More than 1,000 students, professors and staff members at
California State University of Long Beach marched and rallied on April 13 in
defense of higher education against budget cuts, tuition hikes,
furloughs and to demand that no more courses be cut.
The
rally began near the Student Union where students and teachers
gathered for over an hour to hear from different organizations
including Students for a Quality Education, La Raza, Students Fight
Back, California Faculty Association and CSU Employee Union members.
When
asked how the cuts have affected him, CSULB student Kenneth Johnson
replied, “They’re basically breaking our legs. Personally, I have
had to lose contact with some friends because they aren’t able to
come to school anymore. That’s why we’re here today, because people
who have been kicked out of these schools have a right to be here.””
Following
the rally, the crowd marched toward Brotman Hall where the building
was shut down and locked up to prevent students from entering.
However, loud militant chanting proceeded with chants such as, “No
hikes! No fees! Education should be free!” and “When education is
under attack what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!”
Students
and teachers held signs that read, “Invest in our education, not in
a useless war!” Some other signs seen throughout the protest read,
“Don’t cut my education for your profit!” and “We are
Wisconsin.” Demonstrators throughout the day invoked the struggles
in Wisconsin as well as the peoples’ victory in Egypt, aligning the
student day of ‘Class Action’ with the general struggle of the
working class around the world.
Organizers
from Students for a Quality Education gathered around the fountain
near Brotman Hall at the end of the march to read their demands,
which included the following, “We, the Students at California State
University are taking action. Chancellor Reed consistently refuses to
fight for CSU funding. The funding he receives is used to enrich
administration and impoverish everyone else. For us to believe that
another CSU is possible, the first step is to reclaim the
Administration Building—the
entity that drives a great level of corruption. We will demand to
assemble peacefully in a building that is paid for by the students.
We have every right to enter this building and present our demands.”
CSULB
junior Monica Garcia, a Liberal Studies major, told Liberation, “As
a future educator I want to make sure there is a budget for me to get
a job when I finally graduate. I started at $1,700 tuition and it is
now $2,500 and I have two years ahead of me. I’m afraid for the
future.”
When
asked about the importance of mobilizing for education, student
Lizette Zepeda, an organizer from Students for Quality Education
replied, “As you saw today, they’re afraid of us. If we have a
community that gets together to do something about it they’re going
to listen to us students because it’s our education.”
Ciana
Lee who is pursuing a degree in Fine Arts Education responded to the
action, “I’m a student and I have a right to education and
having my fees increased because my country is interested in making
wars around the world is not something that I’m stoked about. I need
this education so I can have a better future and create a better
future for my community.”
Joki
Myna who is studying Communicative Disorders told Liberation, “We
all need to get out here to voice our opinion and we need to tell the
school and the government how these budget cuts are affecting us
because we keep paying more and more for less.”
These
responses from students show how cuts to education are affecting
students, their friends, and how attacks on education threaten to
demoralize individual students. The mass numbers and militancy of
students at the demonstration proved that this individual
demoralization can be overcome through the organizing efforts of
students, teachers, and workers. Education is a right, and the Party
for Socialism and Liberation will continue to organize alongside our
sisters and brothers in higher education until education is made
accessible for all students and these attacks come to an end.
