Student Protests Erupt in California as Regents Raise Tuition 32 Percent

Hundreds of students from around the state converged on the University of California-Los Angeles this week to protest a vote there by state regents Thursday to raise tuition 32 percent to combat major cuts in state funding.

Rallying outside UCLA's Covel Commons, where the regents held a three-day meeting, demonstrators beat drums, chanted and carried signs that said "R.I.P. Our Future." On Wednesday, 14 protesters were arrested -- 12 of them students. The next afternoon, after the vote for the tuition hike, students linked arms in an attempt to block the regents from leaving the building, according to The New York Times. From the article:

Rodrigo Verdugo, 18, a freshman at Cal State San Marcos and the first in his family to go to college, carried a sign that said "no fee hikes." He said he worried that if his parents, migrant farm workers from Mexico, could not afford state university fees, his younger siblings "might have to work in the fields, too, if this becomes so expensive."

Standing next to him, Maria Isabel Rocha mentioned ways the budget cuts were already being felt. "The library has cut hours, we can't print, staff have been furloughed and T.A.s have been cut," she said, referring to teaching assistants. "So there is less instruction and less office hours, but we're still responsible for the same amount of material."

From the Associated Press:

Ayanna Moody, a second-year prelaw student, said she feared she might have to attend a community college next year.

"I worked so hard to be at one of the most prestigious universities. To have to go back, it's very depressing," she said. Administrators "already cut out a lot of our majors and programs. I'd rather they cut some of their salaries."

UCLA graduate student Matthew Luckett agreed: "They should cut from the top," he said, referring to administration salaries.

On Thursday, because of the protesters, some staff and board members were trapped inside the building for hours after the meeting, the Associated Press reports. The regents were led out of the building by a police escort, while officers armed with beanbag-shooting shotguns kept watch over the protesters behind barricades. Click play below to watch an AP report on the protests.



Some protesters barricaded themselves inside Campbell Hall, across campus, where they spent Thursday night. Classes in that building had to be canceled. Others spent the night in tent cities on the campus. On Friday, about 50 UC-Berkeley students reportedly barricaded themselves inside the English Department's Wheeler Hall.

On Wednesday, the regents' meeting was delayed three times when UC workers and students in the audience began shouting and singing, according to university reports. Campus police cleared the entire room and arrested eight members of the audience who refused to leave.

UC President Mark Yudof said in a press release that he will work hard with state political leaders to restore the university's funding and overcome the budget gap brought on by California's fiscal crisis. Yudof stated that the regents' actions were justified in order to "preserve the quality and ensure the access that California expects from the world's premier public research university system."

The 32 percent fee increase approved by the regents will push the cost of an undergraduate education to over $10,000 a year by next fall. The figure does not include living expenses or books.

"I know this is a painful day for university students and their families, but as I stand here today I can assure you this is our one best shot at preventing this recession from pulling down a great system toward mediocrity," Yudof said. "In the long term that would not be good for the students of today or tomorrow. And it would be devastating for California as a whole."

The release stated that the tuition increase (projected to raise about $505 million) will allow the campuses to bring back canceled courses and student services such as regular library hours, as well as hire more faculty and address growing class sizes. Around $175 million of that revenue will be set aside for financial aid.

However, local politicians and union leaders have joined students in protesting the fee increase and proposing alternatives (covered by California Progress Report here and here), all while pointing to Yudof's nearly $1 million compensation package.

The regents may have cast their votes, but the debate and frustration are sure to continue.

You can follow Joshua Chaney on Twitter.


(Click here and here to read The Cram's coverage of protests in September over UC budget cuts).