With a single email last semester, a shockwave of events have led to a somber return to the campus this fall. Following devastating cuts in response to a budget deficit, many facilities on campuses seem more bare. Ives and Pearson theaters now only support clubs and outside parties, no longer a performing arts program. Baseball and soccer fields now remain bare, as there are no longer any NCAA sports on campus. Offices are empty as professors and staff have been laid off, forced to find jobs elsewhere. 

It leaves this week of welcome feeling like a hollow one, one that will seldom acknowledge past events in favor of moving forward. But who is exactly moving forward? And what does it mean? Last semester I and others on the Star worked hard to hold accountability to our administration and to inform the community of what was going on on our campus. Yet, there still seems to be much ambiguity for what exactly has been going on with regards to what is going on with the budget. Despite a surprising one-time fund of $90 million that the school revived from the state and CSU system, how that money will be utilized and how we are moving forward in regards to the cuts still seems vague at best and straight up manipulative at worst. 

This also doesn’t even scratch the surface of what’s going on in our country at large. Since last semester President Donald Trump has done such actions like deploying the national guard in Washington D.C., renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War, along with continuing mass deportations by ICE. Overall, things have only seemed to get worse since last semester.

While the return to campus may be a somber one this time around, I want to reinforce our dedication here at the Star. Despite everything that is happening, we still believe that this campus and this community is worth serving. Through good times and bad, we are still forever dedicated to our goal to inform and engage with our community here.