Protests, Police, and Public Education

Well, it's been a long time. I shouldn't have left you, but since I did, I will proceed to make up for it with an update on my life and a rant about the latest outrages in California.

I've been in the doctoral program in the School of Education at Cal for almost a semester now. I love the other students, the faculty, and the luxury of being able to just think. To play with ideas. I am looking forward to a time when I put my ideas to work for students and teachers, but for now, I'm really enjoying just having them and refining them and learning, learning, learning.

For the last two months, I have deliberately avoided all manner of protests. I'm not sure when or where, but I think through a combination of undergraduate activism, my career as a teacher at a small but dysfunctional school, and watching conservative rallies on TV, I developed a strong dislike of activist culture. It's hard to balance the need to involve lots of people with the inevitable glomming-on of crazy people who say things that either are unrelated or go too far or possibly both. And then, as in all politics, it's difficult and rare that the movement resists the temptation to demonize opponents and manipulate the truth, even when that hardly seems necessary to make the case that needs to be made.

I also think the idea of students striking is absurd. Who gets hurt by that besides students themselves? We should go to class and find other ways to get attention for our concerns.

All that said, I am inspired today by the guts shown by the students and faculty who have locked themselves in Wheeler Hall here at UC Berkeley. It seems to me that that gesture puts much more on the line than a rally or a march. I went to the protest today taking place around the building--and I think it's still going on, so I may go back--between noon and 2:30 this afternoon (with one of my best friends, yay!). It was dreary indeed with the downpour, but as the afternoon wore on, the rain let up. Students, faculty, and community members surrounded the building, chanting "My University, Your University," trying to keep the police from taking the protesters inside the building to jail. The Chancellor's latest email says that the protesters are still in the building. I assume that means that the police have been unable or unwilling to break through their barricades.

The issue of public funding for higher education is dear to my heart. I believe strongly that college should be accessible regardless of a student's ability to pay for it. I am proud of my alma mater--Stanford--for the commitment they have shown to this principle in moving to eliminate tuition for all families with a total annual income under $100,000. But Stanford is a small university. The need for accessible higher education in California can only be met through the public system--and an excellent one, at that--that we have.

The UC Regents have just voted to increase student fees (the equivalent of tuition; they don't cover room, board, books, or other supplies) by 32%. Several of my classmates have said that they don't think they will be able to continue in their programs if this increase goes into effect. (I am lucky to have my fees covered by a university fellowship.)

The current trend toward privatizing the university--since it is President Yudof and Governor Schwarzenegger's stated goal, as I understand it, to eliminate public funding altogether, with the belief that the university should be financially self-sufficient--is by no means the only issue, but I think it is the most urgent and the most fundamental. Please do all that you can to educate yourself and those around you about this issue, and make it a sticking point in the upcoming gubernatorial elections.

Post script: I had some interesting interactions with the Berkeley police today. I told one that I respected the fact that he was doing his job, and asked him what he thought about the issues at stake. Where were his kids going to go to school, I asked. He said, "Get abortions." A strange but calm moment.

Post post script: In general, I don't think it is ethical or wise to taunt the police, and some of the things protesters said really bothered me. But for the most part, we calmly and peacefully demonstrated. At one point, we formed a line and pressed forward across the yellow caution tape (though we stayed behind the metal barriers the police were in the process of erecting); a few officers responded by hitting people with their batons. Thankfully, other officers saw this and pulled the offending officers back--but not before they inflicted several scrapes and bruises on protesters. I have a couple of bruises on my arm, but don't worry; this is nothing compared to the painful prospect of losing public higher education in California.