In this week's video update, President Ortiz encourages the campus community to cheer on the women's basketball team, talks about faculty honored with the Provost's Awards for Excellence, and highlights the upcoming PolyTeach conference.

The women's basketball team plays Montana State-Billings at Kellogg Gym tonight. The winner becomes the West Region champion and earns a spot in the Elite Eight. President Ortiz congratulated the men's team on a great season after the team lost in overtime to CSU Stanislaus.

Last week, the university honored Laurie Starkey, Ernie Simpson and Vilupanur Ravi at the Provost's Award of Excellence symposium for their efforts in teaching, service, and scholarly and creative activities. The university also unveiled a wall in the University Library that honors recipients of the Outstanding Teacher Award from 1964 to 1996 and the Provost's Award from 2011 to 2013.

The PolyTeach conference on April 4 will feature one of the nation's leading experts in classroom technology. Robbie Melton helped research and develop best practices for using mobile devices and apps in teaching and learning for Tennessee's public universities and colleges, and she will share her thoughts with the Cal Poly Pomona community.

One of Cal Poly Pomona's distinguishing features is its diversity. President Ortiz recognized the 2014 Diversity Champions who were honored at the Unity Luncheon on Feb. 25, and encouraged the campus community to participate in the Safe Zone Ally Training on March 20 to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

To read the entire video message, download a PDF of the transcript.