May 13, 2025 - Celebrating Our Graduates and Reflecting on 2024-25
Hi everyone,
I hope you are as excited about this week as I am. This is one of my favorite times of the year because we get to celebrate with over 3,600 graduates and their families, friends, and supporters. It’s hard to match the excitement of Commencement, except for maybe the first week of the academic year, which I also really like. As we wrap up the semester, I also appreciate the opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the year.
One of the most rewarding moments of the spring semester occurred recently when I got an email from the Carnegie Foundation about its classifications for universities. They have introduced a few new designations and they wanted to share with us who they think we are. Here is a quote from the email:
“We are thrilled to congratulate California State University-Chico for its leadership on two essential fronts: advancing science and discovery for the nation and prioritizing student access and success. California State University-Chico is one of just 33 remarkable institutions nationwide that earned both Research College & University (RCU) and Opportunity College & University (OCU) designations in the new 2025 CarnegieClassifications. ...
“With the full range of 2025 Classifications now final and public, we are excited to see the emergence of exceptional groups such as RCUs that are also OCUs. California State University-Chico is rare in so clearly advancing both opportunity and innovation. Thank you for all you do for your students and for our country as a whole.”
As you can see, our work - your work - is remarkable. We are one of only 33 institutions nationwide that prioritize advancing science and discovery as well as student access and success. I cannot think of a better type of university to work at, nor a better university as a whole.
As President, I have the privilege of seeing the great work we do firsthand and experiencing the amazing things our students, staff, and faculty do on a daily basis. We have been sharing some of these in the “How To” video series. As you reflect on the year and all we have accomplished, I encourage you to take some time and see the breadth of experiences we provide. Whether milking cows, doing research to produce better batteries or understand the watershed in our region, pitching stocks, building an off-road race car, blowing glass, rescuing food, or producing a radio show, together, we are doing incredible things. The college experience we have at Chico State is like no other in California, and I thank you all for making it possible.
When times are hard, it helps me to think about what we do, why, and who benefits from our work. We have faced significant challenges as a university and will continue to do so in the future. And we will do it as we have done so many times in the past - together. As we know from our Playbook, we are here to engage our students, to produce outstanding scholarship and creative works, foster an equitable, inclusive, and rewarding environment for our campus community, serve as a resource for our region, and to embrace innovation in a rapidly evolving world. What you do matters.
As we close this academic year and look back at all we’ve done together, I am filled with pride in our accomplishments and optimism for what we will do going forward.
Thank you for all you do to support our students, each other, and our region,
Steve