Sacramento State President Luke Wood addressed the challenges facing the campus, and the road ahead at the Aug. 22 annual fall address.
Wood’s opening remarks focused on the major challenges Sac State faced over the past year, a chief concern being that the campus is caught in a financial crisis. According to Wood, Sac State divisions saw a $9.7 million budget reduction last year, followed by a $15.5 million reduction this year.
Wood said Sac State “must avoid some of the drastic measures that our sister campuses have taken. You cannot cut your way to success.”
President Wood and Sac State administrators proposed increased student fees at listening sessions between Aug. 12-15 to address the budget shortfalls and improve services that are struggling to meet student needs. Many students have already criticized the fees, but a final feedback event will be held at the University Union, Pacific Suite, 9:00 A.M. on Sept. 5, 2024.
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Wood also acknowledged CapRadio’s’s mismanagement of funds and the resulting scandal. A forensic examination of CapRadio released earlier this month revealed the extent of the significant financial discrepancies discovered after a 2022 audit.
“The biggest areas of smoke were around the previous general manager,” Wood said. “Where there was smoke, there was fire.”
Wood said Sac State took control of CapRadio after the audit, installing a new board of directors. A law enforcement investigation against the former general manager is ongoing, and a pending federal audit is expected to be “seismically” worse. Long-term debt for CapRadio ranges between $35-$42 million dollars over the next 15 years.
“We can say something today that we couldn’t say six months ago; CapRadio is here to stay,” Wood said.
California State University’s revised Time, Place, and Manner policy, which regulates student demonstrations on campus property, was also discussed. The policy now includes a ban on all forms of encampments, and bars overnight stays on campus property that are not related to official campus activity.
A pro-Palestine encampment formed at the Library Quad toward the end of the spring 2024 semester to protest the war in Gaza. Wood explained that while this encampment ultimately disbanded peacefully, other protests in the CSU system resulted in arrests, property damage, and injuries to students.
“Despite some of the things I opened up with, there’s a lot more positive things happening,” Wood said. “Sacramento State is on the rise.”
Wood announced new facilities and initiatives, including a Basic Needs Center. The center will feature a secondary food pantry, clothing closet, CalFresh support, and support for emergency housing and counseling. A new art building is also expected to open this semester.
On the topic of student success, Wood claimed four-year graduation rates are expected to climb over 30%.Growth is also seen in the size of the student body, with Wood describing the incoming class as the largest in campus history.
Wood also spoke to the increased diversity of the Hornet student population, saying that 37% of Hornets identify as Lantinx, and 22% percent identify as Asian Pacific Islanders. Sac State also hosts the largest population of Black and African American students in the entire CSU system.
Wood announced extended outreach efforts for current and future Native American students with Sac State’s partnership with the California Tribal College. Wood stated that Sac State may have the largest Native American student population of any CSU by this fall.
The efforts to accommodate Native American students are part of what drew Shanoah Platero, an incoming freshman nursing major and member of the Navajo Nation, to Sac State.
“It’s hard in the Native American community. We don’t get the support out there,” Platero said. “We have to look elsewhere to get the education that we need.”
Also celebrated was the official opening of the Black Honors College on Aug. 8, 2024. Wood stated that an 80 student cohort enrolled in the BHC this fall, with an additional 50 students expected to join in spring 2025.
Five Sac State students were invited on stage by the Vice President for Student Affairs Aniesha Mitchell, serving as a panel to describe the value of the campus services Wood spoke about.
Aranjot Kaur, a sophomore business major from India, spoke about Combat U and the unique opportunity it offered to her as an MMA fighter and college student.
“The gap between both of these things was not getting any scholarships, MMA is not an NCAA sport,” Kaur said. Kaur said she learned of the program directly from Wood and became one of the 800 students enrolled at Combat U this fall as leader of the Jujitsu and MMA club.
Outreach coordinator for Project Rebound and communications graduate student Michael Love praised the success of the program on stage. “The people that come through our doors go on to be productive members of society,” Love said.
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Edmar Cimatu, a junior computer science major, praised CARES, Veterans Success Center and the Parents and Families program for their support during his college career.
“If I can’t do the childcare thing, I can’t do school,” Cimatu said, recalling when he learned Sac State would cover those expenses. “I literally balled up, like a weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Despite the many challenges acknowledged during his address, Wood projected confidence about Sac State’s future.
“We are on the way to becoming the absolute flagship of the Cal State system,” Wood said. “I say this with all due respect to those who are in the UC. In a few years they’ll be talking about the UC as a backup for Sacramento State.”
Additional reporting by Michael Pepper.
