From the President

President GonzalezI recently paused on one of my walks through campus to enjoy the changing colors of the leaves and reflect on just how wonderful it is to be outdoors at Sacramento State.

Our location on the banks of the American River is one of the West’s most beautiful academic settings, but it also provides extraordinary educational and recreational opportunities.

Sac State students can study the river’s ecology, hydrology and geology. They can work at internships that deal with the politics surrounding one of the state’s main sources of drinking and irrigation water. And after class is out, they can bike, Rollerblade or jog along the American River Bike Trail.

Our University is also home to a premier Aquatic Center at Lake Natoma. Since its establishment in 1981, the center has served thousands of students and visitors with academic classes and water sports.

These recreational and fitness dimensions are essential to our mission of providing a complete campus experience for our students. After all, a worldclass education begins as a well-rounded education. To that end, we must offer both great academic programs and the amenities our students need to succeed and grow as healthy human beings.

That mission got a big boost with the Oct. 1 groundbreaking ceremony for our new Recreation and Wellness Center.

When it is finished in 2010, the facility will give everyone in our campus community better opportunities to improve their quality of life as they study and work. It will also complement the record number of students who will be living on campus with the completion of our new residence hall next year.

The best part is that our students led the drive to get the new center built. They proposed the referendum to raise the money, and they campaigned to get it passed. It truly was a leadership moment for our student body, and as usual, they exceeded everyone’s expectations.

We envision the Recreation and Wellness Center combining with the American River and Aquatic Center to create a natural confluence of activity at Sacramento State—one that is exciting and unprecedented in the West.

In the process, we will change the very essence of our campus and become the destination University for students who value health and fitness.

Sincerely,
Alexander Gonzalez President