UC Students Not Thankful for Tuition Increases

Students continued to protest tuition increases on the UC Davis campus, and at the UC regents’ meeting in San Francisco this past week.  On Thursday, November 11, 8% tuition increases were approved by the UC Regents.

Hundreds of UC students rallied at the regents’ meeting on Wednesday at UC San Francisco. Around 100 police in riot gear blocked the protesters from entering the building. The police sprayed pepper spray and arrested around 11 UC students. Students did get to address the regents during the meeting, nevertheless fees went up.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 was a day of action on UC campuses. A small contingent of students marched around campus and eventually occupied Mrak Hall. Fred Wood, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, came and addressed the list of demands the students had compiled.

The list of demands consisted of:

1. No increase in tuition or fees.
2. Fully fund the Women’s Resources and Research Center and the Library.
3. All outside corporations at UC Davis must fund full ride scholarships for AB 540 students in order to operate on campus.
4. The Financial Aid Office Front Desk must be open from 9-5 Monday through Friday for Student Support Services. In addition, the phone call cap must be eliminated.
5. Have University and City of Davis officials review leasing contract policies that conflict with financial aid distribution.
6. Have UC Davis officials pressure the UC Regents to appoint a peer-elected student representative per campus to be a voting member of the UC Regents.
7. Teaching Assistant contracts must be extended permanently representing Teaching Assistants’ demands.

While Mr. Wood did address each demand, he was unable to make any sort of commitment to solve the problems. The student protesters were frustrated with what appeared to be the administration’s attempt at pacifying the students by sending a representative to listen to the demands. Students recognized that Wood was not promising any change and continued to demand change, saying that they were not going to leave Mrak Hall until all of their demands were met. The administration eventually promised the students a dialogue with Chancellor Katehi and the protest disbanded at around 6:30 pm.

The regents are dealing with a large budget deficit, Regents Chairman Russell Gould called the fee increase and a proposed change to the UC retiree benefits a “balanced plan” for dealing with the deficit. The majority of the regents were hesitant to increase tuition, but they saw it as “necessary to maintain the university’s high quality” .

Fees were raised for both graduate and undergraduate programs. Undergraduates are continuing to stage protests until their demands are met. Graduate students, specifically the teaching assistants, are threatening to strike at the end of the month.