Editor's Note
Sonoma State enters its rebuild
By Jason Walsh
T here’s a this past month at Sonoma State University, which learned in June it would receive $45 million in unexpected funds as part of the new state budget (see The 707, p. 12). You’ll recall from the 1946 Frank Capra scene in It’s A Wonderful Life that encapsulates classic: Community do-gooder George Bailey (James Stewart) was at the end of his rope. Ripped off by
an assumption the pandemic is still the root cause is a fool’s errand. Enrollment numbers have dropped each of the five years since lockdown. Status quo is not an option. Just as George Bailey banking on the occasional basket of petty cash from his friends and hoping Mr. Potter
retires wasn’t a viable option. If you’ve watched the movie and later googled “what is a building and loan,” it’s because that business model no longer exists. Status quo wasn’t an option in Bedford Falls, and it’s not an option in Rohnert Park. Whether SSU’s plan forward will work is not only debatable but, at this point, unknowable—details about which programs might be spared by the new state funds and what concentrations will become the “brand” of the university (Nursing? Hospitality?) haven’t been finalized. But as Eyler makes clear: The university needs to “start doing things no other CSU campus is doing, and monopolize that position once established.” It’s similar to a professional sports team during a rebuild. After a few losing seasons in a row, management sheds high salaries and longtime team favorites to head in a new direction. It’s painful and unpopular at first, but typically necessary—and usually should have been done earlier. What we’re seeing is SSU’s rebuild. Whether winning seasons are ahead will depend on decisions being considered by SSU and CSU leadership right now . g
George Bailey gets a sudden infusion of cash from the Bedford Falls community in ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’
greedy banker Mr. Potter, George was heavily in debt and facing an existential crisis about whether his very life was worth the hassle. Just when all seemed lost, a pool of public funds is presented for his disposal—the pre-GoFundMe scene where everyone in Bedford Falls runs in with handfuls of spare cash—and he’s given a reprieve from shutting down many staple operations of his financially struggling “building and loan” nonprofit. Cue: “Auld Lang Syne,” tears, etc. While SSU’s sudden windfall didn’t end with quite the level of denouement as the film—dude Clarence literally becomes an angel, after all!—it will go a long way and then some toward narrowing the $23 million budget gap that led to the university announcing in January plans to stop offering several core majors, eliminate some staff and end its Division II athletics program. But even if some or portions of those cuts are staid, these one-time funds won’t solve the endemic problem: Those programs aren’t self- sustaining; they aren’t attracting sufficient student participation. As Robert Eyler, respected economics professor at SSU, points out on page 18, enrollment at Sonoma State hasn’t recovered from its pre-COVID numbers—and waiting for a course correction under
July 2025
NorthBaybiz 11
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