San Jose State University is a public comprehensive university located in San Jose, California. Established in 1857 as the state’s first teacher-training school, it is the oldest public university in the western United States and the founding campus of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. With approximately 37,000 students enrolled annually, including around 28,000 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate students, SJSU is one of the largest universities in the CSU system. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Following protests in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, SJSU implemented comprehensive initiatives to address what the university described as systemic racism on campus. In May 2024, San Jose State University students established a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, demanding that the university divest from Israeli companies and acknowledge what protesters described as genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. ^{6 7}

Background

San Jose State University’s main campus spans 154 acres in downtown San Jose. SJSU comprises nine academic colleges offering over 250 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. ²

The university employs approximately 1,926 faculty, with about 45 percent working full-time. According to National Science Foundation survey data, in 2024 San Jose State’s research and development expenditures totaled $88.1 million, placing it second in total research and development expenditures out of the 23 California State University campuses. ^{8 9}

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs

Background

San Jose State University’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) is part of the Office of the President and works to implement the left of center principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion ((DEI) on campus. ¹⁰

In 2019, SJSU engaged in an assessment called belong@SJSU. The university established a Campus Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, renamed in 2025 as the Institutional Excellence Council,  as a presidential standing committee of students, staff, administrators, faculty, and alumni to assess issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion at SJSU and to identify equity gaps and make recommendations to the president on addressing systemic historical inequities on an annual basis. ^{11 12}

Systemic Racism Initiatives

Following protests in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, SJSU implemented comprehensive initiatives to address what the university described as systemic racism on campus. The university committed to conducting a comprehensive review and restructuring of key processes in the employee life cycle, including recruitment, orientation, and performance evaluations, to identify practices that promote systemic racism through unconscious bias. ⁷

The university has expanded training requirements for faculty, management, and staff, including training on identifying and addressing racist microaggressions and implementing anti-bias practices. In partnership with the Center for Faculty Development, ODEI developed a 10-hour required module on equity and inclusion. Approximately half of SJSU tenure-track and tenured faculty and lecturer faculty had completed the training by Spring 2021, with another 1,000 faculty trained in Summer 2021. ⁷

Since December 2020, over 200 management personnel and over 140 staff members have completed training addressing racial microaggressions. The university has committed to designing and offering workshops on what it terms white privilege and systemic racial oppression. The university has also implemented faculty search committee and retention, tenure, and promotion evaluation training using what it describes as a racial justice lens which addresses implicit bias, race, gender, and cultural competence. ⁷

Library DEI Policies

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library at SJSU established an Anti-Racism Assessment and Advocacy Committee comprised of staff and faculty who, over 18 months, transformed an initial DEI plan into a dynamic online dashboard featuring 49 recommendations to establish the library as what it describes as an anti-racist library. ¹³

The library’s Anti-Racism Assessment and Advocacy Committee develops, supports, and assesses what it characterizes as anti-racist and DEIA activities in the library. The committee’s work focuses on ensuring progress of recommendations and application of an anti-racism framework previously approved by the library. ¹³

Pro-Palestinian Protests and Encampments

In May 2024, San Jose State University students established a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus near the statues of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, SJSU athletes who demonstrated against racism while competing for the United States at the 1968 Olympics. The Students for Justice in Palestine organization led the protest, with demands including disclosure and divestment from Israeli companies and acknowledgement of what protesters described as genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. ^{14 15}

University officials warned protesters that they were in violation of the school’s Time, Place and Manner policy and that camping on campus was prohibited. The student encampment at San Jose State came down in late May 2024 following a meeting between representatives from Students for Justice in Palestine and university administration, which included president Cynthia Teniente-Matson and Interim vice president for student affairs Mari Fuentes-Martin. The students raised their demands to the administration, which included acknowledgement of what they described as genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, transparency on financial investments and holdings, and divestment from companies that support Israel. ^{15 16}

Sang Hea Kil, a justice studies professor who participated in the sit-in and worked as faculty advisor for Students for Justice in Palestine, stated that the administration had not sent an email about what she characterized as the genocide happening against Palestinians despite being in the seventh month of the conflict. Among the protesters’ demands was a call for Professor Jonathan Roth to be fired after he was involved in an altercation with a pro-Palestinian protester at a campus event earlier in 2024. ¹⁷

In February 2024, SJSU placed Roth on administrative leave following a scuffle involving pro-Palestine student activists during a guest speaker presentation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The guest speaker was Jeffrey Blutinger, a professor of Jewish Studies and History at California State University Long Beach. The Council on American-Islamic Relations alleged that Roth assaulted a student protester during the event. ¹⁸

Professor Kil stated that Blutinger’s comments during previous interviews denied that what was happening in Gaza constituted genocide. The night before the Blutinger event, Kil emailed the SJSU units hosting it, asking them to withdraw their co-sponsorship. In her email, Kil wrote that even as Blutinger teaches courses on comparative genocide at CSU Long Beach, he seemed to refuse to publicly recognize what she described as the Palestinian genocide. ¹⁹

