99>1: Occupy UC-Santa Cruz
By Maria Jennings, UCSC SLAP.
The movement to occupy education has swept through the state like wildfire, and the students at University of California, Santa Cruz took it on with great enthusiasm. On November 9th, the statewide day of action, the banana slugs joined together in Quarry Plaza to demand fair, affordable, and accessible education.
The crowd was filled with students from a diverse array of ethnic backgrounds, most of whom had come prepared with their own homemade signs – “tuition is theft”, read one, “where’s my diversity?” read another. Many students held black and red signs that read in giants letters “make banks pay”, a direct and bold command that it was time to hold corporations accountable for their actions.
A variety of speakers took the stage, some lamenting on the tuition hikes, others complaining of the evaporating diversity in the wake of an increasingly unaffordable university. A speaker visiting from the Occupy Oakland strike came to express the importance of solidarity between the different wings of the occupy movement.
The rally had an incredible turnout, which was truly the most beautiful thing about it. So many students, faculty and members of the administration had come together, ranging across ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic lines, had come together to express their dissatisfaction with the state of education, as well as show their support for one another.
If the occupy movement wants to succeed, it is this solidarity that is key. The movement is expanding so rapidly, and making so many different demands that is important to remember the roots of the movement – a grassroots campaign urging for social justice and tangible change. The November 9th day of action is only the beginning. If the 99% continues to work together to demand equality, there are no limits to what we can accomplish.
Occupy Education: UC Santa Cruz by Erica Ayón, UCSC SLAP
November 9th marked the day of action to Occupy Education. On this day around 300 protesters rallied at UCSC’s Quarry Plaza. The protesters were a convergence between frustrated UCSC students, faculty, and union organizers. This rally was a part of the “Occupy Education” movement across the UC System targeting tuition increases and the banks that foster student loan debt. Those present at the rally held signs that read “Make Banks Pay, Refund Education” along with “Don’t Balance the Budget on my Back!”
During the open mic session at the Quarry rally a student denounced the fact that students are paying more than the state for their education. He then addressed the skyrocketing tuition shouting, “Don’t privatize my University!” Hundreds of people erupted in agreement, ”We’re fired up, can’t take it any more!” With a growing crowd the protesters then marched to the main entrance of campus and continued to downtown Santa Cruz where they would meet up with the Occupy Santa Cruz protesters.
There were cries of “We are the 99 Percent”, the Occupy Education and Occupy Santa Cruz movement were now one. These are not separate movements, it’s the same population fed up with the way those in power control access to everything, education included. The united UCSC community and Occupy SC members then moved to nearby bank Wells Fargo, and surrounded the building chanting “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” Wells Fargo was targeted because it is a top holder of debt for UCSC students and has been convicted in the past for predatory lending practices.
As a participant of Occupy Education, I felt unified with other students in sharing my worries about the escalating cost of education. This year I am working two jobs to help pay for my education and I still worry that I won’t earn enough to help my single parent cover the cost; it’s a feeling of constant guilt. Unfortunately this is the case of many students, many are distracted from their schoolwork with stressing about working to make ends meet. We are stressed out and fed up, which is why I believe that the momentum is not leaving anytime soon. Students are tired of our education, a public good, turning into a private commodity. Those that have been in the UC system for four years have experienced a fee hike every year for the past four years and have seen quality diminish. The public is rapidly losing access to what should be an affordable education and if the tuition hikes don’t stop only those privileged enough will be able to afford what used to be a public good.
Students and the community need to reclaim what was once theirs. We the 99 percent have an indubitable right to demand changes from the institution as it is benefitting only those who control it. We need to participate in direct actions and take back the power that is in the hands of the greedy 1%. We need to invest in the future and fund higher education! Students are the 99 percent.
