The DEFEAT of Higher Education: The Privatization of a Public Institution
USC President Steven B. Sample has invited three “top university
administrators” for the 32nd annual Pullias Lecture entitled ‘The
Future of Higher Education: A Southern California Perspective’. The
three presenters will be Chancellor Gene Block of the University of
California, Los Angeles; our AWOL Chancellor Michael Drake of the
University of California, Irvine; and President Jean-Lou Chameau of
the California Institute of Technology.
Once again, the debate on higher education is led by university
administrators rather than by students, workers and faculty who are
shouldering the pain of fee hikes, layoffs, furloughs, and reduced
services. Chancellor Michael Drake has the audacity to speak about
preserving the quality of higher education when he has neglected and
suppressed the voices of his most concerned and disenfranchised
students and workers. It’s not surprising that he has been invited to
speak on the future of higher education at a private university since
he has prioritized military and corporate investments over the
interests of students and workers who keep the university running. If
Chancellor Drake continues to insist that he has no time to speak with
us, then we’ll go wherever he is and call him out.
Please join us in a protest against the corrupt administrative elite
that continually misplaces priorities within the UC system!
Facebook link:
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?compose&attach=2344061033&s=7&p[0]=112700295431448&oid=116974911661432#!/event.php?eid=112700295431448&ref=mf
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Defend Public Education! Join the Protest!
Date: Wednesday, April 28
Time: 3:30PM to 7PM
Place: In front of the Davidson Conference Center, Embassy Room.
University Park Campus, University of Southern California
Address: 3415 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Cross streets: Jefferson and Figueroa.
Parking: Public Parking on Jefferson on right side after passing
Figueroa from the 110. USC parking is $8 and right next to Davidson
Conference Center.
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Driving Directions (from Irvine):
-Take the exit toward I-405 N
-Keep left at the fork, follow signs for I-405 N/Long Beach and merge
onto I-405 N
-Take the I-110 S/Harbor Fwy/I-110 N exit toward San Pedro/Los Angeles
-Keep right at the fork to continue toward I-110 N
-Keep left at the fork, follow signs for I-110/Los Angeles/San Pedr
and merge onto I-110 N
-Take the 37th St exit toward Exposition Blvd
-Merge onto S Hope St (signs for I-110 N)
-Turn left at W Jefferson Blvd
-Turn left at S Figueroa St
Destination will be on the right
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End Racist, Gendered, Hetero-normative, and Exploitative Practices!
Workers and students must unite to stop the privatization of the UC system
To UCI Admin:
1) We demand that UCI administration implement a comprehensive
financial aid system by fall 2010 that apportions grant aid (excluding
loans from the equation) and on-campus housing based on family wealth
rather than income. Financial aid must be designed to counteract the
economic effects of structural and systemic racism in our society.
2) We demand the immediate direct hiring of all outsourced ABM workers
and fair pay for all campus workers. Students and workers do not
support discriminatory hiring practices that victimize immigrant,
Latina/o working families.
3) We demand that Chancellor Drake publicly commit to seeking out
private donations that will specifically fund financial aid to AB540
students or begin providing financial aid for AB540 students directly
from his office’s discretionary funding. We want administration to
publicly recognize that AB540 students do not share the same economic
freedoms and securities as other populations.
4) We demand that UCI administration immediately disarm all police
officers of Tasers. This action is supported by the December 2009
ruling of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Taser has
replaced the lash of the whip as a device in the service of state
sanctioned anti-blackness, evidenced so blatantly at UCLA this past
November, and UCI’s administration should lead in the banning of this
device.
5) We demand that UCI immediately equip the campus with gender neutral
bathrooms. Students and workers who do not fit the illusion of gender
normativity suffer routine violence and intimidation. UC should not
privilege heteronormativity over the interests of its LGBT community.
6) We demand the recall of the three groundskeepers that were laidoff
in October 2009 and the reinstatement of the 5% time reduction of the
entire campus of AFSCME 3299 service unit.
7) We demand that no disciplinary action (academic or legal) be taken
against the 11 students arrested at Ambassador Oren’s event. UCI and
the surrounding community’s repeated attacks against, and
hyper-surveillance of, Muslim and Arab students aids in branding
legitimate political criticisms against the apartheid state of Israel
as ‘uncivil’ and fosters a segregated cultural, social, and
intellectual climate for the university. Deploying rhetoric that
equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism serves to annihilate rather
than engage in dialogue.
8) We demand 100% funding from administration for a recruitment and
retention center for underrepresented students. Recruiting and
retaining students of color and low-income students should be a campus
priority, but UCI has neglected to support these important efforts.
9) We demand that until state-funding has been restored to the UC
system in full, that all budget cuts imposed in the fall be
redistributed by imposing an equal percentage cut to each of UCI’s
schools.
10) We demand that UCI administration immediately reinvest in the
ethnic, queer, and women’s studies departments/programs. UCI should
foster an environment that is supportive of students who are
considered outside of the “mythical norms” of our society. As
evidenced so blatantly at UCSD this past week, Black subjects are in
an antagonistic position against the institution, this sentiment is
reinforced by administration and creates a safe space for
anti-blackness. UCI administration should lead in creating a campus
that engages in academic, political, and social reeducation which
challenges structural and individual racism, sexism, heterosexism, and
homophobia.
11) We demand that Chancellor Drake publicly disclose all of UCI’s
military and private security contracts. Furthermore, we demand that
Chancellor Drake shut down the Center for Unconventional Security
Affairs and discontinue all military and Homeland Security contracts
that aid in both the mass murder of people around the world by U.S.
imperialism (particularly in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and Pakistan) or
the violent police repression of students and workers within the U.S.
In solidarity with workers and students around the world, we demand an
end to genocidal imperialist wars for profit and empire: U.S.
imperialism out of Iraq and Afghanistan!
12) We demand that UCI not feed the prison-industrial complex. We
demand that UCI end its contract with Motorola by fall 2010.
Furthermore, we demand the removal of all Dell, IBM, and Texas
Instrument products by fall 2010 as well.
To the UC Regents:
1. We demand amnesty for all previous and current participants in
protest on UC campuses. The Regents must restore all penalized
students to good academic standing, recall all fired workers, and
issue a public statement demanding that any and all criminal charges
be dropped.
2. We demand the UC Regents and the Office of the President terminate
ALL military and private security contracts currently in place at UC
campuses and research facilities. In solidarity with workers and
students around the world, we demand an end to genocidal imperialist
wars for profit and empire: U.S. imperialism out of Iraq and
Afghanistan!
3. We demand that the Regents revisit the November 2009 decision to
increase student fees by 32% and address student and faculty
objections to this decision. We demand that this public discussion of
the 32% fee increase include three agenda items:
(a) A period for public comment;
(b) A vote, in full view of the public, reconsidering the 32% fee increase;
(c) A vote, in full view of the public, to ban all outsourcing of workers.
