UCLA Student Affairs

The Association for Student Judicial Affairs (ASJA) is the primary association in higher education for student affairs professionals responsible for student conduct administration and conflict resolution. ASJA recently celebrated its 20th anniversary at its annual conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida, and the spotlight was on a special honoree.

Raymond Goldstone, UCLA’s Dean of Students Emeritus, was one of a small group who met in 1987 to discuss the creation of a professional organization to serve the needs of judicial officers. It was agreed by these founding members to create ASJA, and it was Dean Goldstone who opened his personal checkbook and provided the “seed” money needed to assist the initial organizing efforts. He recalls, “In those days, before the widespread use of email, if we wanted anyone to know about our organization, we actually had to send them a letter, which meant stationary, stamps, office supplies. There was no way around it.”

In November 2007, Goldstone received an invitation from the ASJA Board of Directors to attend the upcoming conference as their special guest. Goldstone recalls that he was “surprised and honored by the invitation.”

But the real surprises were saved for the conference. At a special “Charter Members only” reception, ASJA President Bill Fischer stood and told the group that he had a special announcement. Goldstone was the only person in the room who didn’t know what was coming. Fischer then announced that the Board of Directors had established the Raymond H. Goldstone ASJA Foundation. Its purposes are “to support and enhance ASJA’s educational, scholarship, and leadership initiatives.”

Next, during an open business meeting on the following day, over 800 attendees heard the reading of a resolution recognizing Goldstone’s record of outstanding contributions to the Association, and the announcement that the Board of Directors had conferred upon him the status of honorary membership in the Association– only the sixth time in ASJA’s history that such an honor has been conferred.

Selected observations from colleagues who were involved in these acts of recognition include: “You continued to give of your time and talents, and our Association is better because of that contribution”; “I’m glad to be reminded of the colleagues and friends that make ASJA more than just a professional organization”; and finally, “Your act of faith… on that very first day of the organization has become lore in its history.”