When I walk past the 172 editor portraits of La Verne Magazine, Campus Times and Lambda editors that line the walls leading to the newsroom in the University of La Verne’s Arts and Communications Building, I reflect on the faces of these student leaders and the remarkable 50-year legacy they have left in the Communications Department. More than half of those portraits are of La Verne Magazine editors-in-chief, starting with my father, George Keeler, Ph.D., the first editor-in-chief of the magazi...

by Rebecca Keeler
photography by Jesse Juarez
Stage lights reflect off the wooden cellos. Bows glide smoothly across instrument strings—hesitant at first, then bold. Notes rise in harmony and fill the recital hall with the rich sound of music. At the Claremont Community School of Music, the musical art is practiced, polished and performed. The lessons and student recitals bridge ages and backgrounds; confidence, passion and skill flourishes with every note.
What began as a few lessons taught by...

by Rebecca Keeler
photography by Vicente Rodriguez
For one day, they are 8 years old again. Their memories are clear. They remember precisely the words and melodies of camp songs sung around the camp fire some 80 plus years ago. Their camp stories are fresh again too. They are at Camp La Verne for its centennial celebration. And no matter their age, all who are part of the Camp La Verne experience know that being back at camp is like being in a time machine, transporting you back to your youth....

by Rebecca Keeler
photography by Kim Toth and Amanda Torres
If you ask Pardis Mahdavi what she likes to do best, she will paint a picture with words describing riding her horse named Caspian in a snowy field in Montana, but, then with a slight smile, she will add that her new passion is serving as the 19th president of the University of La Verne. As a highly accomplished higher education leader, academic, author and activist, Mahdavi has been able to weave her life around each endeavor and achie...

This is the second story in a new series exploring the sights, tastes and culture of stops along the newly extended L.A. Metro A Line.
Rebecca Keeler
Special to the Campus Times
When departing from the La Verne station, a 25-minute train excursion brings the rider to the small, vibrant community of Monrovia. The station, located on South Primrose Avenue, is in the center of an industrial area, and a 20-minute walk from Old Town Monrovia. 
A new public transit rail line system that launches from...

Rebecca Keeler
Staff Writer 
A fun-filled, sometimes classical, sometimes Irish pub style hand-clapping evening of Irish cultural music and dance captivated a near capacity audience on Sunday at the “Spirit of Ireland” themed concert in the University of La Verne’s Morgan Auditorium.  
The performance, led by Michael Ryan, songwriter and professor of music at ULV, featured a troupe of eight musicians and four dancers. Ryan, as the lead vocal and guitar player and show organizer, performed severa...

Rebecca Keeler
Staff Writer
Dr. Felicia Beardsley, professor of anthropology and director of the Cultural and Natural History Collections at the University of La Verne, died unexpectedly Feb. 28.
On the ULV campus, she was a popular professor who taught a wide range of courses in archaeology, anthropology and forensics. To the University of La Verne community, she was a respected educator and much more. 
“To Pacific Islanders, I am the woman who knows how to ‘see,’ uses a machete like a man, and...

Rebecca Keeler
Staff Writer 
Sophie Rae, singer, songwriter and music teacher, wowed her audience with her vocal talent Feb. 17 at Nambah Coffee, located in the heart of Old Town La Verne. 
The performance was a part of Nambah Coffee’s Friday live music and entertainment series, which began in December 2022.  
Rae discovered her passion for singing when she was a senior in high school and chose to pursue music as a career while attending Citrus College in Glendora before transferring to Cal Poly...