People on campus today around noon may see a funeral-like
procession of students marching silently and bearing crosses.
The object of their mourning? The loss of minority and
low-income students to the university.
To grab students’ attention, protesters will be holding a
silent march through campus beginning at noon to condemn state
budget cuts to university outreach programs.
“We wanted to make it visual for students because
we’ve had rallies and stuff, but it’s not as
impressive,” said Darryl Molina, a third-year Asian American
studies student and one of the march’s organizers.
“We’re trying to get creative. It’s time to
really catch the attention of the students,” he said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting university
outreach by $33.3 million, which would wipe out funding for
programs that attempt to educate high school students about higher
education opportunities.
Many view outreach as an essential way for the University of
California to maintain diversity after Proposition 209 banned the
consideration of race and gender in admissions in 1997.
The march, organized by the University and Neighborhood Learning
and Outreach Coalition, will consist of students bearing crosses
with phrases such as “R.I.P. outreach” or “R.I.P.
diversity.” Other students will distribute flyers explaining
the context of the protest.
“We’re not trying to be morbid or anything,”
Molina said with a laugh.
The march today is a copy of a similar march that occurred
during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 24, which
was also put on by the outreach coalition. Molina said public
response to that march was so positive that they decided to have
another one.
The march will begin in front of the Student Activities Center
and up Janss Steps. It will proceed past many of the major campus
eateries, and is timed to coincide with one of the most
high-traffic times on campus.
The march will also be worked into a teach-in that will be
staged to support a diversity requirement, said Allende
Palma/Saracho, Undergraduate Students Association Council internal
vice president.
Marchers will also protest a proposed increase in student fees
which would send in-state undergraduate fees up by 10 percent and
out-of-state fees up by 20 percent, a 10 percent cut in freshmen
enrollment for 2004-2005, and the outsourcing of jobs performed by
university employees.
Matt Murray, student representative to the UC Board of Regents,
said campus protests can have an impact on decisionmakers in the
state Capitol who ultimately set the university’s budget.
“Events like this that happen on campuses, to me, are
designed to raise awareness about the issues so that people in
Sacramento see what the people in the state care about,” he
said.