Today, September 24^th at noon students from the University of California system will be walking out of their classes and demanding concrete action and solutions that will benefit the students, workers, and faculty who make up the University of California system.

On September 11, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle reported the UC President's proposal to raise student fees by over 30 percent by the fall of 2010. This unprecedented increase will bring student fees to over $10,000 annually for the first time ever, leading the University even further away from UC's original mandate to provide free public education to the students of California. Such measures are typical of the administration's approach to budget cuts. Instead of using surpluses from the university's revenue-generating units, such as its medical centers, or through steeper pay cuts to top-paid executives, the Office of the President has sought to fund the budget shortfall on the backs of students and low-paid workers through fee increases, layoffs, and furloughs.

The administration has used state cuts to advance a preexisting program of privatization and corporate streamlining. In doing so it has shown a heavy-handed disregard for shared governance with faculty, and has attempted to evade student reaction by making these decisions over the summer.

Let the UC administration that you stand behind the students!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Today September 24th at noon, students from the University of California system will be walking out of their classes and demanding concrete action and solutions that will benefit the students, workers, and faculty who make up the University of California system.

Given the economic crisis; budget cuts and unwarranted tuition hikes seem to be trends that most universities are currently focusing on. There is no university that stands immune to such rash actions. By standing in solidarity with the students in the UC system, we are showing university administrations nationwide that such negligent action will not be tolerated by students nationwide.

This walkout is in solidarity with faculty whose organizational efforts have given students an opportunity to act on their concerns. It is in solidarity with striking UC workers, who are confronted with pay cuts throwing them back into poverty. It is in solidarity with graduate students, who are forced to deal with diminished funding and overcrowded classrooms. First and foremost the student walkout will demonstrate the refusal of the administration's policies.

I stand in solidarity with the students, faculty and workers of the University of California system in demanding:

1) Rollback of student fees to 2008-2009 level. No new fee increases beyond the rate of inflation.

2) No furloughs or pay cuts for employees making under $40,000.

3) Return UC executive pay to 2006 levels, with a freeze on further increases.

Signed by:

Campaign Launched:
September 24, 2009