AS Government Resolution - Ensuring That Cash Remains an Accepted Form of Payment
Wheras
The mission of the Associated Students of Sonoma State University (AS), a student run, student led auxiliary corporation, is to enrich the lives of students and build a sense of community; and
Wheras
the Associated Students of Sonoma State University is the official voice of over 5,000 students that attend the institution; and
Wheras
the Associated Students of Sonoma State serves Sonoma State’s students through awareness, advocacy, and representation; and
Wheras
On August 1, 2025, Sonoma State University announced via email that several campus establishments—including Lobo’s, Sip, The Kitchens, Toast, and Campus Prints—would transition to exclusively cashless payment systems; and
Wheras
The removal of cash as a common method of payment from university establishments results in an inequitable access to goods and services, disproportionately affecting groups such as unbanked individuals, low-income students, and people unaccustomed or unprepared to make digital payments1; and
Wheras
Research indicates that the shift toward cashless transactions has broader consequences for social inequality. “Crucially, this substitution has significant consequences for social inequality: while people with higher incomes typically benefit from cashless payments through easy and frictionless payments and access to short-term credit, people with lower incomes become increasingly dependent on financial services for which they pay disproportionately high fees.” 2
Therefore, let it hereby be resolved that the Associated Students of Sonoma State University, Inc. affirms that all students, regardless of financial or legal status, should have equitable access to goods and services offered on campus; and
Therefore, let it hereby be further resolved that the Associated Students of Sonoma State University, Inc. encourages SSU to ensure that cash remains an accepted form of payment at all physical campus establishments in order to support all of our students regardless of their economic or legal status.
1 https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/07/californians-cash-is-still-king/
2 Barbara Brandl, David Hengsbach, Guadalupe Moreno, Small money, large profits: how the cashless revolution aggravates social inequality, Socio-Economic Review, Volume 23, Issue 2, April 2025, Pages 735–757, https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwad071
Adopted at a regular meeting of the Associated Students Senate by a 7-0-1 vote on September 2, 2025