The fight against the California State University tuition increase continued as student and faculty protesters confronted the Board of Trustees at the meeting on March 26.
Protesters arrived bright and early at the CSU Chancellor’s Office in downtown Long Beach in a show of protest against the 6% tuition increase approved by the Board of Trustees in September.
The decision has set off numerous protests across the CSU, as tuition is set to increase by 6% every year beginning in fall 2024. By 2029, tuition will have increased by 36%.
“This is our university system, not theirs. We deserve a good, valuable education, an education worth the prestige. They think we won’t advocate for that but they’re wrong,” Wendy, a CSU Los Angeles student at the protest, said.
The protest comes on the heels of a recent walkout at Long Beach State against tuition hikes on Feb. 28.
The crowd arrived equipped with signs and chants. Some students were let into the CSU Board of Trustees meeting to speak to board members. Others waited outside and continued to chant, audible from inside the chamber.
“This movement is above all of us. It shows the care we have for the future generation and the past generations,” Ahsha Jones, a protester, said. “We think we’re just individuals fighting our own battles but we’re not. We’re organizing right now because we know it’s not the truth.”
The protest on March 26 marks the second time a CSU Board of Trustees meeting has been met with protesters. The first was in early September when the tuition hike increase was debated.
It was during those meetings that the tuition hike was approved in a 15-5 vote. It was done in an attempt to close a $1.5 billion budget gap in the CSU budget.
Among the students fighting against tuition increase, faculty members from the CSU system and local community colleges were also present to voice their support.
“If I have to hold another student as they realize they can’t go to school and instead ask me to write them a letter of recommendation for a job I might cry,” Ciera Galbraith, a community college professor, said.
“If I have to do it again, I would like the cell phone number of the people inside so they can do it themselves.”
The CSU Board of Trustees began their four-day meeting on Sunday, March 24 and are expected to wrap up on March 27. To read more about the Board of Trustees’ agenda for each day, click here.