Altering SJSU Name Would Require New State Law

CBS-5 San Francisco, 3/1/07

A San Jose State University spokeswoman said today that it would take a new state law passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to change the university's name.

SJSU students are scheduled to vote later this month on whether the school's name should be changed to California State University- San Jose after student activists gathered enough signatures to compel an advisory vote.

The activists believe that changing the name would align SJSU with the vast majority of the CSU systems other campuses. Only five of the systems 23 campuses -- Humboldt, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Sonoma -- do not use the California State University prefix before their location as their official name. Activists also claim that changing the name will improve SJSU's name recognition and prestige by emphasizing its status as part of the CSU system.

SJSU spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris said that the school was briefly known as CSU-San Jose in the early 1970s but public outcry in the Bay Are prompted legislation by the late State Sen. Alfred Alquist, D-San Jose, which restored the State University suffix to San Jose and the other four non-conforming cities. That legislation would have to be repealed in order to change SJSU's name.

"The education code would have to be changed,'' Lopes Harris said.

University administrators have not taken a formal position on the proposed name change, according to Lopes Harris. However, the university did commission a survey last year about how the "San Jose State University'' name was viewed in the region.

"An overwhelming majority of Bay Area residents recognized the San Jose State name and had a positive view of it,'' Lopes Harris said.

The student vote is scheduled for March 20 and 21.