Photo courtesy of James E. Walton

The University Lecture Series (ULS), which brought the likes of Harvard University professor Cornel West and film director Spike Lee to speak at California State University, Fresno, has been suspended until at least January of 2010, according to administrators.

“I understand why it has to be canceled, but man, I just think the college campus is a different place without folks of that stature,” said James E. Walton, Ph.D.

The dean of undergraduate studies Dennis Nef, Ph.D., was the acting Provost at the time the decision was made to suspend the program for a year. He said, in an e-mail interview, the $40,000 that the ULS was budgeted was needed elsewhere this year.

“We can provide as many as eight courses for that amount of money,” Nef said.

The $44 million cut to Fresno State this year meant that the administration had to evaluate trade-offs, Nef said. The priorities were to serve the students, maintain employment and ensure public safety.

Photo courtesy of James E. Walton

“The university lecture series is one of the things that makes the university an institution of higher education,” Nef said. “It supplements the things going on in the classrooms, the laboratories and lecture halls.”

Nef said Fresno State will miss out on intellectual discussions with speakers like past guests Bernard Kouchner, the founder of Doctors Without Borders, and Jean-Michel Cousteau, the president of Ocean Futures Society.

The current Provost and vice president of academic affairs William A. Covino, Ph.D., said that the ULS was a great series and he would like to bring it back.

“We’re considering it now, and are waiting to see where our projected budget stands for 2010,” Covino said.

Walton said he served on the ULS committee for about 10 years, and has been present for many of the lectures. He said that Fresno State is elevated when someone like Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. or author Joyce Carol Oates makes an appearance.

“We’re missing out on those kinds of giants,” Walton said.

He said it’s unfortunate that the series couldn’t have just cut back the number of speakers and still brought some “giants” to the university.

“That’s the kind of education that you just don’t get in the classroom,” Walton said.

Thanks to Instructionally Related Activity (IRA) grants, some clubs and colleges are trying to fill the gap that the suspension of the ULS has left behind. The College of Arts and Humanities, the Ethics Center and Café Scientifique, as well as others, have brought distinguished speakers to Fresno State.

Walton recalled when Harvard University brought a young Malcolm X to speak at a rally that energized the college campus in the ‘60s.

“Those would be the kind of people that The University Lecture Series could bring on campus that would energize the students and the community,” Walton said. “We’re missing all that now, because we just don’t have those funds.”