Sonoma State University

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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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Greetings Seawolf community,

Over the past two weeks, I have taken time to meet with several key groups and individuals, including the President of the Associated Students, the Academic Senate leadership, SSU-Students for Justice in Palestine, the Jewish faculty affinity group, and various other stakeholders to listen, learn, and reflect, and develop a course of action for continued university dialogue about events in the Middle East, the harm violence causes to all commu

Good day Seawolves:

I reach out to all of you today in a spirit of hope and promise for the entire Sonoma State community, but also with a degree of sadness about the impact recent events have made on campus leadership.

Happy April to all,

There is so much happening at SSU right now. The air is warming while spring hovers, the campus is gearing up for Commencement, and so much of our work is gaining visibility – its educational and research impact emerging with clarity and cohesion.

Please join me in celebrating Women’s History Month and all that women have created, accomplished, and contributed to all of our lives. Sonoma State University is no exception.

Happy February!

A point of pride for Sonoma State is the role our University plays not only in educating a diverse population of students, but also in being a community partner engaged in meeting the needs of the many stakeholders the University serves regionally, nationally, and around the world.

Happy New Year! 

January promises to be a busy month for Sonoma State University. In addition to dodging raindrops, our main items of interest are the return of students and studies for the start of the semester on January 22. The university will be open and operating; the start of some classes might be delayed due to a planned strike by faculty January 22-26.

As we enter the final days of 2023 and prepare for the holiday festivities shortly ahead, I want to express my sincerest thanks to all of you for making Sonoma State such a success during the past year. We certainly have had challenges, and the path forward will not be without more obstacles, but we have abundant reasons for optimism going into the new year.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beauty of our region as the fall season reaches the halfway point, and is seizing the opportunity to be out in nature and exploring its natural wonders, many of which can be found simply by walking around our campus.

What welcome sights and sounds late summer brings to Sonoma State University. Warm days yield to increasingly cooler nights, and as we watch new generations of ducks and geese take flight from and return to the Lakes, hints abound of the fall season just around the corner.