In an attempt to unite those in favor of funding higher education in California by means of an oil severance tax, the ASU held a rally in the Fireside Room and Amphitheatre Thursday.
The proposed bill, titled AB 656, would impose a 12.5 percent tax to raise up to $1.3 billion for colleges throughout the state.
The Fair Share for Fair Tuition rally drew a diverse crowd of all ages and ethnicities, including both students and members of the community.
Sixteen individual speakers used the allotted time to address education cuts, determine ways to fund higher education with a particular emphasis on AB 656 and ultimately encourage students to be active.
“It is your education that will let you live your American dream,” Academic Senate President Richard Akers said.
Among those that spoke at the rally were Governing Board President Anthony Gordon, United Faculty President Jeffrey Michels, Dr. Akers, President of the Student Senate of California Community Colleges Reid Milburn and Assemblyman and author of AB 656 Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont).
“In the past year, our state has spent more money on prisons than on colleges,” Torrico said. “(That is) unacceptable. I’ve been taking (AB 656) outside the Capitol to make sure the student voice is heard. Enough is enough.”
Torrico has traveled to 25 colleges throughout the state, but this was the first rally he attended at a community college, he said.
Due to time constraints, Akers delivered the detail he felt was most important to fill his three-minute time slot, urging students to “take action and demand your education.”
In the wake of budget cuts, there are fewer applications for financial aid, and they have been made less available, Akers said. Many students are relying on financial aid and school programs, such as tutoring, to succeed and now they do not have those options, he said.
“The system is preventing students from accomplishing what is expected from them,” Akers said. “Cutting these programs is cutting away their chances at success.”
Though students came and went throughout the two-hour event, and numbers had thinned toward the end, it was viewed as an success by the ASU, Director of Public Relations Jasmyn Oliver said.
The ASU’s main focus was to rally students to take buses they rented to go to Sacramento Monday, and before the event had even ended, they had a full roster and were beginning to organize carpools to accommodate for the overflow of interested students, she said.
“(The ASU) tried hard and worked harder,” Oliver said. “We’ll be representing (Contra Costa College) with the group of students we’re taking to the Capitol Monday.”
Oliver was responsible for gathering all the speakers except Torrico, who was personally invited by Student Trustee Christina Cannon.
After the rally, a brief panel discussion was held in the Fireside Room. This gave attendees a chance to ask speakers about their plans to take legal action to perpetuate strong education, as well as their ideas and opinions on education cuts.
The meeting also allowed them to share their own ideas and opinions and receive feedback.
“We need to remove student apathy,” Milburn said. “There are endless ways to reach out to the youth with the social media we have today. I feel that the apathy is dissipating. We are uniting slowly, but surely.”
Proposed solutions also included increasing accountability and the encouragement of peers to attend educational events and vote. Students are urged to work with their campus’s ASU to establish strong student government influence.
“(The event) was a big mind-opener,” Middle College High School student Jack Forey said.
Contact Cody McFarland at cmcfarland.advocate@gmail.com
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