As the spring semester kicks into full swing, President Rios-Ellis addressed the community and the campus by expressing her goals for the year.
Along with Rios-Ellis, other faculty members shared information about the upcoming semester focusing on student success and the future of higher education.
Jesus Jimenez, an academic advisor, opened the event by emphasizing the importance of pushing through and supporting students during a time of rapid change in higher education.
“Students don’t need just our services; they need our steadiness,” Jimenez said. “Let’s look forward with hope, build with intention and lead with cariño. Let’s choose each other and our students.”
He described the term cariño as being cared for with warmth, compassion and with follow through.
President Rios-Ellis followed by expressing gratitude for Jimenez’s remarks.
“Jesus, I couldn’t have said it better, amazing,” Rios-Ellis said.
She continued the address by announcing that Stan State is working towards naming an island on campus after Cucunuchi, who is the leader of the Lakisamni tribe of the Yokuts people. She described Cucunuchi as an intelligent and exemplary leader who quickly learned to read and write.
During her speech, she also led a moment of silence in honor of former Stan State President Emerita Marvalene Hughes, reflecting on the impact she had on the university.
“Trailblazer visionary,” she said. “She led with purpose and transformed our campus.”
After honoring President Emerita Marvalene Hughes, she continued her speech by discussing the importance of the school functioning with both clarity and alignment.
“We must be clear and compelling on why we exist and who we serve and why we deliver,” she said.
She emphasized that the role of public higher education has never been more important.
“One thing is very clear throughout our nation, the need for public higher education has never been greater,” she said.
She called for everyone on campus to work together to send out the Stan State signal. While reminding everyone that students are the reason to push forward and work hard.
“Let’s work together to ensure that the Stan State signal is loud and clear,” she said. “At the heart of this work is always our students.”
Towards the end of her speech, she began to discuss the importance of CSU Forward and how Stan State intends to align with it, as well as how the two platforms can work together.
CSU Forward is a new plan that has been adopted by the CSU system in order to reassess the system’s commitment, in aiding the success of students. This will be done by ensuring high quality education and aligning specific campuses with specific regional needs.
“We must be strategic and align with CSU Forward,” she said.
Following her remarks, Rios-Ellis invited Provost Rich Ogle to the stage to provide an update on academic affairs.
Ogle reported a 12.12% increase in new undergraduate students for Fall 2025 enrollment. However, continued enrollment among undergraduate students declined by 2.43%.
President Rios-Ellis closed the gathering by thanking attendees and inviting them to a reception following the event.
