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===Violence===
===Violence===
Numerous instances of police violence occurred on multiple campuses since Fall 2009. Students organized massive, coordinated state-wide series of actions on November 18-20 to protest the proposed and voted on 32% tuition increase at the annual Regents' meeting at UCLA. The UC Administration responded by sending overwhelming police force to campuses. On November 20, thousands of protesters gathered around Wheeler Hall at UC Berkeley in support of 42 students, who occupied the building and successfully shut town the operations of the University for the day. While the occupiers were defending the space from the inside, police unleashed unwarranted violence on students on the outside. They used batons, and in a few instances, rubber bullets, injuring the unarmed bodies of over a hundred peaceful protesters.
Numerous instances of police violence occurred on multiple campuses since Fall 2009. Students organized massive, coordinated state-wide series of actions on November 18-20 to protest the proposed and voted on 32% tuition increase at the annual Regents' meeting at UCLA. The UC Administration responded by sending overwhelming police forces in riot gear to campuses. Officers from the university police departments, local county sheriff's offices, California Highway patrol and state police were all called out during the protests.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ktvu.com/news/21674608/detail.html|title=Police Arrest Occupiers Of Wheeler Hall; 41 Arrested|publisher=[[KTVU]]|accessdate=27 November 2009}}</ref> On November 20, thousands of protesters gathered around Wheeler Hall at UC Berkeley in support of 42 students, who occupied the building and successfully shut town the operations of the University for the day. While the occupiers were defending the space from the inside, police unleashed unwarranted violence on students on the outside. They used batons and rubber bullets, injuring the unarmed bodies of over a hundred peaceful protesters.

At the annual Regents' meeting on November 17 the next year at UCSF, the Regents voted another 8% increase while hundreds of police in riot gear used tear gas and batons to fend off protesters from disrupting the meeting. In a particularly heated moment, UCSF Police Officer Jared Kemper drew his gun in front of dozens of students, threatening to shoot at them.

Hundreds of arrests were made across campuses between Fall 2009 and the end of Spring 2011: estimates point to over 600 students and several faculty members.


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 04:58, 6 December 2011

2009 California college tuition hike protests
DurationSeptember 24, 2009 - December 31, 2009
LocationCalifornia
Arrestedover 200

The 2009 California university college tuition hike protests were a series of protests held on college campuses in the University of California system and elsewhere in California in September through December 2009. Protests were mostly made up of students, although faculty, school employees, and others joined in the protests as well. They were protesting against a 32% rise in tuition costs which was approved by the University of California Board of Regents.[1] Protesters were also demonstrating against a cut in pay other cutbacks for the university system.

Background

Beginning in 2008, the state of California was dealing with a major budget deficit. The response was major spending cuts for its state institutions.[2] The University of California school system was also dealing with large budget deficits. In an effort to curb its deficits, the University of California Board of Regents decided to pass an tuition hike for all 10 universities in the system, as did the California State University Trustees for all 23 universities in their system. The Regents and University of California President Mark G. Yudof decided to increase tuition by 32%, which would push the annual costs above $10,000 for the first time ever.[1] Yudof's response to the tuition increase was "When you have no money, you have no money" and said that it was an "unfortunate" consequence of the budget deficit.[1]

A major cause of the university system's budget deficit was due to a lack of state support going to higher education. University officials said the tuition increases were needed as they have already done all they could with spending cuts.[3] In the protests, students would point this out by showing that "California #1 in Prison Spending," yet only "#48 in Education."[1] The tuition hike is a two-step increase with the first hike set to go into effect at the beginning of 2010 and the second for the fall semester of 2010.[4] When the Regents voted to pass the tuition hike on November 18, 2009 many students as well as professors and university faculty broke out in protests.[5] The protests have been compared to similar protests which occurred in the 1960s at California universities.[6]

Protests

Demonstrations were held in September and October 2009 to protests state cuts and layoffs at university campuses in California. Major protests held on September 24 and October 15 were against staff cuts, layoffs and student tuition and fee hikes.[7][8][9] Students at California Maritime Academy protested by having a bake sale and selling cupcakes at $30,000 each.[10]

