Have you ever been to a university campus in the summertime? A picturesque, beach-adjacent California town in the middle of the summer should be bustling, but across this 1,000-ish acre patch of San Luis Obispo, there’s a distinct quiet. It’s easy to think that nothing much is going on.

You might even wonder how we could put this fall issue together during those quiet summer months.

But just look a little closer. Even with the majority of students gone, learning is happening — in classes still in session for summer quarter, in quietly humming labs, in entrepreneurial spaces downtown, and at remote internships and research sites across the state and around the world.

Seasons come and go, but Learn by Doing is year-round. Of course, as the editor of a university magazine, it’s always more exciting (and easier to set up interviews) when the students flood back en masse, which brings me to one last point.

Starting with this issue, we’re distributing Cal Poly Magazine more aggressively on campus. So if you’re a student or university employee who just found this at the University Union and are reading the magazine for the first time, welcome! This magazine is for you as much as it is for alumni. I hope you learn something new and interesting about another part of the Cal Poly community. Please share this with your friends, send a copy to your mom, and contact us if you have a story you want to tell!

Sincerely,

Larry Peña
lpenaiii@calpoly.edu