President Luke Wood addressed questions from students on Wednesday afternoon at a virtual town hall meeting. Wood responded to questions about the university’s budget cuts, facility needs, athletics and the upcoming housing requirement.
Wood opened the meeting by outlining what he described as a “challenging financial climate” across the California State University system. He said the university is serving more students with fewer state and federal dollars.
“We have been in the midst of a state budget downturn,” Wood said. “What that means is the university is receiving less money to operate. At the same time, we’re a university that is growing.”
Wood said that Sacramento State recently welcomed its two largest incoming classes in school history while also experiencing cuts in funding from both state and federal sources.
“We’re growing, we have fewer state resources and we have fewer federal resources,” Wood said. “Yet, at the same time, we’ve also experienced some really important successes as a university.”
The hour-long Zoom meeting hosted 82 attendees, according to Sac State. Attendees could not share their screens or audio but could send their questions in a private chat that Wood and his cabinet could view.
Several attendees questioned the timing of the stadium project, given ongoing budget reductions. Wood defended the plan, emphasizing that the current facility is no longer safe or sustainable.
“The current football stadium is not actually a real stadium,” Wood said. “It’s temporary stands that were never meant to last this long. We’ve had structural engineers tell us it’s time to close it down.”
Wood said the idea to replace the stadium began under the previous president and is being funded through specific athletic facility fees, money that cannot legally be redirected to other purposes such as academic programs.
“These are fees that were approved unanimously by the Student Fee Advisory Committee two years ago,” he said. “They’re specifically for athletic facilities and can’t be used any other way.”
He said the university views the stadium as a potential revenue generator, similar to how moving men’s and women’s basketball games to the Hornet Pavillion in The WELL Recreation Center has boosted attendance and ticket sales.
“In the first three games, men’s basketball generated more revenue than the last two years combined,” Wood said. “We need spaces that can help us generate revenue to better support our students.”
The State Hornet reached out to Sac State to confirm but was unable to verify the claim that the basketball games generated so much revenue by press time. The president also addressed criticism about recent hires of former professional athletes as coaches, citing the credentials of new football coach Brennan Marion and basketball coach Mike Bibby. In April, former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal took on a voluntary role as general manager for the men’s basketball team.
“We hired them because they’re great coaches and for no other reason,” Wood said.
In response to a question about how Sac State is affording concerts amid a deficit, Wood said student fee dollars have funded them. He said student fees previously funded other activities like the Silent Disco, Mario Kart races and the selfie stations, but shifted to fund the concerts.
“We’re just not doing those things,” Wood said. “It’s not new dollars, it’s dollars that are just being spent differently to help support student life because we are trying to ensure the dollars hit a larger number of students.”
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Wood said past events had 50-100 students show up, while the recent concerts have impacted 4,000-6,000 students at a time. He said the concerts came from “Operation Lit,” an effort by the President’s Office and the Division of Student Affairs to conduct surveys and focus groups with over 400 students to find out what they want to see more of on campus.
The feedback from students, Wood said, was very clear they wanted elevated entertainment experiences such as concerts. He said students should have a place where they come for quality education and where they can have memorable experiences.
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Budget constraints were a recurring theme throughout the meeting, as attendees questioned the impact of cuts on academic departments and the library.
Wood said each university division took a reduction when state funding was cut, generally between 20% and 29%. He said Academic Affairs, which handles class resources and availability, received a smaller cut to protect course offerings, but the financial strain has forced difficult choices across campus.
Provost Erika Cameron said the library’s budget was reduced by 11%, consistent with cuts made to other departments within Academic Affairs. The reduction affected resource availability, staffing and library hours, but Cameron said staff analyzed usage data to minimize the impact.
“It meant the library had to make very difficult choices on what resources and databases they were going to provide,” Cameron said. “They looked at the data and made the difficult decision to not renew some databases and reduce hours in order to stay within budget.”
RELATED: University Library sees 11% decrease in funding for 2025-26 year
Wood said the university continues to prioritize course availability despite resource shortages. He acknowledged that students experienced frustration last semester when classes were added late but said that was a result of last-minute funding changes.
