Remarks by Dr. Joseph I. Castro
Chancellor-select, The California State University
California/Hawaii NAACP Annual State Convention
Brief Remarks (as prepared)
October 23, 2020
Thank you, Dr. Davis.
You know, I hate to miss an opportunity to acknowledge an esteemed CSU alumnus. So, before I begin, please allow me to point out that Dr. Davis is a double Cal State graduate, having earned master’s degrees from our Northridge and Dominguez Hills campuses.
Thank you again for the kind introduction. The CSU is proud to count you among our alumni.
Good morning. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you all today. It’s truly a pleasure.
I think it is appropriate – and significant – that one of my first speaking engagements as chancellor-select of the California State University is with your great and historic organization.
I say that for a couple of reasons. I say it because our organizations’ missions and core values are so closely aligned – equity in all its dimensions and ensuring that people from all walks of life have the equal opportunity to earn the life-changing and life-long benefits of a high-quality college degree.
And I say it because our current moment in time underscores the critical importance of that college degree. The past eight months have brought a daily, sobering reminder of the disparities that continue to tarnish our great nation: racial injustice, economic uncertainty, lesser health outcomes.
Solutions are elusive, complex and much-debated. But one is clear and undeniable: the transformative power of higher education.
I have experienced that transformative power in my own life. I attended UC Berkeley thanks to a Pell Grant and to a forward-thinking program that gave educational opportunities to young people from the San Joaquin Valley, and from modest financial means. It was at Berkeley – as I began to see my own life changed through my college experience – that I discovered my passion for educational leadership.
And throughout my career – and especially the last seven years I’ve had the honor of serving as Fresno State’s president – I’ve seen education change the lives of so many talented and diverse students who grew up in circumstances similar to my own.
This is why I am so honored, humbled and inspired to be appointed the eighth chancellor of the California State University – to have the opportunity to impact lives at such a remarkable scale.
The CSU is the nation’s largest and most ethnically and economically diverse four-year public university – 486,000 students and 3.8 million global alumni strong. The CSU awards approximately half of California’s bachelor’s degrees. One in 10 California employees holds a CSU degree – in fact, one out of every 20 degree-holders in America is a product of the CSU.
It’s not an overstatement: the CSU is our nation’s most powerful driver of socioeconomic ascent.
And we’re making significant strides to advance educational equity, thanks to our flagship student success effort, Graduation Initiative 2025, which some of you may be familiar with. GI 2025 aims to dramatically improve graduation rates for all students while eliminating equity gaps between students of color and their peers and between Pell Grant recipients and their peers.
I can break a little news here – our latest graduation rate data was released about 45 minutes ago, so this is hot off the press. The CSU’s four-year graduation rates for first-time full-time students are now at record highs. Similarly, our two- and four-year graduation rates for transfer students are the highest in the university’s history. And, significantly, the equity gaps – both for students of color and Pell Grant recipients – have narrowed.
This is fantastic news and meaningful, consequential progress. And it is especially heartening as confirmation that the CSU continues to advance its mission despite the extraordinary challenges imposed by the ongoing public health crisis.
But I am not here to take a victory lap. Not by a long shot. There is so much more work to be done. Work to implement a 3-unit general education requirement by the fall 2021 term that will lift ethnic studies to its rightful place in the CSU curriculum. Work to increase outreach and academic preparation, and to improve pathways to and through college for students from historically underserved communities, to build capacity and increase authentic access to higher education, to bring the total cost of attending college within reach for more Californians, and to promote STEM education among students of color. And we will continue to work to ensure that our faculty, staff and campus leadership reflect the dynamic diversity of the students they serve. On this point, I should note that Proposition 16 – on the November 3rd ballot and unanimously endorsed by the CSU Board of Trustees – would provide the university with valuable, proven strategies to advance this work and open the door to additional opportunities for both students and faculty of color.
And while I am pleased to report this morning’s news that equity gaps at the CSU continue to narrow, we won’t rest until they are entirely eradicated.
We will get there by working collaboratively. Please know that I am always accessible to you. I want to hear your concerns. I want to hear your innovative ideas. And while it’s always nice to hear about what we’re doing well, it’s more important that I learn where we’re falling short.
Achieving equity in education is one of the issues for our time – and it’s never been more critical than it is today.
Again – we’ll get there. And we’ll get there together.
Thank you.