Sean McMinn
smcminn@mustangdaily.net
As Cal Poly’s campus collectively checked its email to learn of the California State University semester conversion, University President Jeffrey Armstrong was ending a media interview with a message to students: “My point to the people who have a disagreement with this is to take a deep breath … If you have questions, you know contact me, contact the office, we will be happy to talk.”
Four weeks later, at least a few students have questions they want answered.
Just days after Armstrong’s announcement that Cal Poly will begin the switch to semesters by 2020, students created social media pages to protest the decision. Hundreds of students, parents and alumni have voiced their support, and the creators are planning a more organized effort to expand their movement during spring quarter.
“Hopefully by putting more flyers in the right place, and by taking more action, we can get momentum,” said chemistry junior Molly Burns, who created the “Get President Armstrong To Give A Public Announcement!” Facebook event.
From the event’s description, Burns wants the president to “explain to us, without beating around the bush and lying, why he went against the school he is supposed to represent.”
Burns said she doesn’t believe Armstrong lied to the students during the year-long process to decide on semester conversion, but she’s not convinced he told the “whole truth.”
“He’s a politician and he talks to us in the way he wants us to accept things,” Burns said. “I don’t think he’s lied, but he hasn’t given us the whole answer. I suspect that he didn’t fight for us to stay on quarters.”
Armstrong, who will hold a Q&A on April 18 at 1 p.m. in the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center, said in a statement he understands why some want to remain on quarters and that he appreciates the “the passion and concern that students have for this university.”
“I am always happy to talk to students,” Armstrong said. “It’s important to remember, no current students will be affected by this decision. I also want to underscore that I’m glad the chancellor was willing to give us ample time to plan for a successful conversion, one that will preserve the pace, intensity and variety of subjects that distinguish Cal Poly’s curriculum.”
Chip Visci, a spokesperson for the president, said Armstrong’s pro-quarter stance should be clear from a February letter he sent to California State University Chancellor Timothy White in which he recommended Cal Poly stay on quarters. In it, the president wrote he believed “it is not the right time” for the CSU to move Cal Poly to semesters, citing recommendations made by the Semester Review Task Force.
The president did not see Burns’ Facebook page before deciding to hold the Q&A, which will be advertised as a “Campus Community Conversation,” Visci said.
Civil engineering freshman Troy Kawahara is also leading an online petition, though his criticism is directed at White. His Change.org petition has landed nearly 500 supporters and demands White kill the “impending” semester conversion.
“If you look at the semester-quarter thing as a matter of identity and who we are and how the university sees itself, it’s very important we discuss this issue,” Kawahara said. “It is a very valid issue, but I’ve been disappointed (with) how it’s been handled.”
In the petition, Kawahara references an article from The Pioneer, CSU East Bay’s student newspaper, in which White told the campus: “It would be easier to say that one size fits all, but what matters for the success of East Bay is different from what matters for San Jose State.” This philosophy, Kawahara said, contradicts the CSU’s plan to move all campuses on semesters.
CSU spokesperson Liz Chapin, however, said Kawahara used the quote out of context. White, she said, was referring to budgetary issues while speaking at East Bay, not semester conversion.
The CSU has still not recognized a formal plan to move all campuses to semesters, but Chapin said that is a likely outcome of current discussions.
Kawahara initially created the petition using just his initials, but added his full name in late March. He said he was reluctant to associate himself with a cause before it grew into something credible, but is confident it will expand during spring quarter.
“I didn’t want to earn any enemies before I had to,” Kawahara said.
Response to the petitions has been relatively low so far — a pro-quarter Facebook event in November brought in more than double the number of people as Burns’ and Kawahara’s combined — but the pair attribute it to the timing of Armstrong’s announcement during week 10 of winter quarter. Burns called it “ironic” that the president would make such a large announcement as students prepared to tackle final projects and exams. She suspects more students will want to join the fight against semesters once they have more free time during spring quarter.
“I think the majority of students were upset when we told them (Cal Poly administrators) what we wanted and it’s still happening,” Burns said. “There’s some people who agree with semesters, which is fine, but then there’s the 90 percent who don’t.”
Burns and Kawahara plan to recruit more students through advertisements during spring quarter. They posted signs across campus in March with smartphone links to the Facebook and Change.org pages, but Burns said they were removed because they were not in designated bulletin board areas.
The two also plan to contact faculty and ask for support, since students will likely have graduated by the time Cal Poly changes to semesters. Burns said she wants to grow the number of people committed in their opposition to semesters, and now has a group of four students working together against the conversion.
After recruiting more followers and signatures on a petition, Burns said she will schedule a meeting with Armstrong, whose office has already reached out to her. She’s not sure how long it will take until she’s ready for the confrontation, but is hopeful change will come from it.
“I’m going to definitely stay positive,” Burns said. “If I go with all those signatures, he can see we are still mad and we are still putting up a fight.
“And Chancellor White’s coming to campus in May, so we may have to try to track him down and have a discussion with him, too.”