CSU reformers support restoration of San Jose State's version of the Great Seal of California.

1.     CSU Identity  - The California State University identity should not be just for the benefit of the CSU Chancellor’s office and a few Southern California campuses.  CSU students and alumni from the original and oldest California State campus in San Jose, and from any other campus that chooses, should also benefit from this prestigious and valuable identity.  Any CSU student or alumni who chooses to identify with, and market him or herself as, a CSU student/grad, should have the right to do so and have that identity supported by his or her CSU campus.

As the founding campus of the CSU, San Jose in particular, should have a dual state-city identity, allowing students and graduates who don’t care for the provincial “SJSU” identity the freedom of choice to market themselves as CSU graduates. To accomplish this the school should restore the words “California State University” as an alternate identity or in some other manner, while also maintaining a strong “San Jose” identity.  

2.     Restore 1862 - The CSU and its San Jose campus must stop violating California law and dishonoring the State of California, and restore recognition of the system’s authentic date of establishment by the California Legislature: May 2, 1862, for both the CSU system, and its oldest campus in San Jose. 

3.     Restore Great Seal of California - Restore official recognition and widespread use of San Jose’s historic verion of the Great Seal of California as an important symbol of the California State University and its founding campus in San Jose.

4.    CSU Chancellor’s Office in San Jose and No More CSU Campuses – A Northern California headquarters of the CSU Chancellors office and the CSU Trustees should be opened in the San Jose campus area. And to combat further dilution of the CSU identity the CSU Trustees office should not create any more CSU campuses. Twenty-three CSU campuses is more than enough.

5.    Market San Jose’s California Primacy – Celebrate and heavily market the the oldest CSU's California State identity, including its status as the oldest California institution of higher learning and original CSU, instead of attempting to hide and obfuscate this status is currently done by “SJSU”. As the founding campus only San Jose can provide the CSU system with the history, identity and tradition it needs to establish a stronger national identity.

6.    CSU Reintegration – Reintegrate San Jose with the rest of the CSU system, promoting the school’s status as the oldest CSU and forging alliances with other schools for development of a powerful “California State” identity to rival the “California” identity promoted by the oldest UC campus in Berkeley. This powerful identity will benefit the entire CSU system.

7.    “Desination” Residential Campus – Promote the development of San Jose and other CSU campuses as residential “destination” campuses, instead of as a city-state college commuter schools. This incudes promoting redevelopment of the campus areas, particularly with respect to student-oriented housing and retail.

8.    Geographical Diversity – Use the prestigious and identifable California State identity to promote greater geographical diversity among incoming students, at San Jose and other CSU campuses, and a better balance between residential and commuter students.

9.    Use of CSU Resources and Increased Admission Standards — As CSU professors have pointed out, CSU resources should be focused on education, not on high salaries and perks for CSU officials. Salaries for CSU educators should be increased. And once recognition and interest in CSU starts to increase as a result of a more nationally and internationally recognizable California State identity at its oldest school, the system should slowly increase admission standards to help secure the CSU’s reputation as an institution of academic excellence, while maintaining educational opportunity for a broad spectrum of students.