Major protests against the tuition hikes broke out on the 18th of November 2009 after the regents' vote and in the following days. Students sit-down strikes, blocking cars from entering the universities. Students also hijacked several university buildings, locking themselves inside.[11] Major protests broke out at UC Berkeley, where 41 students were arrested for trespassing for locking themselves inside Wheeler Hall. At UC Santa Cruz, over 100 students participated in a sit-in at the campus' Kerr Hall.[3] They occupied the building for an entire three days before surrendering to police.[12][13] Professors participated in the protests as well, many boycotted by not teaching in the days following the vote to raise tuition

At UC Davis, 51 students and 1 faculty member were arrested at the main administration building. 60 students were arrested at UC Berkley on December 11, 2009 for occupying a school building.[14] At least one faculty member at UC Berkeley (Integrative Biology Professor Robert Dudley) was arrested while observing the protests.

Students chanted slogans such as "Whose university? Our university!" and "Yes we can take back our university."

After the Board of Regents voted students protested outside and chanted "Shame on you" as the Regents left.[3]

Demonstrators occupied an administration building at San Francisco State University for over 23 hours and led to clashes with police until they were eventually forced out.[15]

Along with demonstrations and protests, many professors and graduate students continued to teach classes but incorporated short "teach-ins" in the 5-10 minutes at the end of class, to highlight the proposed (and since then, enacted) tuition increases. Teach-ins often contrasted the cost to attend UC compared to comparable private institutions like MIT and Harvard, as well as the salaries of top administrators (Mark Yudof compared to Susan Hockfeld and Lawrence Summers).

Violence

Numerous instances of police violence occurred on multiple campuses since Fall 2009. Students organized massive, coordinated state-wide series of actions on November 18-20 to protest the proposed and voted on 32% tuition increase at the annual Regents' meeting at UCLA. The UC Administration responded by sending overwhelming police forces in riot gear to campuses. Officers from the university police departments, local county sheriff's offices, California Highway patrol and state police were all called out during the protests.[16] On November 20, thousands of protesters gathered around Wheeler Hall at UC Berkeley in support of 42 students, who occupied the building and successfully shut town the operations of the University for the day. While the occupiers were defending the space from the inside, police unleashed unwarranted violence on students on the outside. They used batons and rubber bullets, injuring the unarmed bodies of over a hundred peaceful protesters.

At the annual Regents' meeting on November 17 the next year at UCSF, the Regents voted another 8% increase while hundreds of police in riot gear used tear gas and batons to fend off protesters from disrupting the meeting. In a particularly heated moment, UCSF Police Officer Jared Kemper drew his gun in front of dozens of students, threatening to shoot at them.

Hundreds of arrests were made across campuses between Fall 2009 and the end of Spring 2011: estimates point to over 600 students and several faculty members.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Tuition Hikes: Protests in California and Elsewhere". Time. 21 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  2. ^ "California 'faces budget crisis'". BBC. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Protests of tuition increase continue on California campuses". CNN. 21 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  4. ^ "Students storm UCLA building to protest expected UC system fee increase". LA Times. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  5. ^ "UC Regents OKs Fee Increase, Students Protest Tuition Hikes (with video)". ABC News KFSN-TV. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  6. ^ "Fee hikes bring student protests back to California universities". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  7. ^ Wollan, Malia; Lewin, Tamar (21 November 2009). "Students Protest Tuition Increases". The New York Times. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  8. ^ O'Hara, Mary (24 September 2009). "University of California campuses erupt into protest". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  9. ^ "Potluck becomes protest at UC Santa Cruz; 3 pepper sprayed, 1 arrested". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  10. ^ "Cal-Maritime students cook up unusual type of tuition protest". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  11. ^ "University of California students protest 32 percent tuition increase". CNN. 20 November 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  12. ^ "Student occupation at UC Santa Cruz ends". CNN. 22 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  13. ^ "Student protests continue at California universities". Press TV. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  14. ^ "L.A. Now". The Los Angeles Times. 11 December 2009.
  15. ^ "Protesters cleared out of San Francisco State building, university says". CNN. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  16. ^ "Police Arrest Occupiers Of Wheeler Hall; 41 Arrested". KTVU. Retrieved 27 November 2009.


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