice on the decision to use them. Please avoid stigmatizing any individual based on their personal decision to wear a mask.

We will remain diligent in our COVID-19 efforts and ask the CSN community to continue to report cases, close contacts, and pending COVID-19 test results or symptoms to Wellness@csn.edu.

The best way to protect yourself and others is to get vaccinated and boosted if you are eligible. CSN continues to work with our Southern Nevada Health District partners to offer free COVID-19 testing and vaccinations at each of our three campuses. You can schedule an appointment for testing here or vaccination here.

We recognize that this news may be difficult for some in our community. Please reach out through your leadership structures for additional support.

Stay safe and God bless.

Federico