Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez and representatives of the campus community came together at a historic meeting to organize campus stakeholders to fight Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts to the California State University system.

The Budget Fight Back meeting was one of six meetings held at CSU campuses across the state last week by the Alliance for the CSU to oppose the proposed budget cuts.

Click here to hear what students and professors had to say after leaving the meeting.

Alliance for the CSU members speaking at the meeting included representatives of the CSU Board of Trustees, Associated Students Inc., the California Faculty Association, the California State University Employees Union, the State Employees Trade Council, the Union of American Physicians and Dentists and the Sac State Alumni Association.

Approximately 1,200 students, faculty, staff and community members attended the meeting held in the University Theater and four overflow rooms in Douglas, Lassen, Mariposa and Sequoia halls. Audience members in the overflow rooms watched the meeting through live video feeds.

This is the first time that the all of the stakeholders in the university have put aside their differences to speak with one voice, Gonzalez said.

“We are not just going to sit back and accept these budget cuts,” he said.

CFA Sac State Chapter President Lila Jacobs asked audience members to talk to neighbors, friends, coworkers and family members about the CSU budget situation and encourage them to write letters to legislators and editors of their local newspapers in opposition to the state budget proposals.

“We need a broad-based mobilization to let elected officials know we will not stand by and let these cuts happen,” she said.

Jacobs suggested that audience members wear “The CSU is the Solution” buttons handed out at the meeting when they go out in public as a way to start conversations about the budget.

Angelica Ignacio, junior nursing major, said she planned to do exactly as Jacobs suggested.

“If everyone who was at the meeting talked to two people about the budget and got them to write letters to their legislators, a lot of legislators would get the message,” Ignacio said.

Gonzalez, CSU Board of Trustees Student Trustee and ASI Vice President of Academic Affairs Curtis Grima and ASI President Christina Romero stressed that the proposed budget cuts would limit student access to the university.

“It is a critical time for all of us to work together to make sure students have access to higher education in California, especially at Sac State,” Romero said in a pre-recorded video message played at the meeting.

The proposed budget cuts could mean that 10,000 qualified students will not be able to attend a CSU campus, according to a press release handed out at the meeting titled “Budget Forum Fact Sheet.”

“Limiting access to the university will affect the quality of education,” Grima said. “Students in the CSU system must play a vital role in the fight.”

Sac State’s enrollment target for the 2008-09 school year is the same as that for the 2007-08 school year. If the proposed cuts become part of the state’s final budget, the university will be expected to serve the same number of students as the previous year with approximately $15 million less money, according to the “Budget Forum Fact Sheet.”

This has Cecil Canton, criminal justice professor and former CFA president, worried about what will happen to the quality of education at Sac State.

Canton foresees overcrowded classes and an increased workload for faculty that will diminish the quality of instruction.

“This will lower the value of a degree from the CSU,” Canton said. “That won’t help the quality of the state’s workforce.”

CSU Board of Trustees member Robert Linscheid told the crowd that the CSU system is important to California’s workforce.

“We provide the workforce for the state,” Linscheid said.

Sac State and the CSU system educate the majority of the Sacramento region’s teachers, nurses, social workers and criminal justice professionals, according to the “Budget Forum Fact Sheet.”

Sac State Alumni Association President Sam Starks, who works for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, said the utility hires a large number of Sac State graduates to fill its positions.

“No university, no SMUD,” Starks said.

Linscheid said the CSU Board of Trustees and the Chancellor’s Office are working with the CSU system’s alumni associations to get its more than 2 million members to join the fight against the proposed budget cuts.

“If we can get our message out to the public, they will realize the severity of the budget cuts and the disaster the cuts will be for the university system, and get the word out to their legislators,” Linscheid said.

Maribel Rosendo-Servin, senior sociology major, is afraid that the proposed budget cuts will affect the outreach programs for underrepresented students that she has taken part in, making the university less accessible to underrepresented student groups.

Tony Gabrielson, junior theatre major, said he is worried that the Theatre and Dance Department will not be able to stage large productions like its current “42nd Street.”

“The theatre department gets more and more money taken away each semester,” Gabrielson said. “If we lose any more money, we won’t be able to afford elaborate sets and costumes for large productions.”

Romero encouraged students and community members to take part in the “Day of Action” march at the state Capitol on April 21. The march is organized by the California State Student Association.

Caitlin Baiko, senior theatre major, said she is planning on taking part in the April 21 march on the Capitol and writing letters to the legislature.

Baiko said she came to Sac State because of the CSU system’s reputation for providing high-quality education. She is worried that the proposed budget cuts will affect the university’s ability to provide that education to students.

Campuses holding Budget Fight Back meetings last week included San Francisco State, San Diego State, Sonoma State, Stanislaus State and the California Maritime Academy. Nine more Budget Fight Back meetings are scheduled to take place on CSU campuses throughout March and April.

Todd Wilson can be reached at [email protected].