Members of the Associated Students Inc. gathered at the Garden Cafe in the Titan Student Union last night in preparation for the “Mobilization for Education” protests that will be held statewide today.
ASI members and students garnished 200 plain white shirts with the motto “Reinvest in Higher Education” in black paint on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
“This is in preparation for tomorrow’s rally for higher education and hopefully we’re going to make into a larger campaign for the rest of the semester,” said Gregory Washington, ASI chief governmental officer.
ASI members, who prefer not to take a stance on the protest, are wearing the t-shirts as a form of peaceful protest and will pass them out to students on campus to get them more involved.
“ASI feels it is important to support the student body, so we are doing a silent protest to support them,” said Kathy Ting-Ting Yu, ASI chief administrative officer. “We do want to fight for higher education, but we are doing it by standing unified and doing it in a peaceful manner.”
Ting-Ting Yu said that the ASI will not be participating in any walkouts or protests.
“If you are fighting for education and value it, then why would you even think of walking out of classes? Just by wearing the shirts we will stand in solidarity,” she said.
Many faculty, staff and students will be attending the march in Los Angeles or staging walkouts, but ASI members feel the best way to show their support is to attend classes as usual.
“I respect their point of view,” said Rahima Schwenkbeck, 25, a graduate student of American studies. “But I want to raise awareness by attending my classes and hopefully make other students aware by being in class.”
Schwenkbeck, who heard about the preparation for the campaign through the school e-mail, said that she was making a t-shirt that she plans to wear to class and to the protest that she will participate in, in Los Angeles.
Washington feels that it is important to maintain the idea behind “Reinvestment in Higher Education” as part of ASI’s mission and have the message extend beyond just the March 4 protests.
“I want this to be a statewide rallying cry for the rest of the year,” said Gregory. “A lot of people are affected when budgets are cut, so I think it is fitting to adopt this on a statewide level.”
