There's One Department That's Always on the Chopping Block When University "Budget Cuts" Come Calling. But It's the One Students Need the Most.

"For the past two decades, Don Romesburg has been at the forefront of LGBTQ-inclusive education. As the former chair of the women's and gender studies department and developer of the queer studies minor at Sonoma State University, Romesburg-a historian of sexuality and gender-was instrumental in providing students with knowledge about the history and struggles of the queer and trans community and what he describes as a "safe haven" within the larger collegiate experience."

"In response, students and faculty from the WGS department led a movement pressuring the state legislature to fully fund the university and in June successfully restored most of the money that would have been cut, as well as an additional $45 million earmarked for a specific Sonoma State "comeback plan." However, despite WGS's significant role in this win, SSU's current administration refused to reinstate the department, leaving students this fall with a gap in their education,"

Don Romesburg spent two decades advancing LGBTQ-inclusive education, chaired the women's and gender studies department, and developed the queer studies minor at Sonoma State University. Romesburg, a historian of sexuality and gender, provided students with knowledge about queer and trans history and struggles and created what he described as a "safe haven" within the collegiate experience. He advocated for age-appropriate LGBTQ+ history in K–12 curricula in California and chronicled that work in Contested Curriculum: LGBTQ History Goes to School. Sonoma State announced eliminations of six departments including women's and gender studies for budget cuts, and the administration later refused to reinstate the department despite restored funding.

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