SACRAMENTO – An unprecedented coalition of representatives and supporters from all three tiers of California’s public higher education system rallied around the State Capitol Monday morning to protest against the proposed budget cuts to California’s higher education system.
Sacramento’s demonstration – which included a small contingent of 17 students from Cal State Long Beach and CSULB President F. King Alexander – had an estimated attendance of 2,000 to 2,500 people, and was just one of six statewide rallies organized by the student-led coalition, Students for California’s Future. The coalition consisted of organizations from the California State University system, the University of California system and California’s community college system.
The rally began when students and supporters first gathered at Raley Field in the city of West Sacramento across the river from downtown Sacramento. Dozens of buses began streaming in throughout the morning to drop off participants.
Many of the school’s supporters arrived donning custom T-shirts, banners and signs. Added to the mix of California’s educational diversity were jugglers from Humboldt State, who said Monday’s march was their first.
Joining the group in support was Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a California native who graduated from UC Berkeley. Garamendi also led the march to the Capitol, which began at Raley Field, went over the Tower Bridge above the Sacramento River, and continued on down Capitol Mall toward the Capitol.
According to Garamendi’s director of communications, Michael S. Roth, he was the only politician to join in the march itself.
Of the budget cut situation, Roth said, “I don’t think anyone wants to cut education, but this is about choices. It’s about prioritizing, and when the Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is presented with a choice, he’ll be with the students, the faculty and working families, not yacht owners.”
At the demonstration’s pulpit on the north entrance of the Capitol, Garamendi addressed the crowd and said that the demonstration reminded him of the spirit of the 1960s.
“You are all here because you have a message for the legislature, and the message is simple: Kick us out and we’ll vote you out,” Garamendi said. “There is no more important investment than the investment of students.”
During the speeches, some participants wrote slogans in chalk on the cement, which said “educate, don’t incarcerate” and “don’t hate, educate.”
Dozens of plastic decorated dummies were also rolled around on platforms and displayed during the march. They represented the thousands of “missing students” who would not be admitted to California’s higher education system if its budget were cut.
Alexander was there to show support for the CSU system and CSULB. He spoke with Garamendi and other local Long Beach politicians about California’s education situation.
Alexander told the Daily Forty-Niner that one in six students in the U.S.’s higher education system is in California and stressed the importance of their contributions.
“That’s 3.2 million who can transform an economy in a short period of time if they get the education they need,” Alexander said.
Joel Bridgeman, a member of San Jose State’s Associated Students,and native of the Bay Area city of Richmond, was one of the first speakers Monday.
“We have a solution for the legislature: We are the solution,” Bridgeman said. “We don’t want a free education. We want to work for it.”
Bridgeman added that receiving higher education was a “leg to mobility. That’s what the CSU is all about … [You can] lead by leadership or lead by crisis. California has a problem because it’s leading by crisis.”
The majority of the march was comprised of students, including CSULB student supporter Michael Yi, the Associated Students, Inc. secretary for system-wide affairs. Yi was one of the key organizers for CSULB’s involvement.
Being in Sacramento on Monday was “very empowering,” Yi said. “I feel like we had a lot more people on our side to support us than we previously thought.”
Aldo Flores, a senior CSULB marketing major, said he came to Sacramento because he wanted to make a difference even though he is graduating in May.
“I just tried to get involved in the campus because I have been working two jobs since I started, and I’m still working two jobs, but I just feel that I have to give back because I’m leaving,” Flores said. He added that he wants to help make California’s education system better for his younger sibling.
Press Secretary for Gov. Schwarzenegger Aaron McLear said the governor’s office did not have an official statement regarding the statewide protests and that the governor was not at the Capitol Monday.
“There have been protests like this since the beginning. This is kind of a daily thing … It’s not really news to us. He’s just as frustrated as [everyone else is]” about the budget cuts, McLear said.
Garamendi said that Monday’s events were the first day, but not the last of their efforts, adding that the participants send the message statewide that “education is the important investment of all.”
Cynthia Romanowski and Tiffany Rider also contributed to this report.
VIDEOS
Cal State Long Beach students, many from the Associated Students, Inc., participate in the march to the Capitol on Monday. Video by Bradley Zint
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi rallies the crowd at Raley Field in West Sacramento before participants march to the Capitol across the river on Monday morning. Video by Bradley Zint
Participants from Students for California’s Future march to the Capitol in protest of the higher education system budget cuts proposed by the state government. Video by Bradley Zint
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