Fed up with rising fee costs and slashed department budgets, UCSC students staged a massive protest on campus Thursday as students across the nation demonstrated against what many see as higher education becoming unaffordable.
Chanting slogans like “we are the students, the mighty, mighty students!” and “UC Regents, I see racists!” hundreds of students, professors, faculty members and local residents gathered at several points on campus, effectively shutting down vehicle access to the university. At the intersection of Bay and High Streets, roughly 300 people waved signs, distributed literature and spoke through megaphones while media – both local and national – documented the happenings.
“I’m here because I envision a UC system that responds to the needs of students,” said Lionel Church, a junior economics major. “I don’t feel like the students are respected anymore.”
Story continues after slideshow. Photos by Curtis Cartier.
In the last year-and-a-half, University of California fees (UC avoids the term “tuition”) have increased by 41 percent. Meanwhile, lecturers and faculty such as custodians and food service workers have been laid off in droves and programs like literature and humanities have seen their budgets shaved by large amounts. Graduating students are also facing record amounts of debt combined with an unreliable job market.
Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin, a long time lecturer at UCSC, and also facing furlough in the coming months, was on hand at the protest and addressed the crowd at one point.
“The UC system has more money than it has ever had,” he said to the cheers of the assembled crowd. “It’s absurd that they think they can make these kinds of cuts.”
The protests remained mostly peaceful although there were early reports of students carrying knives and clubs and a motorist who said his car windshield was smashed by students. On the UCSC website, a message from Campus Provost David Kliger denounced the reported incidents as “disruptive, intimidating and destructive.”
“Behavior that degrades into violence, personal intimidation, and disrespect for the rights of others is reprehensible, and does nothing to aid efforts to restore funding to the university,” read the statement.
Another note on the school’s site urged teachers and staff to stay home for the day, reading: “Due to continuing access issues at both entrances, employees are advised not to come to the main campus for the duration of the day.”
