CSUS President Gonzalez re; Statewide Demonstrations

To All Faculty, Staff and Students:

I have returned from meeting with the Chancellor and my fellow campus presidents in Long Beach and want to update everyone on yesterday’s demonstration and sit-in in Sacramento Hall.

The reports I’ve received indicate that everyone was peaceful, and no problems were caused. I appreciate the students and faculty organizers who worked to assure peaceful proceedings throughout the day.

Yesterday, Provost Joseph Sheley and Vice President for Administration and Business Affairs Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee spoke with students and answered their questions.

I also met with students this morning at their request to listen to their concerns and answer any questions I could. They presented me with a list of demands, and we will post those online in cooperation with the student organizers.

As for my meeting in Long Beach, part of the discussion focused on the realities of an all-cuts budget. Without additional revenue from the state, the California State University could face a reduction of $1 billion.

This would be devastating for a state that once had a public higher education system that was the envy of the world. I pledge to continue working to avoid this scenario, and I ask that we all work together to send this message to our elected leaders and the people of California.

As it stands now, we continue to prepare for a $500 million reduction – and the plan is to accomplish that without additional increases in tuition fees or drastic cuts in enrollment. A cut of $1 billion would call into question the very survival of the CSU and seriously jeopardize the access and quality we have been able to maintain for our students.

I will continue to send regular budget updates to the campus, and I thank everyone for their work on behalf of our students.

Sincerely,

Alexander Gonzalez
President

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