Hello everyone,

It would appear that the University President quietly approved the IRA Fee Hike despite the public opposition of students and faculty alike.

A key reminder that this would mean raise the budget of student affairs to $9.5M dollars a year. 68% of that, or roughly $6.5M dollars will go to Athletics, a department that is currently $5M in debt as a result of financial mismanagement so severe it was audited by the CSU Board in 2024. 

If you are a continuing/incoming student and you check your fees due for the Fall 2026 semester, you can see the IRA fee hike reflected in the balance due. New IRA fees added on 5/22 (blue) that are additional to the standard IRA fees marked on 4/29 (red).

At this point, the decision is likely set in stone and there is nothing left for us to do.

While it has been clear from the start that this fee hike was ultimately up to the choice of the University President, it is incredibly disappointing and shameful to see the lack of public announcement and communication with students regarding this sudden fee increase. After our public campaign ended and the semester concluded, there has not been a single word from the DSA, the President, or any of the administrative staff responsible for this fee hike.

The fact that President Morales approved of this at the end of the semester casts a shameful scar on his presidency. The fact he did not make this decision public with an announcement or justification, is only all the more damning. 

As students, we unfortunately lack the ability to directly change this outcome. It is convenient and comfortable that President Morales is leaving this university before he has the chance to face continuing students,  the ones who inherit the weight of his actions and face the consequences of this detestable fee hike. 

There is not much that can be done by us directly at this point. But the awareness should remain that the administration of the DSA and higher executives have failed to engage with the students they represent, scheming in the background to cover a debt rather than choosing to be responsible by cutting programs and reflecting on the poor choices of its leadership.

Debt and cutbacks can be temporary and fleeting. Reputation, however, is enduring.

Through the entirety of this process, goodwill could have been secured by showing transparency, honesty, and humility. A student referendum, or any other more transparency and democratic process than the alternative consultation. Instead, by acting silently, President Morales and the DSA have chosen to sacrifice reputation for the sake of vanity.

More programs and expansion, but never cuts, never accountability. Never reflection or courage, but silence and cowardice.

Shame on this fee increase and the administrators that let it be.