California Faculty Association

Sonoma State 2015 alum Nicholas Moore spoke in opposition to Sonoma State’s proposed elimination of the Women and Gender Studies (WGS) department and the layoff of its faculty.

“I’ve spent the last decade working in nonprofit funding development, a career that was only made possible by the skills and knowledge that this program gave me. In that time, I’ve raised more than $100 million to secure the resources needed to serve vulnerable Californians […] At a time when vulnerable communities desperately need resources, the elimination of this department means that there will be fewer qualified professionals to staff those critical safety nets.”

KQED

Don Romesburg, the Sonoma State Women and Gender Studies department chair who is set to be laid off at the end of the year when his department closes, said the state should be stepping up to fund the CSU system, especially as President Trump’s administration targets public institutions and social welfare programs.

“They need to recognize that doing so is a way of pushing back against all of the ways in which we are being besieged by the federal government and its politics right now,” he said on Forum. “Reinvest in a California-style, quality public higher education system that creates the engines of change and social justice and prosperity and purpose for all of us.”

KQED

Sonoma State officials say the university was forced to act due to a nearly 40 percent dip in enrollment and a decline in state funding, at a time when costs to run the university are on the rise. But many students and faculty members say they were blindsided by the cuts and are calling on officials to reconsider.

Featuring guest, Dr. Don Romesburg, chair of Department of Women's and Gender Studies, Sonoma State University; author, "Contested Curriculum: LGBTQ History Goes to School, out in April" from Rutgers University Press.”

Press Democrat

“She also said that SSU will still have a debt of $1 million a year for at least the next decade to pay for the construction and operation of the Green Music Center, SSU’s main entertainment center.

Other topics of discussion included the loss of programs such as the Gender and Women’s Studies Department at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration is cracking down on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, and the price of SSU’s current consulting contracts with companies like Deloitte.”

Press Democrat

Senior Editor Brett Wilkison moderates the event. PD panelists are reporters Marisa Endicott and Gus Morris, who have spearheaded our most recent coverage of the fallout from the planned cuts.

Professor Tim Wandling, Chair of the English Department, speaks at length about the value of Women’s and Gender Studies, both as a department and as part of their academic community.

CBS News

“Honestly, it’s kind of a joke.” says WGS major, Eloira Smith.

So many people’s voices weren’t heard, so many questions were not answered, and people were cut off. It’s ridiculous, I’m angry.

We are not going to go down without fighting.”

ABC 7 News

“Hundreds of Sonoma State students and faculty packed Seawolf Plaza Thursday to protest program cuts, due to a nearly $24 million budget deficit, according to university officials. The cuts are putting dozens of faculty members out of jobs, like professor Don Romesburg who wore his resume on his academic robe.

"We are losing four full-tenured professors who have almost 100 years of experience, teaching our students, serving our community we are devastated by the cuts," said Romesberg, chair of the Women's and Gender Studies program.”

KQED

Professors are also usually hired in the fall.

“They made them at an especially cruel time,” said Don Romesburg, a professor in women and gender studies since 2008. “The academic job cycle is from September to December, so if I’m lucky, I might find a job in like 18 months. It’s really devastating materially for all of us as professors. We don’t know where our paychecks are coming from in August.”

Press Democrat

“Sonoma State officials claim that the school’s projected deficit is estimated at $23.9 million, almost $3 million more than was projected last fall, according to a Jan. 22 campus-wide message from Cutrer.

The cuts would mean the elimination of 46 tenured and adjunct faculty, and four management positions and 12 staff positions. The school’s entire NCAA Division II athletics would be eliminated.

Meanwhile, entire academic departments are slated for closure, including economics, art history, geology, philosophy, theater and dance, and women and gender studies. Roughly two dozen degree programs will be discontinued.”

Press Democrat

“WGS (Women’s and Gender Studies) is a vital career-based major which is the stated priority for the CSU system,” said 2007 graduate Lianna Hartmour, who majored in the program and went on to graduate school at UCLA —“because of my WGS research. I’m now program director for a breast cancer organization and board president for Verity, Sonoma County’s rape crisis center, because of my WGS background.

Verity benefits from WGS interns and graduates to answer crisis line calls and educate students about sexual assault in classrooms. WGS is vital to employment in Sonoma County and beyond.”

Press Democrat

“My story isn’t unique,” she said, and that’s why a text about the bad news from a former professor to a few graduates of the program “was all it took, and we immediately sprung into action.”

That same day, a dozen or so jumped on a Zoom call to strategize. Roughly 40 people joined a second meeting the next day. They’ve been in constant communication since, quickly launching a website to save the department. It highlights the 15,000 students who have taken women’s and gender studies courses as part of their general education at SSU. It also notes the 30,000 hours of volunteer service for Sonoma County community organizations by students of the department. There’s a petition and directions for a letter-writing campaign.