Students Occupy CSU Sacramento

CSU Sacto Students occupy.

One story that we missed last month was the occupation that took place at CSU Sacramento. According to Occupy California:

Students and faculty at around 4 California State University campuses held sit-ins today in administration buildings. Sit-ins and marches to administrative offices took place at: CSU Fresno,Monterey, Sacramento, East Bay, Long Beach, Pomona, Northridge,San Francisco State University, and San Jose State University. Rallies, marches and teach-ins were scheduled at all 23 CSU campuses today as a part of a day of action. AP estimates more than 10,000 participated.

...[A]round 1000 students and faculty at CSU Sacramento marched from the library quad to an administrative building to deliver a set of petitions, and around 100 demonstrators staged a sit-in demanding the resignation of the CSU Chancellor.

Students begin occupation.

According to the CSU Sacramento Occupation blog:

The CSU system is failing, plain and simple. Chancellor Reed and the Board of Trustees continue to raise tuition (a rumored 18% increase for next Fall), cut classes, and increase class size. Tuition has been increasing unpredictably since 2002, and by cutting classes students have to postpone graduation, and by increasing class size they are decreasing the quality of our education. We, as students, are tired of it!! 

Riot police inside CSUS.

On April 13 students in the CSU system showed our administration that we are fed up with ‘business as usual’. Every CSU campus had a demonstration of some kind, be it a rally, march, or sit-in. At California State University, Sacramento we had a walk out at 12:20pm and a rally at 12:30pm. We had 1,500 students show up at the rally and voice their dissatisfaction with our administration. Those 1,500 students then marched as one to our administration building, Sacramento Hall, and occupy it.

Sac students face legal battle.

Students demanded that there be a freeze on managerial raises and began talks with the President of the CSU. However, after a few days those in power called out their trusty friends, the police, and soon the occupiers were facing down an army of riot police. Students were faced with arrest and soon were led out of the building. Currently, four students are facing charges from their involvement with the occupation. View the flyer here. We stand in solidarity with those arrested and commend the students brave enough to occupy their campus, however we hope that they have learned that those in power, (like the CSUS President) cannot be 'on their side.' Their job is to implement austerity, not fight it. Our class interests are completely different and in the end, those in power control and direct the police, not us. As the struggle against austerity boils over into a battle against capital itself, hopefully those in Sacramento can use the skills they have learned in the struggles to come.