Students Not Allowed to Vote
Regarding 1974 Name Change

California State University, San Jose
Name Was Changed Without Vote

Neither students nor all alumni were allowed to vote on the 1974 name change of the California State University, San Jose, historical researchers have concluded. Instead the school's alumni association went straight to the California Legislature to downgrade the school's name to "San Jose State University" without giving students or all alumni the benefit of having a say in the identity of the school that grants their degrees.

Many CSU alumni and grads believe this act violated not only the long-standing tradition of allowing students to vote on university name changes, but also violated the rights of CSU students and alumni in San Jose to maximize the value of their degrees by leveraging the power of the name of the State of California in the school's California State University, San Jose, identity.

In response to these concerns, San Jose students and alumni who seek the right to take advantage of their school's potentially powerful California State University identity have developed a program to restore their school's identity as the founding campus of the CSU. For more information on this see California State University Restoration Plan for San Jose. To support this goals, please join one of the CSU Supporter groups (see Supporters ) or contact alumni@gostate.org directly.