Alex Darocy Photography

On November 18, students at UC Santa Cruz held the first in what is planned to be a series of actions opposing the tuition increases recently proposed by University of California President Janet Napolitano, which the UC regents voted on and passed during their meetings this week in San Francisco. UCSC students mobilized to attend the UC Regents meeting today, and on Thursday they are planning a "day of action" on the Santa Cruz campus. Now that the tuition increase has been approved, UC tuition and fees could increase 5% a year for the next five years. "We need to take a stand and send a message that the UC can't treat us like their personal cash supply, raising fees on us whenever they need more money. The issue is state disinvestment from higher education and the gross mismanagement of funds by the regents. The only way that we can show them that we won't just let them do this to us is to turn out in numbers and organize in opposition to them," an event an...

While reflecting on a long year of labor struggles at UC Santa Cruz, students looking to the future continued to call for the resignation of UC president Janet Napolitano at the 'No 2 Napolitano' May Day rally held at the university on Thursday. The opposition of Napolitano is central to their fight for justice for workers, especially those who are undocumented. "Janet Napolitano comes from the federal government as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. She has not only deported two million people but she has also separated many families and brought fear into undocumented communities," an event announcement for the rally read. In addition to calling for Napolitano's resignation, students also called for the university to settle a fair contract with UAW 2865, the labor union that represents Graduate Student Workers, and for all charges against the UCSC 22 to be dropped. May Day is International Workers Rights Day. Since 2006, the workers holiday an...

On March 5, students at UC Santa Cruz occupied the Hahn building in an ongoing resistance to the appointment of Janet Napolitano as president of the University of California system. The occupation follows a march to Kerr Hall on February 26, when students attempted to enter the offices of UCSC's Chancellor. Support for UC workers is central to the demands of student demonstrators, and over the course of the recent protests, labor victories have been gained as the university has given into demands by Graduate Student Workers and AFSCME Workers in separate negotiations. Students arrived at the Hahn building shortly after 3pm After a short rally at Quarry Plaza on March 5, a large group of students eventually marched into the Hahn student services building at about 3pm, which prompted cashiers to close the Registrar's counter. At 7:30 pm about 35 students in the front area of the first floor of the building began a discussion about how long to occupy. At that time, two ...