Protestors and President Luke Wood standoff over housing requirement and affordability

Sacramento State students gathered Thursday afternoon to protest the upcoming housing requirement for incoming freshmen and voice growing concerns over affordability. The protest began immediately after a public digital information webinar, hosted by the administration via Zoom, on the aforementioned policy.

The protest, organized by Students for Quality Education, focused on seeking alternatives to the incoming housing requirement, ending the course requirement for students to stay in the dorms over breaks, reducing planned library cuts and lowering the $252-per-semester parking fee.

The policy, which begins fall 2026, will require first-year students residing more than 50 miles from campus to live in university housing for two years. The radius will tighten to 30 miles in 2027.

University Housing Services executive director Nadine Kelley said during the webinar that the policy aims to strengthen “retention and improve academic outcomes” by connecting students more closely with on-campus resources.

SQE said 40-50 individuals attended the protest, which started as a gathering in the library quad and moved to the campus’ administration building, Sacramento Hall, whereupon President Luke Wood stepped outside to speak with protesters for roughly 30 minutes about their concerns.

Students at the protest emphasized that, while the policy doesn’t impact students who are already enrolled, they still wanted to advocate for prospective students who will be impacted.

Drew Harris, a history graduate student and chairman of the Union WELL Inc. Board of Directors, said the policy would make Sac State less affordable and therefore less appealing for potential students, even though he would not personally be affected.

“I made it this far debt free, and I hate to see that future students coming here straight out of high school would be negatively impacted by this,” Harris said.

Harris, who has commuted from Vacaville to Sac State since 2021, said the policy would price out many students in his area. He pointed out that San Diego State University, where Wood previously worked from 2011-2023, has a Commuter Resource Center for its non-local students that Sac State lacks.

“I’m questioning why we don’t have something like that,” Harris said. “It was frustrating to find that out because I could’ve been using something like that for the past four years.”

Harris said the policy would be detrimental to students long-term because many would have to take out loans to obtain housing. He said the cost being put on students in order to house them will ultimately hurt them.

Cameron Collier is a senior business major and serves as the chairman of communications for SQE. Collier said he felt it was important that he participate in this event despite being a senior.

“I firmly believe in leaving a place better than you found it,” Collier said, “I consider [Sac State] a home of mine. I consider this my community, and I would be remiss if it was considered to be okay to just leave it behind as soon as I’m done.”

Sac State administrators outlined details of the housing requirement during the webinar earlier that day, which started just an hour before students began their protest in the library quad.

“That was no accident,” Collier said, emphasizing that the webinar was announced one day prior to the protest on the very policy being contested.

Vice President for Student Affairs Aniesha Mitchell explained that all Sac State applicants must acknowledge the policy through the CSU application system, which was a step intended to increase transparency.

Khensani Pienar, a freshman psychology major, said the university’s decisions aren’t reflecting its stated values. She explained that the library cuts and mandated housing will negatively impact students by reducing services while putting extra costs onto them.

“If Sac State prides itself on equity and serving the students, I feel like what’s going on now isn’t effective for what they stand for,” Pienar said.

Throughout the march, protesters chanted refrains such as, “Hornets, Hornets what do you say? We deserve a choice today,” and “Hey hey! Ho ho! Dorm requirements have got to go.”

Lily Gonzalez, a freshman psychology major, said she came to protest both the library budget cuts and housing requirement. As a current resident of student housing, Gonzalez said these developments aren’t in the best interest of current or future students.

“I think that Luke Wood is not listening to us and [not] implementing things that will actually benefit us,” Gonzalez said. “I’m here because this involves me and will also affect future students.”

Emma Beck, communications committee chair for Students for Quality Education, leads a protest on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. Approximately 40-50 students attended the protest, according to Beck. (Ellie Appleby)

When the group arrived at Sacramento Hall, Wood and Mitchell stepped outside to speak with students. Wood listened to students’ chants before walking onto the grass to speak with them.

“It’s hard to see it as an opportunity when opportunity implies choice,” one protester told Wood.

Wood said he acknowledged the student’s concern and hopes they can see the intent behind the policy: to reduce students experiencing homelessness. He said expanding on-campus housing is part of addressing student needs such as housing insecurity, food insecurity and transportation concerns.

“That’s a fair point,” Wood said. “I don’t have a good response to that because I think that’s probably, of all the points that you’ve all made, the most accurate one in terms of what we’re doing.”

Wood told protestors the policy aims to provide more housing for students sleeping in their cars, while simultaneously encouraging them to apply for an exemption if they’re experiencing financial hardship. Sac State administration was unable to provide a comment on criticisms that the policy may exacerbate financial strain for low and middle-income students at the time of publication.

