What are we going to do with our REALLY good pictures? Let all of Sacramento see them! This April, Second Saturday Art Walk will see pictures of the rally taken by Stephanie Horvilleur at the Denim Spot on 20th Street!
Please make it out to support the venue that has taken the time and energy to support our efforts. We want to get a great turnout, and other Sacramentans would love to see the grassroots activists there!
Today, according to a CHP estimate, over 3,000 people marched from Raley Field to the Capitol. This isn't counting those who came directly to the Capitol, like Sac State Coalition members who marched from campus all the way to the protest. Marchers made noise during the whole trek, attracting the attention of local businesses and schools that were along the way.
Marchers were greeted at the Capitol by other protestors. There was no end to the arrival of students. Some came all the way from San Diego to take part in what has turned out to be one of the largest protests for higher ed of all time!
Speakers included Sac State student, SSC member, and community leader Yeimi Lopez, who told her story of higher education. Like many others, her story includes financial hardship and hard decisions that can even come down to whether to buy groceries or books. We came to the Capitol with righteous anger, but also with solutions. Students wrote and signed petitions and letters. We also took the initiative to lobby legislators after the protest, explaining their cases and drawing attention to possible solutions like AB656, which would tax oil companies.
Legislators got the message that education should not be for sale. Students are being priced out of the American Dream, and one of the main themes at the rally was the growing divide between the elite and those who can't afford education. As prices skyrocket, the gap between the rich and the poor can only grow as qualified low income students are being told they are not wanted if they can't pay for 4-year, and, increasingly, even 2-year schools. Students who have every chance of success in higher ed are being turned away so that those remaining can fight over the few class sections left.
Students also told legislators what to expect if they couldn't be bothered to stand up for students. Legislators can't afford to lose the support of the 3.5 million students in California.
Our work is far from done; we must continue to demonstrate proactive political involvement. SSC will continue to support making change, including lobbying legislators and rallying students to stand up for their rights.
This means YOU--where you at the Capitol? What are you going to do in the near and distant future for student rights? NOW is the time to MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
March 4th is a day for public higher education. We're calling on all students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and community supporters to come to the Capitol to educate our legislators on the importance of public education (K-12, Community College, CSU & UC).
We'll be giving lessons about all aspects of the value of public education from the history of the Master Plan to the stories of students who can't get enough courses to graduate. Hope to see you there.
11:00am - 1:00pm
Capitol Building, North Steps, Sacramento, CA 95814
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 almost 400 Sacramento State students, faculty and media correspondents joined the Sac State Coalition in mourning the death of California's committment to the higher education master plan at a "Mock Funeral".
The Mock Funeral began with a small march around the Library Quad, gathering the first 100 or so students. As the march grew it's span encompassed the entirety of the Library Quad!!!
As the crowd began to grow larger than expected, faster than expected, we moved into the grassy area of the Library Quad and proceeded to start the "funeral service" in rememberence to California's committment to the higher education master plan. Even the sun came out in attendence...
There was a small coffin placed in the middle of the gathering, symbolizing the Mock Funeral. A number of student and faculty speakers rallied the crowd, creating a beautiful energy that hadn't been present at Sac State in a long time.
Students went into an uproar when they learned that a now ex-senior official in the Chancellor's Office had wasted over $150,000 in misc. travel expenses over a three year period, with charges like $400 a night suites at 5 star hotels...
We passed out note cards and asked students to write down what fee increases, furloughs, decreased class offerings, part-time lecturer cuts & other affects of budget cuts meant to them. As the speeches finished up we had everyone put their cards into the coffin.
One of the lead organizers, Alma Lopez, then picked up the coffin and began the march to the administration building on campus... 100's, plural, followed, chanting in unison!
Students were upset, even angry, charging the air with an emotional electricity, fueling the peaceful and civil demonstration in rememberence of a time where higher education was accessable, affordable, and rich in its quality.
Students marching outside of President Gonzalez's Office. A.S.I. student government President Robert Torres stands by idlely as the protest marches past!
As everyone made it out of the administration building, safely and unharmed, we rallied out front of the President's Office window. Below is a video that a student took of the march and how it ended, safely and peacefully! A great success...
To everyone who was able to make it out... Thank you for joining the Sac State Coalition in the mourning process.
However, please remember that we are still here, within the higher education system, and that we must take full advantage of the quality of education that's before us or we are only hurting ourselves... So we will fight for better accessability, affordability and quality of public higher education, for ourselves, for family and friends, and for the future of California... but we will also continue to learn in the never ending progression of ourselves, taking great pride in that.
More pictures from Monday:
