Humanities and Communication
Chris Rankin '11: Political Organizer
Chris Rankin graduated in 2011 with a concentration in Pre-Law. After HCOM, Chris pursued a Master’s degree in Public Policy/Public Affairs from the University of San Francisco and is currently a political consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in grassroots organizing for electoral campaigns. As Chris writes, "I knew even before I received my acceptance letter from CSUMB that if I were lucky enough to gain admittance to the university I would be majoring in HCOM; there were plenty of other great majors, but none called out to me as strongly as HCOM. There is no one adjective that can be used to describe what HCOM is and what the HCOM degree entails, and therein lays the beauty of this program. Its magnificent shape shifting qualities make HCOM transcend most traditional communications degrees that universities offer and allows students to craft a completely unique educational experience. As wonderful as my graduate education was, I found myself consistently longing for my HCOM professors and their demand for creative expression. Now as a professional, I draw on the lessons I learned as a HCOM student even more than those in my graduate program. I can say with absolute certainty that HCOM is the greatest driving force behind my success as a political organizer."
