Students logged onto their computers Thursday morning with either a cup of tea or coffee in hopes of getting answers to the questions they had sent in through an event form. Associated Student Productions (ASP) held a Zoom call that invited Seawolves to join them in an event called “Spillin’ the Tea with Sakaki” where students were encouraged to ask Sonoma State University’s President, Judy Sakaki questions about herself and the university. This event was held on Sept. 10 on Zoom from 11 a.m to noon.
The university’s president was eager to participate, saying “I miss my ‘Walk n’ Talks’, miss seeing students rushing from class to class, miss my casual chats with students as I walk across campus.”
The hour long event began with instruction and clarification on how the event was going to work and how President Sakaki would be answering questions. Students were asked to send their questions to Mac Patefield, the event host, in a private chat. The question that kicked off the event was by Emily Hicks, a member of ASP. She asked, “What is your favorite TV show?”
Sakaki responded with a list of shows on Netflix that included “Unorthodox”, “Tiger King”, and “Love is Blind”. While waiting to get answers to their burning questions that they sent in, attendees were called on President Sakaki to share their favorite things to watch.
Throughout the event the question topics ranged from lighthearted show suggestions to serious future plans for the university. Emily Cripe, a writer for the STAR asked about President Sakaki’s leadership takeover of the HUB and CCE. In her response Sakaki brought up current social movements that have had an impact on students and faculty and said, “…it was a different kind of collaborating so it would still be accessible to students.”
Students brought their concern about tuition and when an announcement would be made if classes would continue to meet virtually in the spring semester. Sakaki said, “…right now it’s not looking like we could all come back in person,”
The statement gave hint to the announcement of Chancellor Timothy White later that night, saying the CSU system will remain online for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year. The Chancellor’s email said “A subsequent wave of COVID-19 cases in or about March 2021 is also still projected,” as a reason for remaining virtual. Because of the climate of COVID-19, Sakaki had touched on other CSU cases and confirmed a case at Sonoma State.
Jocelyn Leon, a SSU student asked “Can you explain how tuition works and how did the university decide on sticking with the same price for tuition this year?”
When asked about tuition, Sakaki explained the breakdown of tuition and why students are paying full tuition. Certain fees are a part of the CSU system as a whole so they apply to all 23 campuses rather than solely Sonoma State. For other parts of tuition, certain fees are only Sonoma State’s campus fees.When asked if tuition would be lowered, she said, “…unfortunately there are still ongoing costs that the university has to cover,” such as facilities. Residence halls, faculty and students services such as Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).
The last part of the event was about mental health and mindfulness. President Sakaki talked about how she’s staying resilient during these times and finding her center. She took part of this event to check in with Seawolves and asked them what they have been doing. Various students responded with yoga, baking, exercising and reading. Towards the end of the event Sakaki emphasized that CAPS services were still available to students and even left her email so students could ask questions in the future.
The event didn’t have an extremely large turnout but students that attended received answers to the questions they had for President Sakaki. News about tuition, COVID-19 and whether classes will remain online in the future were released. ASP events such as this one can be found on their instagram @ssu_as.
