The grass is defiant,
Even through ashes, rising…
Roots go deep…
We lift up our feet …
Lift up our faces
To the blue air,
To the spacious hearts,
To the unknown springs of our souls,
Lift up our sight
-Janice Mirikitani
Dear Campus Community,
Welcome back to campus and the start of a new academic year! After a long and challenging time apart, it is wonderful to see our beautiful campus come to life again and to get back into the familiar rhythms of campus life. It was a joy to see the high-fives, hugs, and new friendships in the making during move-in, as we welcomed nearly 2,000 residential students and helped them get settled. Coming together for our convocation ceremony at Weill Hall, and being joined by other members of our community online, felt like an especially meaningful way to recognize the resilience shown by our staff and to honor the commitment and academic excellence of our faculty, and the tenacity and aspirations of our students.
There is comfort and joy in returning to shared day-to-day experiences, even as we continue to adapt to the ever-changing challenges of the pandemic. I am deeply grateful for the preparation and planning that has gone into making our return to campus successful, safe, and welcoming. I want to thank the Campus Repopulation Committee and the COVID-19 Coordination Committee for their excellent ideas and perseverance, our Facilities team for their hard work in getting the campus ready for us to return, our move-in team who helped our new process of students checking in at the Green Music Center go so smoothly, and all staff and faculty who played a part in keeping our campus safe and accessible.
And, here we all are once again enjoying our beautiful campus.
One of the joys of being at Sonoma State is being able to attend a live performance at the Green Music Center. As you ease your way back into campus life, I hope you will take time to enjoy a concert or cultural event. The 2021-22 season is available here on the Green Music Center website.
I am pleased to share that we have a COVID-19 Testing Center on campus open to all students and employees. The testing center, which is located in the Denali Gym at the Recreation Center and also offers vaccines as part of our implementation of the CSU COVID-19 vaccination requirement policy.
As we know all too well, the fall months in California and the western U.S. are fire season. We are also experiencing a severe drought, and the dry conditions have contributed to increased fire danger. We are extremely grateful to the thousands of firefighters working to contain numerous fires across the state and to those here at Sonoma State keeping our community safe. Part of being a caring community is being a prepared community and staying safe and informed. If you haven’t already, I urge each of you to sign up to receive emergency alerts.
As we begin this new academic year, I take great comfort in Mirikitani's words, knowing that we are moving forward together, lifting up our faces, lifting up our sight, and lifting up each other in pursuit of a brighter future for our campus community and with care for all communities.
With gratitude,
Judy K. Sakaki