Thousands of faculty and students rallied at California State University campuses throughout California yesterday to protest funding cuts and rising tuition. Building occupations and sit-ins occurred at Cal States Northridge, East Bay and Los Angeles, as well as at the Pomona and SFSU campuses, according to the LA Times. However, Angus Johnston, of the Student Activism blog, reported occupations at eleven of the CSU campuses. He also said that students are demanding the resignation of Chancellor Reed. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that eight hundred students marched on the administration building at CSU Long Beach. According to Occupy California, the Associated Press estimated that over 10,000 students participated in the actions.
Gov. Brown wants to slash the CSU and UC budgets by $500 million each (and the community colleges by $400 million), which will result in enrollment cuts, tuition hikes, teacher layoffs, and reduced course offerings. Many students have already had to postpone their graduation dates because they haven’t been able to get the courses they need to graduate, greatly exacerbating their financial woes as they must pay for an addition year or two of tuition and housing.
Most of the occupations ended by evening, although students continued their sit-in at Sacramento State until this morning.
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