UC Regents, Listen to Your Students!
The University of California has always been a place where students have the right, the power, and the drive to protest about issues they care about. In the past few years alone UC students have protested tuition hikes, unfair labor conditions, the University’s investment in Blackstone, and the genocide in Gaza. Their concerns often go systemically unaddressed, and their protests are often repressed, all while the UC Regents approve extreme salary increases for senior administrators. As a mechanism of student repression, UC police forces have been increasingly militarized, preventing students from using their right to free speech to protest against the corrupt practices of the institution.
These protests and conditions do not exist in a vacuum, and are not disconnected. The University of California should focus on providing an education for students, not lining the pockets of senior administrators. This is not what public education promises to Californians, and we must take a stand against it. The aim of the UC system should be serving the students, workers, and communities who are a part of the entire institution, not just those at the top. Every protest exposes the dark underbelly of the UC system, a system that must be changed and reformed to serve its community. Californians deserve a public university which is accessible, equitable, and aimed at serving the needs of all of its students.
UCLA Radio
Editorial: Students and Workers, Stand Against the For-Profit University
By Editorial Board | UCLA Radio | November 26th, 2024