The author participated in the Sacramento State student occupation.
On Wednesday, April 13, CSU Sacramento students, faculty and community members launched
a campus occupation as part of a day of actions and sit-ins across the state
and in all 23 California State University campuses in response to huge fee hikes
and cuts to programs and faculty.
The action started at 12 noon in the quad with a militant rally featuring
student and faculty speakers as well as spoken word performances. The crowd
militantly chanted, “They say cut back, we say fight back,” and “Money for Jobs
and Education, Not for War and Occupation!”
After the rally, 1,500 students marched to Sacramento Hall—the
administration building—and began the occupation. When asked how he felt about the
actions, Rene Ruiz said, “I feel a sense of empowerment, possibilities
and excitement for an equitable society.”
People talked about their personal experiences and how the cuts affected
them. Some talked about how they were going into thousands upon thousands of
dollars in debt. Others talked about how the fee hikes were so immense that
they were going to drop out of school. Students will be expected to start
paying back their student loans with few job prospects.
As the day carried on and it came to night, Sacramento State students learned
that theirs was the last remaining occupation across the California campuses. Calls
started coming in from students and supporters across the state. Students met
with administrators and were told that Sac State University President Alexander
Gonzalez was in Long Beach and could not meet with them until the following day.
The next day, Thursday, students formulated three key demands for the
President that were maintained throughout the occupation:
- A moratorium must be imposed on managerial raises and salaries. The fiscal
priorities of the campus should be instruction. - President Gonzalez must publicly support AB 1326-the oil and gas extraction
fee devoted to higher education. This new revenue would decrease the impact of
current and future budget cuts. - President Gonzalez must publicly support SB 8. If passed, SB 8 will make
public university foundations subject to the California public record laws.
The president refused all three of the demands, offering instead to post the
student demands and statement to the Sacramento State website and his response.
Unwilling to give in, students continued the occupation.
That same day, students from across the state started arriving to support
the occupation. In retaliation, the administration locked down the building that
night, making it impossible for additional supporters to join in and
prohibiting students from returning.
With no action taken besides the publication of their demands and the
President’s outrageous response, the students continued their sit-in on Friday.
Now the students would be locked in the entire weekend and necessities such as
food, toilet paper, and soap would not be allowed to come in.
Around 30 people remained by the time the night came. At 3 a.m. on Saturday,
the police came and threatened force if the occupants did not vacate the
building. The students decided to meet in the parking lot but were further
threatened with trespassing and unlawful assembly by the police if they did not
move.
Facing a police crackdown of their peaceful protest, the students moved to
the dorms and reassessed their strategy. A press conference was held to announce
their commitment to continue the struggle, and assert that they will not stand
for these cutbacks.
The student occupations at Sacramento State and in campuses across California
are yet another sign that the tide is changing. From Wisconsin to Ohio, from
New York to California, a movement of workers and students is taking shape. The
capitalists and their politicians say “cutbacks,” we say “fight back!”
