Dear Cal State East Bay campus community,
The start of the academic year is such an exciting time as we welcome students and faculty back to campus. We appreciate the staff and administrators who have worked all summer in preparation for the new year. As we gear up for the year, we want to provide a reminder about resources and support for a fully engaged campus.
Freedom of Expression and Civil Discourse
The California State University system and Cal State East Bay have a strong commitment to freedom of expression, fostering civil discourse, and supporting dialogue and engagement on campus. The system has an Interim Time, Place and Manner Policy which is a content neutral and message neutral policy that sets guidelines for how and where expression can take place on any CSU campus. There is also a helpful Time, Place and Manner FAQ page. Each campus has an addendum that lists and identifies campus spaces as public, limited, and non-public (please go to this page and use drop down menu to select “East Bay”). From the TPM policy, the CSU has three types of campus places, public, limited, and non-public. Please familiarize yourself with these policies and place designations.
If you have any questions regarding the CSU TPM policy or our campus addendum, please contact the Interim Chief of Staff, Erik Helgren at erik.helgren@csueastbay.edu.
If you have any system questions regarding the CSU Interim TPM policy you may contact Jeanne Tran-Martin, interim director for CSU Student Affairs Programs at jtmartin@calstate.edu.
2026 Election Season
November 3, 2026, is the Midterm Election. The CSU encourages universities to promote nonpartisan civic engagement by supporting voter registration, voter education and voter participation consistent with applicable law. As required by Education Code section 66851-66852, each university must designate a Student Civic and Voter Empowerment Coordinator to lead and coordinate these efforts on campus. Our Cal State East Bay Student Civic and Voter Empowerment Coordinator is Ms. Yvette Yarbor, Executive Assistant/Diversity Program Specialist in the Office of Diversity. Ms. Yarbor has been working with students facilitating programs and information sessions to encourage voter education, registration and participation. There may be various voter activities from other departments and units on campus to encourage voting.
We want to remind Cal State East Bay employees that while universities play an important role in encouraging civic participation, university resources may only be used for permissible, nonpartisan activities and may not be used to advocate for or against candidates or ballot measures except as otherwise authorized by law. This means that university employees are prohibited from these prohibited activities during their work hours or in their workplace.
Please direct any questions about university election activities to Jeanne Tran-Martin, interim director for Student Affairs Programs at jtmartin@calstate.edu. The Chancellor’s Office of General Counsel has created an Elections Handbook to provide background regarding election activities for the university. Please direct any questions about the Elections Handbook to your university counsel.
We are looking forward to an amazing year. Thank you for all that you do in support of our entire Pioneer community.
Sincerely,
Cathy Sandeen
President
August 27, 2026