Kelley said during the webinar meeting that campus data shows higher four-year graduation rates among students who have lived in North Village compared with those living off campus. The new policy, according to Sac State, is part of a broader effort to build a stronger living and learning environment.

Administrators also discussed the potential long-term growth of campus housing during the webinar. Kelley said that housing studies dating back to 2023 found Sac State was thousands of beds short of meeting student demand. The university will add 687 beds with the opening of Mt. Whitney Hall in 2026 and Hornet Place in 2027.

Kelley also said that Sac State is actively looking for another facility within 2 miles of the campus for more affiliated housing.

As of fall 2025, Sac State has 31,307 enrolled students, with 5,433 of those being first-time enrolled freshman. Over the past ten years, Sac State has seen a 6.7% increase in its enrollment. Sac State currently has 3,200 beds in its existing dorms, with 2,100 in North Village and 1,100 in Hornet Commons..

“This is not just a housing mandate,” Kelley said, describing the requirement as a research-supported strategy tied to student feedback and state audit findings that identified persistent housing shortages.

The administration also spoke about an affordable housing grant that will provide 285 reduced-rate spaces beginning in 2026. These affordable beds will be spread throughout housing, according to Sac State.

Emma Beck, senior communications major and SQE committee chair, designed a campus-wide survey about the housing requirement. She said that while the crowd size was much smaller than SQE’s previous protest last semester, she was impressed that nearly everyone in attendance had something to say.

“I’m very happy that we had speakers who have different perspectives than me, and I welcome the surprise of Luke Wood being able to speak with us,” Beck said. “I’m pleasantly surprised he stood out for so long to speak with us, and I’m extremely grateful to those who stood up and asked him questions to his face.”

Beck said Wood’s responses to student concerns weren’t exactly satisfying, but still provided some reassurance. She said students don’t always get to hear from Wood directly and in person.

“We’re so used to non-answers. Him actually providing some answers, though not fully, felt groundbreaking,” Beck said. “It was a big thing to hear answers from him and not directly from VP Mitchell.”

Wood said the housing requirement is designed to be flexible and encouraged students to review the available exemptions, echoing portions of the webinar. Exemptions to the live-in requirement include, but are not limited to, being 21 or older, having independent status, being an active or former military personnel, financial hardship and other medical or disability considerations. He explained that the purpose of the live-in requirement is to help the university assess both housing capacity and student need.

“If we want to be able to have more housing opportunities for students, we have to be able to have an understanding of what that capacity is.” Wood said, “That’s what the housing live-on requirement is designed to do. It’s designed to have enough flexibility so that if it’s not designed for the student we have in mind, they don’t have to actually do it.”

Exemptions for the requirement include students who are local to campus, 21 or older, have veteran or military status, have medical or disability considerations or can demonstrate financial hardship. Beck criticized the exemptions and said housing should remain optional. She explained that even if students can be exempt from the policy, it’s still another obstacle.

“Wood makes it sound like a choice with all these exemptions, but having to get the exemption in the first place is the issue – it’s another step that we have to take to come here,” Beck said. “I thought I already proved myself to [Sac State] when [it] admitted me, but now I have to prove that I’m in financial instability.”

SQE members said that Sac State should provide overnight parking options and allow unhoused students access to dorm laundry facilities. They said these changes would also help students make better use of 24/7 campus facilities like the AIRC.

“Eligibility will be determined using the Student Aid Index from the FAFSA-Dining-access, onsite advising, tutoring, wellness programs and 24-hour staff support are among the advantages of living on campus,” Kelley said.

The exemption process, another topic of concern raised during recent town halls, was also explained in more detail during the webinar.. Kelley emphasized that financial hardships determinations are handled individually and in collaboration with campus support offices.

“There isn’t a single definition of financial hardship,” Kelley said. “Each student’s circumstances are reviewed case-by-case.”

Several questions were raised by webinar attendees that focused on affordability and whether the requirement might discourage future applicants. Mitchell said that first-year applications are currently up 16% compared with this time last year, despite the policy being disclosed to all prospective students.

Sac State administrators were asked how the new live-in requirement might interact with California Senate Bill 640, which streamlines admissions for automatic acceptances for high school students. They said it remains unclear how the legislation will affect housing requirements, noting that the university will evaluate potential impacts, particularly for younger students who may still live with parents, once state guidance becomes clearer.

Additional reporting by Jocelyn Hill.

Protestors and President Luke Wood standoff over housing requirement and affordability – The State Hornet

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