SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KCBS) -- Dozens of students and staff at UC Santa Cruz have stopped eating in order to bring attention to $13 million in state funding being cut at the campus.
The hunger strikers complain that cuts to the Latino Studies Department and the popular Community Studies program unfairly impact minority students.
The effort launched on Tuesday by the Students of Color Collective demands the university reverse course on cuts scheduled to take effect July 1.
KCBS' Matt Bigler reports
“The hunger strikers will continue to not eat possibly for the week or until our demands are met,” said one of the organizers, Yvette Tran. She said at least a dozen students were participating and that some would go without food for 24 hours in solidarity with those trying to last the entire week.
In an interview with KCBS earlier this month, UC President Mark Yudof noted the entire UC system is struggling to bridge a multi-million dollar budget gap.
Students are facing higher fees, some staff may be furloughed and some teaching positions would remain unfilled because of the funding shortage, Yudoff said.
Moving funds between departments is not always as easy as it seems, Yudoff said. The university is legally obligated in some cases to spend grant-based funding on the program for which it was awarded.
The students are also demanding the campus hire full-time directors for its American Indian Resource Center and its Women’s Center
(jro)
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