WHEREAS, the California State Student Association (CSSA) is the single recognized voice of more than 480,000 students enrolled in the California State University (CSU) system; and 1

WHEREAS, the mission statement of CSSA is to improve the lives of CSU students by advocating for student needs and engaging students in system wide, state, and federal higher education policy making; and 2

WHEREAS, the Graduation Initiative 2025 goals are “formally established to include target

rates for both first-year students and transfer students at the four-year and six-year markers while simultaneously eliminating equity gaps”; and 3

WHEREAS, Cal State Apply classifies Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) applicants as White which misrepresents the Caucasion data and does not allow for the equity gap to be addressed in the SWANA community; and 4

WHEREAS, the current Cal State Apply requests applicants to select their race to best describe their racial background; and

WHEREAS, SWANA is a geographical term that replaces non-inclusive terms such as Middle

East North Africa (MENA), Middle Eastern, or Arab; and

WHEREAS, the classification of North Africans, Middle Easterners, and at times South Asians, as “Caucasian,” is a manifestation of the historic racialization of minority groups within the United States and the exclusion of persons of Middle Eastern descent from this discourse; and 5