Honoring Ludim Seja De Manzano

By Jerry De Felice

CSUN’s education community lost a guiding light with the untimely passing of one of its brightest stars, Ludim Seja De Manzano. The former director of Student Outreach and Recruitment Services passed away on Sept. 6, 2003, after a long battle with cancer. Ludim was known throughout the San Fernando Valley as a woman passionately committed to providing access opportunities for countless families. She positively affected thousands of young people's lives for more than two decades of her career.

She received her undergraduate degrees in English and Spanish and a master’s in educational administration from CSUN, the university where she would eventually become one of the most respected and valued administrators. As the director of Student Outreach and Recruitment Services, a department she helped build, Ludim was an inspiration to hundreds of college-bound students and their families.

Ludim understood the value of higher education for underserved and underrepresented families, and saw the benefit of early outreach. She quickly became an advocate, working with younger children to increase their awareness of college and inspiring them to strive for higher education.

In honor of Ludim Seja de Manzano, the Division of Student Affairs is proud to announce the Ludim Seja De Manzano Scholarship Endowment.

We would like to personally thank Raquel and Ralph Baca, close friends of Ludim, and Florentino Manzano for hosting an event to honor Ludim. They opened their hearts and home on Ludim’s birthday, Dec. 23, 2006, and Ludim's family and friends raised the required amount to establish an endowment that will continue to honor her. Their generous contributions will allow us to continue Ludim's legacy by awarding scholarships to CSUN students.

Donate online

Donating online is an easy, convenient and secure way to make a contribution to CSUN. Go to the online giving form, submit your information and pay with a credit card. Select the “Will my employer match my gift?” link to see if your company has a matching gift program. Once you submit your gift online, the CSUN Foundation will charge your credit card and send you a receipt.

Donate by check or money order

If you wish to donate by check or money order, simply indicate the name of the fund you’d like to contribute to in the memo section, and make the check or money order payable to CSUN Foundation. You may mail the donation to:

California State University, Northridge – Student Affairs
Attn: Jerry De Felice
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8239

Donate by payroll deduction

If you are a CSUN employee, you may donate through payroll deduction. Fill out the Faculty/Staff Payroll Deduction Authorization form and submit it to the CSUN Foundation, mail drop 8296. For more information, contact the Foundation at (818) 677-4657.

For more information about contributing to the university, please contact Jerry De Felice, Student Affairs Development Officer, at jd@csun.edu or (818) 677-3935. Thank you in advance for your generosity.