Around 40 students and faculty from California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) participated in a CSU-wide walkout on Feb. 28 to protest the CSU Board of Trustees decision to raise tuition for students by 6% annually for the next five years.
Some students chose not to attend their afternoon classes in order to protest the CSU’s decision, which was made last September. The walkout, organized in joint effort by Students for Quality Education (SQE), the Abolitionist and Decolonial Learning Collective (ADLC) and Students Against Tuition Hikes, took place from noon to 2 p.m., in front of CSUMB’s Otter Express, garnering attention from those who passed by.
“I think it’s very important to show that we can all come together and fight for the same issue,” said Damian Austin, a third-year student who walked out of his class in support of the protest.
The organizers of the walkout created a list of demands for the University, including a reversal of the tuition hike, public involvement by President Vanya Quiñones to stop increased education costs and greater transparency and student input in how University funds are used.
Holding signs that read “free education, now and forever” and “we pay your salaries,” demonstrators marched past CSUMB’s administration office while chanting slogans such as “down with tuition hikes, up with student rights.”
“Students are just becoming poorer and poorer and they’re getting charged more and more,” said first-year Cheyenne Howell.
Some students used sidewalk chalk to express their frustration with CSUMB administration’s role in the tuition hike, writing personal notes to Vice President of Administration & Finance Glen Nelson and Quiñones outside of the administration office.
One note addressed to Nelson read: “I would really like a sliver of your pay. That would pay for my three brothers’ education, food for my family, [and] possibly some more food. Where are your human MORALS?”
Members of the ADLC reported that facilities were called to remove the messages from the sidewalk shortly after, however many of the messages remained at the end of the day.
In response to the walkout, CSUMB Spokesperson Walter Ryce explained the University is “focused on pursuing scholarships and donor support to offset the impact to students.”
The statement goes on to say that, “61% of Cal State Monterey Bay students are unaffected by the tuition increase as they receive financial aid to cover the full cost of their tuition. Another 14% receive grants or waivers that partially cover their tuition.”
According to Ryce, “the tuition increase provides financial stability for the CSU and individual campuses to allow us to continue work on strategic initiatives that benefit students without relying on the fluctuations in the state budget.”
The walkout put the frustration felt by many on display for the CSU system to see. ”[the tuition hike] makes me feel like I’m being mocked,” said Daniel Cayton, SQE intern and fourth-year student.
Faculty members also made appearances at the walkout to show their support. CSUMB liberal studies lecturer Amy Escalante expressed concern for how the extra cost may affect students’ academic success.
“The increase in tuition is just astronomical and the impact on students is huge … if they’re taking on more shifts at work [to pay for tuition], that might mean that they’re taking fewer classes and taking longer to graduate,” said Escalante. “[The students involved] have a lot of really good research behind what they’re doing.”
According to the ADLC, the tuition hike is unnecessary given the $2.5 billion that the CSU system has in reserves. Instead of being used to fund various student services, the ADLC states that “our tuition is being used to pay administration, invest into the military industrial complex and financial aid.”
The organization notes, however, that access to “financial aid can be extremely exclusive for some students,” not applying to certain groups such as the undocumented.
The CSU’s Operating Budget Plan states that the surplus of money is reserved for various “non-recurring expenses” such as “short-term obligations,” repairs, maintenance and “times of catastrophic events and budgetary uncertainty.”
Despite frustration with the tuition increase, for Howell, seeing the shared cause of other students at the walkout, “allows us to hope that things are going to get better. If we don’t see those improvements, we know that we can keep doing things like this … trying to eventually make a difference.”