UC Davis students pay $340 every year as part of a Student Activities and Services Initiative Fee (SASI). This fee helps pay for UC Davis Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA). The agreement to pay these fees included a commitment on UC Davis’s part to offer Physical Education classes for academic credit. 

• 663 students participate in Intercollegiate Athletics. That's only 2.2% of the student body.
• Over 7,000 undergraduate students participate in PE Classes! That's over 23% of the student body.
• As a student body we fund Intercollegiate Athletics with more than $10 million every year with our SASI fees.
• The SASI is the basis for FACE and CEI fees, both of which also support the Intercollegiate Athletic Program.  Total student fee support of intercollegiate athletics was $23.5 million from 2018-2019 alone. The fees we pay give students power which must be exercised at moments like this!

On September 25th, 2020, UC Davis made the sudden decision to eliminate the entire Physical Education program effective Winter Quarter 2021. This is a direct violation of the spirit of SASI referendum and the understanding and intentions of the students who passed it in 1994.

UC Davis has a reputation for cutting edge research in the health field, and there is abundant research documenting the importance of physical activity for student mental health, and yet they are choosing to eliminate the Physical Education program. 

In support of saving the Physical Education program, the UC Davis Faculty Association notes  “There are many students who...have grown up without the opportunity for much learning and participation in sports broadly defined. Elimination of PE unfairly singles out these, typically less wealthy, students[.]” You can read their full letter of support here: https://ucdfa.org/2020/10/letter-opposing-elimination-of-pe/

UC Davis has failed to notify and consult the student population of this pending decision, despite the fact that it impacts all of us. Please help us spread the word to save this critical program!

Pass 1 for classes begins on November 9th. If this decision is not reversed by then, students will no longer have access to PE courses for academic credit or access to instructor taught PE classes at all!

Are you comfortable paying a fee that you will no longer receive the benefits for?

What can you do?

• Sign this petition and share to help spread the word!
• Contact your ASUCD elected representatives (president@asucd.ucdavis.edu; vicepresident@asucd.ucdavis.edu; and senate@ucdavis.edu) and insist that they vigorously oppose this unilateral action by campus administration!
• Write a letter to The Aggie (opinion@theaggie.org) and share why PE classes are important to you!