Protestors at UC Berkeley. Photo by Seri Feliciano

Students and communities worldwide participated in the October 7 Day of Action, protesting budget cuts for public spending on education and the increase of student tuition.

Wes Strong, a leader of Defend Public Education, helped organize the Day of Action through conference calls, website building, and connecting with organizations that have similar goals. Strong said that every action that took place Thursday, big or small, “shows just what kind of energy is out there.”

Strong emphasized that the day was not necessarily about the turnout numbers, but about awareness. He said that this year’s first Day of Action, which took place on March 4, had a higher number of participants, but Oct. 7 was still significant.

“This is a step forward that brought more media attention than we had in March," Strong said.

Many of the University of California public universities participated in the Day of Action, and students staged walkouts, sit-ins and protests to speak out against budget cuts.

At UC Berkeley, a group of more than 1000 students and faculty spread themselves throughout campus pulling fire alarms and occupying the library. Some professors even cancelled class and midterms.

Hao Shi, a sophomore at Berkeley who witnessed the protest, said, “For people with real academic goals it can be annoying to have to leave class because of a pulled fire alarm.”

Shi does not necessarily believe that the protest did much to accumulate new followers. 

“Berkeley used to be free, but the reality is that even with a 32 percent increase in tuition, this education is still cheaper than most private schools," he said. He believes the real problem lies in the fact that programs are still being cut despite the increase in tuition.

Julia Wallace, organizer of UCLA’s protest, feels differently. About 200 participants in the Day of Action at UCLA marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying signs against the budget cuts and against government spending overseas.

Wallace says the crowd of participants was extremely diverse, and consisted of community members, students and faculty. She describes one moment where the group marched onto an overpass: “There were so many people honking and showing support while they drove by…the support we receive will only continue to rise.”

Activists at UC San Diego posted a variety of fliers around the school. One read, “Cost of War with Afghanistan: $350 billion. Cost of Peace: Priceless.” 

Jimmy Kloda, a student at UCSD witnessed the campus’ Day of Action protest of about 300 people outside of Giesel Library, where people gathered wearing shirts with “Do UC RACISM?” printed across. UC San Diego activists intended to target the feelings of racial inequality at UC San Diego in addition to the budget cuts and overspending in Afghanistan.

Reach reporter Chantae Reden here.

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