Students March For Education

More than a thousand protesters gathered on the Cal State Long Beach campus Thursday afternoon in support of the Day of Action to Defend Education movement.
“It is an amazing sight,” said senior student Shawna Francisco. “This is the biggest protest I have ever seen on this campus.” Students, faculty, and staff gathered on upper campus at noon in an effort to combat the recent budget cuts, which have raised tuition rates at the UCs and CSUs by over 30 percent and stagnated the CSUs acceptance rate. Protesters came armed with signs, megaphones, noise makers and a fighting spirit to help make their point; the stranglehold of the budget cuts on the students of Cal State Long Beach needs to stop.
“No one is going to give you anything,” shouted a student from the stage at upper campus. “You have to take it!” The crowd erupted in cheers of affirmation as the speaker left the podium.
The rally felt more like a music festival as people boogied to the southern zydeco groove of Bennie and the Swampgators. The assembly garnered a sense of solidarity and community to a usually disconnected campus. “People don’t feel connected on campus,” said Francisco. “So it was really nice to see students come together for a common cause.”
When the music came to an end, the march started. Protesters funneled down the stairs outside the Student Union, snaking their way to Brotman Hall in a line four people wide. The walls of passing buildings echoed the chant, “The people united will never be divided,” as students shouted the phrase in unison. The exodus culminated at the fountain in front of Brotman Hall, as staff members kept a watchful eye on the rally from their second story offices. Multiple speakers ignited the crowd from the fountain’s ledge,reminding students that this is going to be a continuous fight.
President F. King Alexander was said to be in Washington, D.C lobbying for the CSULB community.