Sac State Looks To Brighter Future As University Unveils Details Of New Black Honors College 

By Kaya Do-Khahn | Special to The OBSERVER The seminar room of Sacramento State’s new Black Honors College was packed shoulder to shoulder Feb. 19, with people eager to hear details about the nation’s first school specifically designed to serve all students who are interested in Black history, life and culture, and to support Black and African American students to greater success. “This is not a program, this is a college,” said Sacramento State President Luke Wood, adding that the new Black Honors College opening this fall is fashioned in the spirit of HBCUs of the South and Northeast. Wood began his overview of the college by reviewing the California State University 2023 report, which found retention and graduation rates lagging among Black students across CSU campuses. Wood, who was a part of the office of the chancellor’s strategic workgroup for the report, said that there were several recommendations made by the report to advance Black student success, but Sacramento State did not want to pick multiple recommendations and implement them at a mediocre level. “We’re going to pick one thing and we’re going to do one thing well,” Wood said. “And that was to do something that has never...