Sonoma State University, also known as SSU, Sonoma State, and Sonoma, is a public university which is part of the California State University (CSU) system. The main campus is located in Rohnert Park, California, United States approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Santa Rosa and 50 miles (80 km) north of San Francisco. The university is one of the smallest of the 23 CSU campuses in California. The university offers over 65 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and claims to be the most requested campus of the CSU system.^{[citation needed]}

Sonoma State College, was established by the California State Legislature in 1960 to be part of the California State College system, with significant involvement by faculty from San Francisco State University. Later, as with all California State Colleges, Sonoma become part of the California State University system. Classes offered by the university first opened to 250 students in June 1961 in leased buildings in Rohnert Park where the college offered its first four year Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. With the completion of its two main classroom halls, Stevenson Hall, named for politician Adlai Stevenson II and Darwin Hall, named for Charles Darwin, developer of the theory of Natural Selection, the college moved to its permanent campus of 215 acres (87 ha) in 1966 (expanded later) where the first graduating class received their degrees.

A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, or a similar entity such as the District of Columbia. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. Each state supports at least one such system.

Federal funded colleges and universities are limited to military personnel and government employees. Members of foreign militaries and governments also attend some schools. These schools include the United States military academies, Naval Postgraduate School, and military staff colleges.

A state university system normally means a single legal entity and administration, but may consist of several institutions, each with its own identity as a university. Some states—such as California and Texas—support more than one such system.

State universities get subsidies from their states. The amount of the subsidy varies from university to university and state to state, but the effect is to lower tuition costs below that of private universities. As more and more Americans attend college, and private tuition rates increase well beyond the rate of inflation, admission to state universities is becoming more and more competitive.

Alvin Ailey (January 5, 1931 - December 1, 1989) was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance. His company gained the nickname "Cultural Ambassador to the World" because of its extensive international touring. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance. Ailey received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988, just one year before his death.

Ailey was born to his 17-year-old mother, Lula Elizabeth Ailey, in Rogers, Texas. His father abandoned the family when Alvin was only six months old. Like many African Americans living in Texas during the Great Depression, Ailey and his mother moved very often and she had a hard time finding work. Ailey grew up during a time of racial segregation, violence and lynchings against African-Americans. When Ailey was five, his 22-year-old mother was raped by a group of white men, leaving him afraid of whites. Early experiences in the Southern Baptist church and jook joints instilled in him a fierce sense of black pride that would later figure prominently in Ailey's signature works.'