The California State University Board of Trustees approved the second fee hike this year in a meeting on Wednesday ““ this time raising the tuition to $5,970. The 9 percent increase passed nine to six as protestors from ReFund California tried to rush the CSU Long Beach chancellor’s office, where the meeting took place.
Police tried to keep the protesters at bay, using tear gas to prevent them from entering. In the process, protesters shattered a glass door and injured three police officers, one of whom was taken to the hospital. Four of the protesters, including one UCLA student, were arrested.
These on-scene protests were accompanied by smaller localized protests at the CSUs. In CSU Monterey Bay and CSU Fullerton, members of CSU Students for Quality Education assembled to protest the fee hikes. The coalition was created post-recession to protest the refusal of education to those who cannot afford it.
In light of the Occupy movement, large nonviolent protests are becoming commonplace. And though this method can be used to achieve necessary measures, such as affordable education, they are often misdirected.
This is evidenced by the outrage against the CSU Board of Trustees by ReFund California, a coalition designed to bring more federal funding to California, so fee hikes never have to happen. Protesting the trustees themselves, who are mere victims of the underfunded state, is futile.
The localized protests on the CSU campuses, far from the trustees, seem to have a clearer idea of their goals despite a quieter atmosphere. Though they protest the same fee hikes ReFund California does, their goal of having an affordable education is more in tune with their actions.
Since their action is localized, it speaks to the real in-the-classroom problems and the direct effect it has on the students. The protests of CSU Students for Quality Education demonstrate the desperation of students at the hands of the ever-increasing fees, and at the core of their argument is a desire to simply have quality education. Where the Long Beach ReFund protests are unruly and rage-fueled, the CSU protests paint a calmer picture of students in need.
Email Kass at gkass@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to opinion@media.ucla.edu.