NEWS: SFSU Students WALK-OUT to Protest Budget Cuts

When the sun reached high noon, an energetic crowd erupted into chants of "Walk-out SF State, Shut it down like '68", as banners were raised around the Malcolm X Plaza on the San Francisco State University Campus. A turnout of over one-hundred students and faculty swarmed the quad in a whirlwind of banners, bullhorns, cameras, and beating drums to peacefully protest the California state budget cuts that took $63.3 million from the CSU system for 2009-10, crippling the state universities. Protesting was staged through a school-wide walkout and a march to the City College of San Francisco, which included a planned coalition with fellow sympathizers, the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Organization.
The event was coordinated by a student association, Student Unity & Power, a group formed this semester (Spring 2009) out of anger over the current fiscal state of the CSU system after many classes were cut due to the re-appropriation of the California government’s funds. These passionate students gave educational and empowering speeches throughout the protest. Ryan, a member of S.U.P, delivered an inspiring speech that evoked cheers from the crowd with words such as, “[I’m] sick of banks being bailed out while students foot the bill”, a response to the billions of dollars in bail-out plans given to U.S. Banks since the end of 2008. He talked about how if there is money to give these large corporations, giving the example of Chevron’s forty-five billion dollar gain last year, there should be money for public education. Ryan professed, “[This] is not a money problem, this is a political problem”.
One of the focuses was on how slashed departments and the firing of professors resulted in limited classes, creating difficulties for senior year students trying to take courses necessary for graduation.
Francis Mead, a 23-year-old ringleader of S.U.P, and student of cinema and women’s studies here at SFSU has been personally affected by the budget cuts:
FashionPirate: Have the budget cuts affected your class selection this semester?
Francis: Yes! I have been here for three years and getting classes has always been difficult, but this year has been the worst. I couldn’t even get into two classes that I need to graduate
FP: So, in your experience, even necessary classes are being reduced?
Francis: Most definitely.
FP: What would you consider to be possible alternatives to cutting funding from education?
Francis: Money should go straight to education! We need to cut the administration and form empowering councils of students and teachers that will make the right decisions. There is power in choices, we need power in choices.
Once the crowd was sufficiently electrified, and the clock struck 12:20, the S.U.P announced the commencement of the march to CCSF, led by a banner proclaiming “Student Unity & Power” , and the aggressive but telling chant of a struggling student body, “No cuts, no fees, education should be free”.


Fellow photogs document the scene, "Fuck the Cuts" was one of the early cheers of the protest


students crowd around malcom X plaza before the march


Francis Mead, 23, Student Unity & Power Organization


A group of students performed on drums and other various musical instruments throughout the protest and march


Many students were frustrated with the fact that large corporations that employ millionaires are being bailed out while those in the middle to lower classes (aka the majority of the country) are trampled on


"You're not walking out on your education, You're walking out because your education is walking out on you!" -S.U.P Member and Speaker


The event was not without a bit of personal style


various signs conveyed the feelings of the students


while the protest was peaceful, it was not without passion


The march begins.


students marching through campus towards CCSF stop as the band plays a revolutionary riff


A local elementary school, also affected by the budget cuts, joined in the protest.


FP.