The Hunter Envoy

Issue date: 3/11/09 Section: News

With reporting by Hannah Levine, Arts and Entertainment Editor

On March 5, at around 2 PM, the chanting outside of Hunter College could be heard on the highest floors of the building if classroom windows were open. "Walk Out! No budget cuts! No tuition hikes!" students and faculty members shouted, while receiving percussion accompaniment from fellow comrades playing the drums and tambourines.

The outraged crowd grew to over 400 people before it descended to the subway stairs for its next two destinations, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and then City Hall. It was an effort on behalf of the Hunter College Student Union, a group formed out of CUNY Social Forum last December. That day its mission was protest budget cuts proposed by New York Governor David Patterson and tuition hikes that been voted on by the CUNY Board of Trustees.

The $600 annual tuition hike, starting Fall 2009-bringing the annual cost of full-time enrollment to $4,600-was put forth to make up for a $65 million cut in state government funding to CUNY. Yet, state investment in CUNY had already dropped by 26% between 1991 and 2005, while enrollment grew by 50,000 students since 2000.

Supported by the Professional Staff Congress, the union that represents faculty and staff at CUNY, other CUNY students unions, as well as other major labor unions, the demonstration was a unified attempt to bring an issue that could have potentially disastrous effects on education to the forefront. The entire rally was organized by the One New York Coalition, a group made up of more than 200 community groups, unions and non-profit organizations. Similar protests were held the same day in Syracuse, Westchester, Buffalo, Albany and other towns and counties across the state, according to the PSC website.

Gabriel Hernandez, 28, a Business Management major, joined in with the masses, until it was time for him to head to work. "I don't want to pay more tuition," he adamantly stated. But he was not only fighting for himself. His wife, an international student, will not be able to afford CUNY with the tuition hike.

Rebecca Hill, the BMCC Chapter Chair of the PSC called the tuition hikes "a tax on the poorest people." She added, "Government priorities are clearly skewed towards the wealthy."

Pelayne Demorgande, 19, agreed. "It's absolutely unfair for CUNY students to pay $300 more a semester," she said. "That money is going to the state and only a small percentage comes back to us at CUNY."

At City Hall, the marching group stood at about 70,000 New Yorkers. There, Barbara Bowen, president of the PSU, took the stage. "Enrollment at the City University is at a record high, as thousands of New Yorkers turn to CUNY in this frightening economy," Bowen said. "Yet CUNY is being brought to its knees by budget cuts."

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was also heard, chanting in the midst. "People who make more should pay more," she yelled, rousing the crowd.

The most noticeably large group was the United Federation of Teachers, the union representing faculty member of NYC public schools. Wearing white hats, they became easily recognizable. Some even brought their after school students to the protest as part of a class trip.

Linda Barrerra, a teacher at P.S. 250 in Brooklyn was proud to "show [her] support on behalf of all the teachers who work for the city."

"Unions built the middle class in this country!" she exclaimed.

Barrerra explained that the huge UFT turnout was mostly due to the fact that they advertised the protest in the teacher's newsletter. She even received a call from the union on her answering machine reminding her to come out.

Hunter students like Rosemary Garido, were happily surprised with the turnout, saying it was important for the government to see the enormous amount of people being affected.

But Hill still felt more faculty members could have been present. "The thing is, the faculty at CUNY is so overworked that many of them can't make it out today. The very reasons that people can't make it out are the reasons we are protesting today," she regretfully explained.

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