Dear Chancellor White and California State University Trustees,

Amidst the many challenges facing our students during this time, we are deeply concerned about our high school juniors and seniors who are planning to go to college. Students in our communities already face many challenges on the path to a college degree, but we fear that the COVID-19 health crisis will further exacerbate equity gaps in who goes to college. We applaud the actions taken by the University of California and California State University this week, but more is needed.

Please see the attached letter which outlines our concerns. The pandemic has far reaching implications that will severely disrupt the matriculation of high school seniors living in under resourced communities with little to no access to counselors and other supports. California is working hard to lead our nation during this painful time in our history. We must and can do more to protect our most vulnerable communities. We therefore urge that you protect the future of all students by issuing an extension to the Statement of Intent to Register (SIR), housing and deposit deadlines to at least June 1.

We look forward to your reply.

Signatories include:

Alliance for a Better Community (ABC)

Campaign for College Opportunity

Community Coalition

The EdTrust-West

InnerCity Struggle

Southern California College Access Network (SoCal CAN)

Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

Promesa Boyle Heights

United Way of Greater Los Angeles

United Way of Greater Los Angeles’s Young Civic Leaders

Watts Gang Task Force