California State University struck what it called a historic partnership with OpenAI. In early 2025 the system signed a no-bid contract worth $17 million to give more than 470,000 students and 63,000 faculty and staff access to ChatGPT Edu. The tool promised to prepare the next generation for an AI-driven workforce. CSU Chancellor Mildred García declared at the launch that no other university system in the U.S. or abroad matched the scale. The statement carried pride. It also signaled ambition. Yet the rollout met resistance almost immediately. Faculty received word of the deal through a systemwide press release rather than campus consultation. Students learned about it after the fact. Many professors, already stretched by budget pressures, saw the move as tone-deaf. Some turned to old-school blue books and in-class writing to guard against AI-assisted submissions. Others experimented with the technology in assignments while demanding critical reflection from students. The result?…