California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI, known informally as CI) is a four-year public university located in Camarillo, California, in Ventura County. CSUCI opened in 2002 as the 23rd campus in the California State University system, succeeding the Ventura County branch campus of CSU Northridge. The campus had formerly been the Camarillo State Mental Hospital and has been the setting for various movies and music videos. CSUCI is located midway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles in Camarillo, California, just north of the Santa Monica Mountain range. The campus is situated in a thriving economic region that is home to major industrial and biotechnology firms, agricultural operations, as well as several non-profit agencies and organizations. Despite its name, the campus is not located on the Channel Islands. The first buildings of the campus were built in 1934 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression, a public works project to house the Camarillo State Mental Hospital and provide for welfare. The hospital operated from 1936–1997, more than six decades. Planning for the University began in 1965, when State Senator Robert J.