Mark Your Calendar for April 17 National Day of Action!

In just five weeks, educators, students, campus workers, community members, and union allies at public and private colleges and universities across the nation will rally together for a National Day of Action to advance the democratic mission of our institutions.

We will call for change in a United States higher education system that has stifled free speech and academic freedom, fueled a debt crisis, and hindered faculty and staff from delivering a lasting and transformative education to our students.

Efforts to dismantle higher education and consolidate our workforce by administrators, trustees, politicians, private interest groups, and a self-serving chancellor have weakened accountability and shared governance, and led to the erosion of workers’ rights and job protections. They’ve made education increasingly inaccessible and unaffordable for the very people the system was designed to support.

Faculty and staff layoffs, along with program closures, are all happening while executive salaries soar and management signs big checks for the construction of shiny new buildings. These decisions reveal where management’s priorities lie. By contrast, other restructuring plans remain concealed, leaving faculty, staff, students, and state legislators in the dark.

The crisis at Sonoma State is only the latest symptom of a larger, deepening problem within the CSU. Even campuses like CSU Long Beach, San Diego State, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo – which are all in strong financial condition – are facing austerity measures. The root of the problem, then, is not a lack of funds, but a profoundly flawed administration.

The devaluing and erasure of liberal arts is closely tied to student loan debt, which teaches students to see education as valuable insofar as it leads to debt repayment and high-paying jobs. From this perspective, a person’s worth is determined solely by their economic contribution and material success.

This mindset becomes especially dangerous when it leads to the closing of programs like Women and Gender Studies, which are crucial at a time when women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and reproductive rights are under attack by the Trump administration.

Furthermore, the repression of free speech from students, faculty, staff, and alumni who seek to protect our undocumented students threatens the values of safety, inclusion, and the exchanging of ideas.

These trespasses cannot be allowed to continue.

On April 17, we’ll renew our vision for higher education as a common good that serves all communities. The National Day of Action is a pivotal moment for us to unite in purpose and action.

While planning for the event is already underway, we invite all faculty, students, staff, activists, alumni, workers in K-12, and social justice organizations to join us. Event details will be forthcoming.

Together, and only together, can we win this fight for accessibility, affordability, and academic freedom in higher education.