“We’re responding to cuts, political pressures and changes in policy all at the same time,” Wood said. “When dollars become available, we direct them to provide students with coursework because that’s the right thing to do.”
Vice President of Student Affairs Aniesha Mitchell said there will not be any reductions or cuts related to the food pantry, mental health counseling or career services. She said a federal grant that would help pay for those expenses was cut, but Student Affairs has plans to maintain operations.
“The grant that funds the majority of staff and career services was discontinued under the current [federal] administration,” Mitchell said. “However, the Division of Student Affairs has a number of scenarios that we are prepared to implement in order to maintain staff and operations.”
RELATED: Sac State adopts ‘enterprise model’ to increase revenue amid state funding challenges
The food pantry is operated under Associated Students Inc. The WELL, part of Union WELL Inc., oversees Student Health Counseling and Wellness Services.
A large portion of the forum focused on Sac State’s new Two-Year Residential Requirement for incoming freshmen and sophomores, a policy that has drawn scrutiny from some students.
Wood emphasized that the requirement is part of a long-term plan to expand campus housing in order to address student homelessness and housing insecurity.
“When I was a student here at Sacramento State, I lived in my car,” Wood said. “We continue to hear from students experiencing the same challenges. I have a responsibility to make sure that I’m addressing safety and basic needs.”
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The policy will first apply to incoming students living more than 50 miles from campus in fall 2026. It will eventually extend to those living within 30 miles in 2027. Wood said the policy includes exemptions for students with financial hardships, disabilities, family obligations or military service, among other factors.
“This is not intended to apply to current students,” Wood said. “It’s about ensuring that future students who live far from campus have access to safe housing and support services.”
Mitchell said the policy aligns with data showing students who live on campus have higher retention and graduation rates.
“Financial aid does incorporate housing as part of the package,” Mitchell said, adding that several other CSU campuses already have similar requirements.
While financial aid can cover housing, Sac State students who have lived on campus and qualified for such aid have said their housing costs weren’t fully covered. Furthermore, students in North Village are required to have meal plans to encourage food availability for residents, which can add extra costs to those on financial aid.
Wood said the university will also expand student housing through state-supported construction, referencing a recent state audit that called on Sacramento State to build more units. He said having a live-in requirement is one of the key ingredients to expanding student housing.
Wood said Sac State’s on-campus housing has been and will remain affordable. He said the requirement isn’t meant to bring in money for the university but rather to boost student success. In an ASI meeting on Thursday, Nov. 13, Executive Director of Housing Services Nadine Kelley said that the demand for housing is substantially higher than the supply.
“We have some of the lowest housing prices in the CSU system,” Wood said. “This isn’t about generating revenue, it’s about student success and basic needs.”
At $19,000 per year, Sac State charges more for housing than several other CSUs. Sac State’s housing costs rank it among the top five most expensive campuses.
For those wondering where the revenue from housing more students on campus would go, Wood said it stays within housing and doesn’t financially affect the campus.
Members of Students for Quality Education who attended the meeting said they weren’t satisfied with the answers Wood provided. Emma Beck, a senior communication studies major who designed a campus-wide survey about the housing requirement, said Wood didn’t provide any new information.
“It didn’t feel like there was an actual, established need to make a requirement to live on campus,” Beck said. “He didn’t answer anything about the financial stuff other than financial aid somewhat covers it, which isn’t fully true. I felt like he was dodging the important stuff.”
SQE intern Thad Gifford, a sophomore electrical engineering major, said the format of the town hall was disappointing and felt performative. He said students couldn’t see each other’s questions and the chat was fully disabled.
“I was disappointed by the change to Zoom because it felt like it was a way to try and avoid any sort of direct confrontation,” Gifford said. “It felt like they wanted to pick and choose and say, ‘everything’s been answered,’ when no one else could verify that.”
Despite financial and structural challenges, Wood said Sac State’s priorities remain focused on maintaining student access and improving graduation rates. He ended the virtual town hall by mentioning recent initiatives, including the new Basic Needs Resource Center and plans for a potential downtown campus near the state Capitol.
“There’s a lot of positive things happening at a time that’s very challenging,” Wood said. “We’re growing, we’re adapting and we’re making sure that we take care of our students.”
Additional reporting by Aaron Smith
