Student Power, Statement of Solidarity with University of California Students

A message of solidarity from Wayne State students to students at the University of California and anywhere where there is a fight for accessible education.


Right now, everyday students at the University of California are striking their university, taking over buildings and demonstrating in the thousands to fight for an affordable and accessible education. Were standing along side them in the same fight to make sure that our future isnt one that is driven merely by the need to pay off student debt, but one driven by what is meaningful and of value to us.

Education should be seen as a right, not as a privilege that people have if they can pay for it. But over the years government support for education from the national to the local level has been diverted toward wars, bonuses for executives and other measures that benefit the few at the expense of the many. Education in our society should be a means of social mobility and individual development, not a means of reinforcing divisions of privilege.

In just the past ten years the cost of tuition at Wayne State has risen from under $4,000 a year to close to $9,000, and administrators expect it to rise to over $12,000 in the next five years. (This comes from a recent announcement by President Jay Noren at a forum held on Strategic Directions for the university.)

Our fight for the right to a quality and accessible education just begins here. We will not win this with just a shot in the dark, but with ongoing organizing, demonstrations and mass action. Across the country, students are beginning to ask questions about what the future holds for our generation. Will we have access to jobs that are meaningful to us? Or will we work solely to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in debt weve incurred just to get a degree? Will decision makers continue to prioritize war and corporate interests over education and ecological protection? A better world is possible, but it will only become a reality through our sustained action! These conversations need to be carried on and develop into a positive vision of the future, and move toward higher levels of planning, organizing and action.

That is why we're calling for an education conference at Wayne in January. Where students can learn about what has happened to education in this country and begin to devise a plan to change it. There will be more information about this on the Wayne State event's calendar soon.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Wayne State Universtiy
• Detroit
• Accessible Education
• Tuition
• Budget Cuts
• University of California
• Solidarity

[TheAntiAuthoritarian]

Everything is an immoral business in capitalism. It sucks! Healthcare being the most immoral thing to profit from!