SJSU students protest cuts, tuition hikes
Originally posted in San Jose Mercury News April 13, 2011
By Lisa M. Krieger
Demonstrations erupted at San Jose State and 22 other California State University campuses on Wednesday, as students protested enrollment cuts, the climbing cost of education and the leadership of CSU Chancellor Charles Reed.
Blocking the entrance to the office of SJSU provost Gerry Selter, the university’s top academic official, two dozen students demanded a meeting to ask for his endorsement of Reed’s resignation.
“We want the provost and the administration to get behind us in getting Reed out of office,” SJSU student Emily Knight, 23, said while seated on the floor outside Selter’s door.
The chancellor is the focus of their fury, said student Eric Acedo, 20, of Morgan Hill, because “Reed has failed to fight for more funding for the CSU system — and has protected the salaries of the administration, rather than protecting students and faculty.”
Gov. Jerry Brown already has signed bills cutting $1.4 billion from the state’s colleges and universities — $500 million from CSU, $500 million from the University of California system and $400 million from community colleges.
In response, CSU’s Board of Trustees voted for a 10 percent tuition increase and a 10,000-student reduction in planned enrollment. Both will go into effect next fall.
And that’s the best-case scenario. CSU leaders fear their budget cuts could double to $1 billion if lawmakers go with an all-cuts budget — triggering further tuition increases, a 20,000-student enrollment reduction and staff cuts, according to CSU spokeswoman Claudia Keith.
The students — from Northridge to Sacramento — directed most of their wrath at Reed, chancellor of the 23 CSU campuses, who earns $421,000 a year, plus housing, a car, health care and retirement benefits.
Reed’s salary has increased in recent years, while faculty and students have faced cuts, the protesters said.
“It’s time to demand the chancellor put the money where the students are!” SJSU student Evelyn Shieh, 22, said.
Beating drums, chanting and carrying placards that read “Chancellor Reed Has No Class,” and “CSU Nation Demands Reed’s Resignation,” several hundred SJSU students met on a main campus plaza, then marched to nearby legislators’ offices and the school’s administrative building.