The San Francisco State University Student Union, along with the Young Democratic Socialists of America, held a walkout against the recent class and faculty cuts — as well as the tuition raise approved by the CSU — at Malcolm X Plaza on Tuesday at noon.
Northridge, Fullerton and CSULA held walkouts in unison with SFSU student organization YDSA and the SFSU Student Union.
The walkout started at Malcolm X Plaza, making its way past the Administration building and eventually to the bus stop on 19th Ave. Hundreds of students were accompanied by faculty and lecturers — all showing up with picket signs to voice their discontent toward the 655 classes and over 300 faculty being cut at SFSU starting next semester.
On Sept. 21, the Union of Academic Student Workers organized a march to voice their frustrations over the CSU’s decision to increase tuition by six percent over the next five years, totaling 34% by 2028. Tuesday’s walkout highlighted this decision, as students were confused about why tuition is increasing, yet classes and faculty are being cut.
Ali Noorzad, a YDSA member and SFSU student, spoke at the podium at the Malcolm X Plaza to show solidarity with fellow students and send the message that they will continue fighting the tuition increase and cuts.
“I said in my speech that I hope we send a message. I want to send a message to CSU management that this isn’t going to stop until they give us what we want,” Noorzad said. “Working class students make sure that these schools are affordable and accessible. It’s to show that we have agency and say over how these schools are run.”
Chants of “Hey hey, ho ho, greedy admins gotta go,” among others, were echoed by the crowd as they made their way to the outside of the Administration building, where marchers were welcomed to speak in front of the crowd.
Among those speaking was Angelina Moles, part of the lecture faculty at SFSU who teaches communication studies and is also a coordinator for the Metro program in the Liberal & Creative Arts.
“My roommate lost three classes, my best friends have lost their entire load of their classes which means they lose their health insurance,” Moles said. “To be covered through health insurance [as a faculty] you have to have six units. People are losing their health, vision and dental insurance, and now they’re also jobless too, so they’re stripping them to any access to care.”
Adrian Jose Fernandez, a senior in his final semester at SFSU, is considering continuing his education on campus. However, his decision is still up in the air due to the recent cuts.
“I would love to go to graduate school here, but I’m only going to go if my favorite professors are here,” Fernandez said. “So if they’re not here, I don’t see any reason to come back.”
While the tuition increase won’t directly affect Fernandez because he will graduate before it takes effect, he feels for one of his professors who is having two of his three classes cut.
“He’s thinking about whether or not it’s feasible for him to remain in the city and this school due to the cost of living and the lack of effort, it seems from the school district to pay its teachers what they need in order to survive,” said Fernandez.
