Thousands of students, faculty and staff gathered at the upper quad Thursday to protest the recent cuts to higher education.
Some people were more aggressive than others, which could be heard in protestors’ chants of “They say cut back, we say fight back!”
“The problem is that a lot of students have been apathetic, but the state has finally driven that apathy to an end,” said Cal State Long Beach freshman Bryan Montalvo. “People coming to this protest means something, especially for a commuter school.”
The March 4 protest, which has been advertised since fall semester through signs such as “M4 is coming,” evolved into a national day of action for public education.
Last semester, more than 800 students and faculty of public education met at UC Berkeley to organize this day in support of not just colleges and universities, but K-12 schools as well, according to a California Faculty Association press release. The day of action spread virally through social media event invitations.
University Police reported that more than 3,000 people attended the protest. Nicoal Sheen, a political science major, was one of the student protestors who were angry with the cuts and wanted change. Sheen is one of the many students whose studies have been affected by the budget cuts and student fee increases.
“They are taking away my chance for education because they want to raise the prices. They are making it a private institution, where we don’t have equal access to public education,” Sheen said. “We have to take action now because the situation is only going to get worse.”
Teri Yamada, CSULB chapter president of the CFA, said she was pleased with the turnout.
“It is very good, especially for this campus,” Yamada said.
The CFA sponsored the event and provided free snacks and water to give to people at the protest.
Before the crowd marched across campus, Bennie & The Swampgators entertained them with Southern folk music, while some people engaged in face painting and others made signs.
“What about MY children?” was a question posed by one of the signs, expressing the concern and sadness that budget cuts have caused. A plane flying overhead was followed by a sign that read, “CSULB supports public education.”
California State University and public education organizations set up tables some yards away from where the band was playing. Some handed out pens, while others held up huge signs and yelled words of encouragement for public education.
The most important goal is “to be united,” said Duan Jackson, chief steward of the Academic Professionals of California at CSULB and assistant director of the University Honors Program. APC wants “to make sure [future generations] graduate and get good jobs.”
Arnoldo Flores, a Facilities Management worker at CSULB, went to the protest to support the battle against cuts and employee furloughs.
“We have to work two days less in a month. It’s not like we have the highest pay, and with two days less of pay makes it even worse. We have to find other ways to subsidize the loss of wages,” Flores said. “All these cuts and furloughs, it affects not just us, but faculty and students as well. I think students are the most important in this situation because their education is suffering tremendously.”
Students marched to Brotman Hall where they urged the speakers to get CSULB President F. King Alexander to speak.
“Bring him down,” the protestors chanted.
Interim Provost Donald Para spoke on Alexander’s behalf because he was in Sacramento.
Some of the protestors jumped in the fountain in the heat of the moment. Jesse Turner, a senior, said he wanted to get people excited, so he stripped down to his boxer briefs and jumped in.
“The California government needs a cleansing. I mean, I just took a bath here and I feel invigorated, and that’s what I think is going to happen to this school,” he said. “The reason we are out here is clear — as clear as the water I was just in.”
While the protest was only set to go until 1 p.m., many continued it at Brotman Hall for a period of time.
University Police Captain Fernando Solorzano said he was happy with how the protest went.
“It’s orderly, and students are not destroying their own campus,” he said.
Students could be seen slowly returning to upper campus, talking about the protest and how the turnout surprised them. Many were still holding their signs on their walk back to class.
Kristen Muha, a communications major, attended the protest with her friend April Dimartile.
“This is my first real protest,” Muha said. “I didn’t think people really cared.”
Late Thursday afternoon, the signs could be seen filling up trash bins around the campus. Their job was done for the day, while students, faculty and staff were left to wait for what’s going to happen next.
Lizeth Beltran, Kasia Hall, Alejandro Hernandez and Rebecca Hostetler contributed to this article.
Also, check out these stories from other news sources.
- Cal State Northridge’s coverage from the Daily Sundial.
- Also, a minute by minute recap on CSUN’s protest and walkout.
- Cal State Fullerton’s story on the protest on their campus.
- Finally, Press-Telegram covers the Day of Action on CSULB, Wilson High School, and Long Beach City College.
This article was modified March 8 at 11:19 a.m.