In May 2024, Sang Hea Kil was suspended by the university for what the administration described as repeated violations of university policies, including witnessed and documented examples of unprofessional and exploitative conduct towards students and others. Kil described herself as a liaison between the administration and encampment protesters on campus. University administrators accused her of directing students to march through the Student Recreation Center and directing students to establish camps, allegations Kil denied. ²⁰

In December 2024, Rochelle McLaughlin, who had been a professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy since 2004, resigned from SJSU. In her resignation letter, McLaughlin stated she could no longer ethically or morally consent to use her labor in any way that supports an institution that she characterized as explicitly manufacturing consent for what she described as the unrestrained, illegal, apocalyptic ongoing series of calculated genocides to destroy Palestine. She called upon SJSU to apologize to Professor Kil, end her suspension, and lead with what she characterized as ethical and moral standards of behavior instead of what she described as aiding the U.S.-Israeli genocide. ²¹

Leadership

As of 2026, Cynthia Teniente-Matson was president of San José State University, assuming the role on January 16, 2023. ²²  Prior to leading SJSU, Teniente-Matson was president of Texas A&M University-San Antonio from 2015 to 2023. Before that appointment, she was vice president for administration and CFO of California State University, Fresno from 2004 to 2015. ²³

1. ”Timeline.” San Jose State University. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://www.sjsu.edu/about/history/timeline.php.
2.  “San Jose State University.” US News and World Report. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/san-jose-state-university-1155.
3. “Campuses.” The California State University. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://www.calstate.edu/attend/campuses.
4. “Enrollment Distribution by Campus.” The California State University. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://tableau.calstate.edu/views/SelfEnrollmentDashboard/EnrollmentSummary?iframeSizedToWindow=true&%3Aembed=y&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowVizHome=no.
5. “History.” The California State University. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/Pages/history.aspx.
6. B. Sakura Cannestra. “San Jose State students stage protest and call for divestment.” San José Spotlight. May 20, 2024. https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-state-university-sjsu-students-stage-protest-and-call-for-divestment-israel-hamas-war/.
7. “SJSU’s Initiatives, Activities and Programs.” San Jose State University. Accessed March 14, 2026. https://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/systemic-racism/initiatives/index.php.
8. “Faculty Quick Facts.” San Jose State University. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://analytics.sjsu.edu/t/IRPublic/views/fac_quickfacts_live/DB_QUICKFACT?%3Adisplay_count=n&%3Aembed=y&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=n.
9. “Rankings by total R&D expenditures.” National Science Foundation- National Center for Engineering and Science Statistics. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingbysource&ds=herd.
10.  ^[1]“Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” San Jose State University. Accessed March 14, 2026. https://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/
11. “Diversity @ SJSU.” San Jose State University. Accessed March 14, 2026. https://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/campus/index.php.
12. “Institutional Excellence Council.” San Jose State University. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://www.sjsu.edu/diversity/campus/council/index.php
13.  ^[1]“Our Commitment to DEI.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San José State University. Accessed March 14, 2026. https://library.sjsu.edu/diversity.
14. ^[1]B. Sakura Cannestra. “San Jose State students stage protest and call for divestment.” San José Spotlight. May 20, 2024. https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-state-university-sjsu-students-stage-protest-and-call-for-divestment-israel-hamas-war/.
15. Nollyanne Delacruz. “San Jose State students set up pro-Palestine encampment, but school warns it must come down.” Mercury News. May 14, 2024. https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/05/14/san-jose-state-students-set-up-pro-palestine-encampment/.
16. Nollyanne Delacruz. “Student encampments end at San Jose State University and University of San Francisco.” Mercury News. May 24, 2024. https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/05/23/student-encampments-end-at-san-jose-state-university-and-university-of-san-francisco/.
17. LaMonica Peters. “Pro-Palestinian protesters stage sit-in at San Jose State University.” KTVU FOX 2. May 14, 2024. https://www.ktvu.com/news/pro-palestinian-protesters-stage-sit-in-at-san-jose-state-university.
18. ^[1]“San Jose State University professor placed on leave after clash with pro-Palestine students.” KRON4. February 22, 2024. https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/san-jose-state-university-professor-placed-on-leave-after-clash-with-pro-palestine-students/
19. Ryan Quinn. “Professors evacuated, put on leave in hectic pro-Palestine protest.” Inside Higher Ed. February 27, 2024. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2024/02/27/professors-evacuated-put-leave-hectic-pro-palestine.
20. Kendall Tietz. “San Jose State professor suspended for alleged violation of university policies during anti-Israel protests.” Fox News. June 1, 2024. https://www.foxnews.com/media/san-jose-state-professor-suspended-alleged-violation-university-policies-during-anti-israel-protests.
21. Rochelle McLaughlin. “Do you value life, SJSU?: longtime professor resigns over San Jose State University support for Gaza genocide.” Mondoweiss. December 15, 2024. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/12/do-you-value-life-sjsu-longtime-professor-resigns-over-san-jose-state-university-support-for-gaza-genocide/.
22. “Presidents,” San José State University, accessed March 16, 2026, https://www.sjsu.edu/about/history/presidents/index.php.
23. ^[1]“Biography,” Office of the President, San José State University, accessed March 16, 2026, https://www.sjsu.edu/president/meet-the-president/biography/index.php.