Sacramento State President Luke Wood acknowledged upcoming financial challenges and highlighted what makes this campus stand out from other California State Universities in his 2025 Spring Address on Thursday.
Wood began by introducing the new provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, Erika Cameron, who served as provost and vice president of academic and student affairs at Palo Alto University before joining Sac State.
“Dr. Cameron has a proven track record of success strengthening academic programs and leading faculty success initiatives,” Wood said. “She led efforts that earned her university both the Hispanic Serving Institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution.”
RELATED: Sac State announces Erika Cameron as new provost
Wood acknowledged the recent accomplishments of Sac State’s athletics, recognizing Sac State volleyball and the women’s soccer team, which both won Big Sky Championship titles this season.
Wood also acknowledged Sac State football and the hiring of Brennan Marion as their new head coach. Marion had major success coaching football at a handful of other universities, including University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he received the Mountain West Wire Coordinator of the Year in his first year with the Rebels.
RELATED: Mixing the old with the new: Brennan Marion brings his personality to Sac State football
Wood also celebrated the campus hitting a milestone with graduation rates. When former President Robert Nelson began serving at Sac State in 2015, the four-year graduation rate was 8.5%. Now, Sac State’s four-year graduation rate has surpassed 31% as of 2025.
Wood also introduced the new residence hall that will be finishing construction soon, the funding of which was helped by Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty.
“The more housing options that we have on campus, the fewer of our students are living in their cars,” Wood said.
Wood also acknowledged budget cuts throughout the CSU system; Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for the 2025-26 academic year will cut 8%, or $395 million, of the CSU budget. In total, Sac State will have a planned budget deficit of $45 million for the upcoming school year.
“We don’t want to do what we’ve done in years past, where we just keep cutting and cutting,” Wood said. “We’re doing one deeper cut so that we don’t have to cut the following year.”
There will be an additional $10 million in Sac State employee wage and benefit increases following the California Faculty Association’s strike in December 2023. Wood made it a point to properly compensate the work of Sac State’s faculty, staff and employees.
RELATED: CFA strike confirmed to take place first week of semester
Wood recognized the political climate of the country, saying that it will not impact the campus’s core values of diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Many of you have seen the rhetoric coming out of the incoming presidential administration, and it has struck fear in most of our minoritized communities, but particularly our undocumented and transgender communities,” Wood said. “Please know that we will not hide our values and that we will continue to provide pathways to upward socioeconomic mobility, and we will do so unapologetically.”
Wood celebrated important milestones, such as Sac State’s designation last fall by the State Legislature as the first, and currently only, Black Serving Institution in California.
“Sac State is home to the largest population of Black and African American students in the CSU System, but also above the UC’s as well. We are the No. 1 Black-serving institution in California,” Wood said.
Wood also celebrated Sac State’s launch of its Black Honors College last year, the first outside of a designated Historically Black College and University. Wood said the spring cohort will see 80 incoming transfer students, contributing to a total of 160 students enrolled in the Black Honors College.
RELATED: Sac State launches Black Success Initiative and Black Honors College
In November, Wood also announced the development of the Native American College led by Annette Reed. This college will focus on providing students with an academic, professional, tribally-centered and community-focused education, integrating a co-curriculum of studies alongside a student’s normal course of study.
RELATED: President Luke Wood announces opening of the Native American College
Last fall, Sac State launched the Guardian Scholars Promise, wherein Sac State applicants who are CSU-eligible and have been involved in the foster system will be guaranteed admission into Sac State. As a former foster child himself, Wood said he has a heart for those in foster care.
“The Guardian Scholars program has grown exponentially since receiving its new home in Sacramento Hall, to almost 200 students at this point,” Wood said. “We have a bold enrollment goal to have the largest campus population of former foster youth in the state, and we are well on our way to this goal.”
Cultural centers on campus are also expanding. With the fee increase from last fall, Sac State has hired directors for the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Student Center, Martin Luther King Jr. Center, Serna Center and Dreamer Resource Center.
Last year, Sac State launched the Esak’timá Center, the Swana Center and the Center for Jewish Life.
“We’ve got a center serving every population on this campus, which is beautiful because it takes a large 31,000-student population and makes it feel like a community,” Wood said.
