Full Issue

California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) is the only campus in the U.S. that has supported an endangered canine species on its campus grounds for many decades.Deprived of its prime habitat, open grassland, the San Joaquin kit fox (SJKF) (Vulpes macrotis mutica) was able to adapt to urban areas in the San Joaquin Valley of California.The presence of an endangered species on campus grounds comes with responsibilities and requires knowledge of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).In the spring of 2023, students and faculty observed several violations of the ESA by CSUB Facilities Management due to ground disturbance and rodent control measures that harmed the SJKF population, which were raising pups during that time.This was confirmed by researchers belonging to the Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP) who were tracking collared foxes on campus.To prevent further violations of the ESA, the CSUB Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) and the student-led CSUB organization, Students for Sustainability, supported by faculty, repeatedly called on the higher administration to show leadership and to respond to these repeated violations in a timely manner.A petition to protect the SJKF on campus was started and the CSUB Kit Fox Society was born.Only after the violations were reported to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, 10 weeks after the students first met with the provost, the administration recognized the seriousness of the situation and was open to meetings and discussions with students and faculty.CSUB hopes to become a better steward of endangered species on campus and all species who call our shared environment home.The goal for our campus is to become a living lab where students can learn about biodiversity and become inspired to protect it.In this paper, we describe how we identified violations against the ESA at CSUB, spoke up about environmental injustice, and suggested solutions to the administration.While efforts to monitor and protect the SJKF are still ongoing at CSUB, the hope is for our experience to serve as a warning to other campuses regarding the risks of being inattentive to biodiversity on campus and a call for shared governance by students, faculty, and administration to create research-based, transparent policies, practices, and procedures to protect biodiversity.