Cal State East Bay To End INSPIRE Program
How INSPIRE made a difference for students like me, and why its loss matters
Written by Naivith Lepe, Staff Writer at The Pioneer Online
California State University, East Bay’s Incoming Student Program for Inclusion, Retention, and Excellence (INSPIRE), a success program for first-year students, will be shutting down after the spring 2026 semester due to lack of funding.
Striving to give students support and purpose in their educational and professional careers, INSPIRE has become an integral part of the transition from high school to university for me as well as many other first-year students.
Before entering CSUEB straight out of high school, I was intimidated by the independence that came with attending university. INSPIRE connected me to valuable resources and helped me adjust to the new environment. Thanks to INSPIRE, I feel confident navigating the rest of my college and professional career — but incoming students may not feel the same without this program.
“It’s very necessary [INSPIRE], especially for first generation students where parents don’t really know how to help their child with their education because they didn’t go through the experience,” said Onye Kaschi Achinulo, a former INSPIRE student and current theater department teaching assistant. “The INSPIRE program is like a foundation for students to really get their confidence boosted up, and also work their way around learning finances throughout college.”
Established in 2022, INSPIRE mainly consists of small cohorts of first-year students who receive help with their general education courses, acclimation to college, and tips for student success, while being guided by staff members who value you beyond your education.
“INSPIRE to me felt like a program where I mattered and had a voice.” – Current INSPIRE student
During my time in INSPIRE, I have had support in areas such as financial planning, schedule planning, communicating with professors, making connections with students and faculty, and being aware of university resources. My peers expressed similar gratitude.
“Before I got into INSPIRE, I was really shut down, I didn’t talk much. Now I feel like I can confidently express myself and be who I was always meant to be while in the company of others,” stated current INSPIRE student, Kai Davis-Banks.
The appeal of INSPIRE, that especially resonates with my peers and I, is the faculty. Classes are guided by passionate professors who go beyond basic lesson plans and lectures. The INSPIRE staff have repeatedly shown genuine interest in the well-being of students, and encourage us to look deeper into our identities, aspirations, and futures.
“I really like how all the professors that I’ve met in INSPIRE have been very accepting. They just feel like people you can talk to. They don’t feel like they’re just professors, and they’re just here to grade my work. It feels like they care about more than just my work and my grades. It feels like they care about me,” said INSPIRE student, Annika.
During the fall 2025 semester, faculty received an email from then-newly-appointed provost Anthony Muscat regarding INSPIRE. A meeting would later be held discussing the end of the program.
The program had not yet developed permanent funding, however previous interim provost Kimberly Greer had committed to funding the program for the 2025-26 academic year.
After the change in provosts, INSPIRE faculty claimed there was a shift in attitude towards the program, with talks of a new campuswide first-year experience. That new experience hasn’t been fully explained yet.
I was made aware this current semester alongside my classmates that INSPIRE would soon be shutting down. This is greatly upsetting to me given it’s helped me so much in just two semesters. I hope one day future first-year students get to experience a similar program.
“As a first generation Latina to go to college and who came from teenage parents unable to attend college, INSPIRE has been extremely helpful, INSPIRE has helped college be less confusing. It has been resourceful and guided me like no other.”– Current INSPIRE student
Many students were taken aback by this information, as the program served as an effective aid for students to adapt to their new environment and further develop their own identities. Retention for my class was great, and satisfaction with the program was high.
To give a proper farewell to the program, INSPIRE students and staff will be hosting a mock funeral demonstration on May 5 from 1:15–3:30 p.m. in the South University Union Multi-Purpose Room.
“I’m concerned and worried about the cuts, and how the school is moving, especially with the $50 million. We talked to the provost. He came to our class. He was the guy who cut INSPIRE. It felt like a lot of corporate bull—-. He said that the board was all alumni from 20 to 25 years ago. And it kind of struck me because 20 to 25 years ago, you could get a cigarette for 25 cents,” said Joana Trimua, a former INSPIRE student who returned to the program as a peer mentor.
“This school specifically is placed in one of the most diverse areas. We get a bunch of diversity and the board doesn’t represent that,” Trimua added.
Achinulo was present for a meeting between Muscat and INSPIRE students. He recounts, “The way the provost popped up in the meeting, it didn’t seem like he had a plan for the freshman. Only a plan for what they wanted to do with the money. And it was like, damn, you’re putting money over the students?”
Students expressed concern for the university’s treatment towards the program, along with how administrators are spending the school’s budget. One student cited the school’s current project — the new garden currently being built next to the Braddock Center.
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Additionally, as CSUEB approves more construction projects and signs contracts with other colleges — such as the university’s agreement with Life Chiropractic College West to rent out rooms in Robinson Hall — students feel the programs that truly make the university feel representative of them have been overlooked and abandoned.
“INSPIRE for me has been my greatest support system. The faculty included professors [and] care stewards [who] have been a light in the darkness I experienced early in my second semester. I’ve also gotten to know the others in my classes that are also a part of the program. It feels like family.” – Current INSPIRE student
INSPIRE faculty member and ethnic studies professor Raju Desai has been with the program for three years of its four-year run. When asked about his thoughts regarding the future of INSPIRE, and the likelihood of it returning, he stated, “I honestly don’t know because I don’t even know what the full plan is for the first-year experience going forward. I was asked to continue teaching, and was told I would have two sections each semester. I don’t know if they feel like that’s INSPIRE, but it’s not just having one person teach a class.”
Dr. Desai added, “There’s a lot more to INSPIRE than that. I’m always hopeful. I’m hopeful that something will happen, but I’m not sure how soon or when that will happen.”
Like Dr. Desai, I’m hopeful that INSPIRE will continue in some form, as the program has had a profound impact on me and my peers and could do the same for future students.
“The INSPIRE program was not voluntary. At first I wasn’t happy but I let it go. I let time do its thing. I was a very lonely person and had tons of anxiety over time. INSPIRE would do group work which helped me create friends. This program helped heal my trauma from bullying. Everyone was welcoming and it felt like home,” stated an anonymous INSPIRE student.
“Please let others experience this. Just because you did not have an impact, doesn’t mean we didn’t,” they added.
University President Cathy Sandeen and Provost Muscat are invited to attend the INSPIRE funeral demonstration on May 5. Other students, faculty, and friends are invited to attend as well. My classmates have put exceptional effort into our final goodbye to INSPIRE. We are coordinating presentations for the mock funeral, in hopes of giving the program a beautiful sendoff.
This story originally appeared in The Pioneer Online on May 4, 2026.
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