Updates

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I want to offer my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the countless hours and herculean effort so many of you put into Commencement Week 2026.

With five ceremonies over two days – and nearly 2,000 graduates, their families, and their friends – last weekend’s Commencement ceremonies were a fun, festive, and moving tribute to our graduates, and a spectacular way to start them on the next leg of their life journey.

Of course, the weekend was only one part of a very busy Commencement Week that included multiple cultural graduation ceremonies, Toast of the Town, a reception for our honorary doctorate recipients, and other special events honoring students, faculty, and staff.

Commencement Week is an “all hands on deck” enterprise every year, with every division, department, and college represented and engaged in the effort. It represents a massive undertaking that is months in the making, with everyone working as a seamless unit to ensure our graduates receive the celebrations they deserve. I could not be prouder of our graduates or of the faculty and staff who supported them and helped them celebrate this milestone in such winning fashion.  

I also want to thank all those involved in planning and carrying out the Celebration of Life event for Dr. Mario A. Perez, Vice President for Advancement. This reflective and moving tribute brought his own family together with the Seawolf family, as well as dozens of colleagues and friends from far and wide, for a reflective and loving tribute to a good man gone too soon. That it took place during Commencement Week was appropriate, as Mario championed and celebrated our students passionately and unreservedly.      

One more celebration awaits – our annual Scoops of Gratitude event on Seawolf Plaza, where we come together to appreciate and celebrate the efforts of SSU staff. This year's “Scoops” begins at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 27 – I hope to see you there.

I am grateful to have arrived at Sonoma State at this exciting time, for what has been accomplished over the past several months augurs well for our future. Thanks to the hard work of Academic Affairs and our faculty, the reimagination process has meant the preservation of programs, and faculty continue to collaborate and innovate in meaningful ways to meet the evolving needs of our students and prospective students. We are embarked on a campus revitalization effort that will enliven our physical environment. Our guaranteed admissions and dual enrollment efforts are yielding positive participation, attention, and results. Sonoma State’s presence in community life throughout the North Bay has been renewed and expanded, and the number of supporters and champions reaching out to us has been welcome and encouraging.

As summer months near, I hope each of you take much-deserved time off to rest, recharge, and renew. My deepest thanks again for your Commencement Week efforts – indeed, for your work throughout the past year. It has been a time of adjustment and challenge, to be sure, but also one of optimism and energy, rich with the promise of great things to come for our university.

Warmly,

President