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Latest Update
Dear Campus Community,
As I have mentioned before, it’s an exciting time to be at Sonoma State University. Thanks to the concerted efforts of faculty and staff, over the past few months we’ve preserved academic programs once slated for closure, grown our dual enrollment and guaranteed admissions programs, kicked off a campus vibrancy project that will add student-centered amenities and resources this fall, and announced a major upgrade to Nichols Hall that will yield a state-of-the-art facility for nursing students, faculty, and staff. We graduated nearly 2,000 successful students during May’s Commencement ceremonies, new programs are in the offing, and our communities and alumni are freshly energized and optimistic about the future of a reimagined Sonoma State University.
Today I am pleased to announce the latest exciting step in this reimagining of our campus: the launch of NCAA Division II athletics, beginning in the 2027-28 academic year. After five months of research and discussion, a diverse group of community stakeholders, former coaches, campus staff, and faculty members called the Athletics Fiscal Feasibility Team presented three scenarios for the future of Seawolf athletics on June 15. Of the three scenarios, the university is opting for what is described as the “Base Case,” which includes 10 sports:
- Women’s basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, and volleyball
- Men’s basketball, cross country, golf, and soccer
Membership in NCAA and CCAA Division II athletics requires a minimum of 10 sports. The committee used the Athletics Task Force Report from January 2026 as a guiding document to determine this mix of programs.
These programs are anticipated to generate broad community interest and philanthropic and spectator engagement, and will be sustainable through a combination of student fees; tuition revenue from new student athletes; significant fundraising and sponsorships; sports camp and use fees for SSU facilities; and direct institutional support, including SSU Commitment funding provided by the state of California in 2025.
More information about this latest step forward for SSU is available in the Athletics Fiscal Feasibility Team’s executive summary, these FAQs, and Sonoma State’s news release. I also welcome your ideas and suggestions — please send them to ssuathletics@sonoma.edu.
My thanks to the Fiscal Feasibility Team and its co chairs, Drs. Gerald Jones and Rob Eyler, and to the entire Sonoma State community for its ongoing work reimagining the university to best serve current students, prospective students, alumni, and everyone who considers SSU part of their lives.
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Campus community,
Sonoma State is committed to continuing to educate our students through this semester even as we navigate the shelter-in-place and other public health orders emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given this rapidly changing environment, we have made two major decisions today to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff:
Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Friends,
Since the early morning hours of Oct. 9, our community has been tested by the unprecedented challenges of the fires that have struck our communities.
Members of the Sonoma State Campus Community,
I write today with a heavy heart. On Nov. 2, two of our staff members discovered a body in a heavily wooded area near parking lot M on the edge of campus. We never know exactly what each of our work days will be like, but I am certain that our colleagues never expected that. My appreciation to them for their diligence and handling of a difficult situation.
Good day Seawolves,
What a pleasure it is to see campus become fully re-energized with the arrival of new and returning students and faculty and the start of the academic year! This is always an exciting and invigorating time, and I am happy to be here to take part in it with you.
Dear Campus Community:
Read statements about our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and anti-oppression from other members of the Sonoma State University community.
Good day, Seawolf Community,
The grass is defiant,
Even through ashes, rising…
Roots go deep…
We lift up our feet …
Lift up our faces
To the blue air,
To the spacious hearts,
To the unknown springs of our souls,
Oct. 2, 2017
Dear Campus Community,
We are saddened by the tragic incident that occurred at the Route 91 Music Festival in Las Vegas last night. We have learned that a handful of Sonoma State students were at the concert. One SSU student was injured, but thankfully she is recovering and in stable condition. Our hearts go out to her, as well as her family and friends.
Dear Campus Community,
Our return to Sonoma State for the 2020 – 2021 academic year has coincided with two unprecedented events: the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the devastation of several, simultaneous wildfires of incredible magnitude.