Today, March 4, is the Day of Action to Defend Public Education, a movement that originated in California last fall in response to threats of staggering university tuition hikes and budget cuts. Students and teachers at more than 32 campuses around the country will be protesting the state of of higher education today with walkouts, rallies and teach-ins.
We'll be live blogging today's events here. Check back for frequent updates and follow our "California Crisis Live" Twitter page.
12:16 p.m./UC San Diego Recent pictures from their cacophonous demonstrations:
12:08 p.m./UCLA 200 gathered for rally on Bruin Plaza.
12:05 p.m./UC Berkeley Police stop two protesters from throwing water balloons.
12:00 p.m./University of Maryland, College Park Here, the mantra is "March Forth. Life Sucks, Let's Change."
11:55 a.m./UC BerkeleyDaily Cal reports that about 300 are gathered on campus for a noon rally, blocking traffic, dancing and singing.
11:29 a.m./Sacramento Sacramento Bee Education Reporter Laurel Rosenhall is at the Capitol talking to students and capturing some awesome pictures of protesters.
10:56 a.m./San Francisco State Nearly 300 are protesting, shutting down an intersection. Students are joined by picketers from the California Faculty Association. An SFSU student told SocialistWorker.org: "Corporations are making record profits this year, but they're putting the burden on our shoulders. That's what we're fighting against."
10:50 a.m./UC Berkeley From UC President Mark Yudof's statement on his Facebook page:
As my predecessor Clark Kerr often said, higher education should never be regarded as a cost, but rather as an investment. The university is an investment, not only in an individual's well being, but also in the public good. Public education drives a society's ability to progress and to prosper. This state's great public universities hold the key to our economic and social growth and are deserving of support by all Californians.
10:40 a.m./UC Berkeley Protesters are traveling across campus, interrupting classes and chanting ""Today we strike, tomorrow we go to school." Police are standing both standing on guard outside building and trailing protesters.
10:27 a.m./Oakland Some Oakland schools are holding mock disaster drillstoday to simulate the "disaster" that the state's education system has become.
10:12 a.m./UC Davis Twitter reports indicate that multiple fire alarms have been pulled in UC Davis buildings.
10:06 a.m./UC Berkeley
An almost-dramatic moment: A parallel group of protesters gathered at Sather Gate with "Impeach Barack Obama" signs, prompting the student protesters to chant ""You're not here for the same reason, we don't support you, get out." But, apparently, the groups were able to overcome their differences; hugs ensued.
9:55 a.m./UC San Diego
First picture out of UC San Diego:
9:51 a.m. Democracy Now! reports that higher education protests are also occurring in Johannesburg and Moscow.
9:45 a.m./UC Irvine In a statement released on the UC Regent (Live)blog, UC Irvine faculty announced that they're canceling classes today. The statement reads:
For those who have classes on March 4th, canceling or re-scheduling is not a decision taken lightly. However, given the statewide mobilization of teachers, professors and students, we believe that this one day could make a significant difference in the course of California education politics. For those of us who never miss a day of class, this one feels worth it.
9:09 a.m. A blog out of Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California offers a few neat interactive graphicsexplaining the role of student fees in higher education funding and how the situation in California came to be.
9:03 a.m./UC Berkeley
Protesters at Sather Gate:
8:45 a.m./UC Berkeley More than 80 people are gathered near campus, many waiting for buses to Sacramento to demonstrate at the Legislature.
8:42 a.m./UC Santa Cruz
100 protesters block off gates to campus:
8:09 a.m./UC Berkeley Approximately 65 protesters have linked arms and blocked Sather Gate, a prominent landmark on campus. They are chanting "no cuts, no fees, education must be free."
7:57 a.m./UC Santa Cruz A security advisory posted on UC Santa Cruz's web site advises people not to come to the campus for work or school. University police also report that a car windshield was smashed on campus.
Addendum: UC Regent Live(blog) points out an interesting fact about UCSC's campus:
UC Santa Cruz only has two entrances in and out of the campus. The west entrance and the north entrance. This is a well-known and unfortunate fact for administrators. Students have shut down both entrances, effectively shutting down the campus.
7:30 a.m/UC Berkeley The Daily Californian reports that union members started picketing on campus at 7 a.m.
5:00 a.m. PST/UC Santa Cruz: According to the student activist blog Occupy CA, students have blocked off multiple entrances to UC Santa Cruz's campus, closing it off to vehicles.