Nearly 2,000 community members and students from Arizona’s universities packed Wesley Bolin Memorial Park outside the state capitol building Wednesday to protest proposed budget cuts that could strip the universities’ budgets by up to 40 percent next year.

Wearing black clothes and carrying signs saying “40% = death” and “Don’t abandon us,” students rallied for several hours to oppose budget cuts that could be approved by legislative committees on Thursday.
Mark Appleton, ASU Undergraduate Student Government president, said he was pleased with the number of students who showed up for the demonstration, which was organized in just one week by the Arizona Students’ Association.

“I think this turnout is phenomenal,” he said.

About 1,800 students attended the rally. Several buses picked students up from each university and drove them to the capitol.

Appleton said the protest was necessary for students to make the Legislature hear their concerns on the budget issue.

“I think it’s a catch-22,” he said. “If you don’t bring them here, [legislators] will say, ‘Oh we never heard from anybody, so it wasn’t a problem.’ [But] when you bring them here, it’s ‘whining.’”

The legislators who proposed the budget options have backed off in recent days because of the strong student voice, Appleton said.

Those legislators started to work with education officials to offer smaller cuts to the universities, he said, but most options still cut too much.

“If these budget cuts go through the way people have talked about — if people have that attitude about education — nothing is safe,” Appleton said.

Michael Slugocki, board chair of ASA, said the protest was an example of democracy in action.

“We’re speaking out for our right to have a voice and say, ‘We’re not going to stand for these cuts,’” said Slugocki, an UA student.

ASU secondary education junior Kelly Swenson said legislators haven’t listened to opposition or accurately represented their constituents.

“Education is the basis of future and of change,” she said. “It’s frustrating that I feel like we don’t have a say in this.”

Decisions to make such drastic cuts should include a strong student voice, but Wednesday’s protest probably wouldn’t be enough, Swenson said.

“I expected more people, but I think there’s a really big group and there’s a really good energy,” she said. “I’m pleased with it. It’s still a good turnout.”

Several state representatives joined students at the protest to speak about the values of funding education and demanding change. Many of them were glad to see students voicing their concerns but worried one protest at the capitol wouldn’t yield results.

Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, said students must continue speaking out in order to be heard at the capitol.

“The rights of our country have been founded on the basis of civil disobedience. That’s how legislators and governors hear what’s important,” she said. “We shouldn’t think that one rally is enough.”

She said students must persist in opposition as she did in Maine for gay civil rights.

“We were rallying at the governor’s mansion everyday for 30 days,” she said. “That’s how you get publicity. That’s how you get recognized.”

She was unsure how Gov. Jan Brewer feels about the education cuts, but she said students could try to persuade her to act in their favor.

“She will respond to the public — the public outcry,” she said. “So keep it up.”

But Sen. Linda Gray, R-Phoenix, disagreed, saying the university system will have to suffer the same cuts that everyone else is struggling to work through.

“There are no sacred cows when it comes to the budget,” she said. “We are required by law to have a balanced budget. We don’t have a source of revenue right now to balance the budget.”

Gray said the university presidents are not doing enough to ensure the state can get back on track.
“The only solution they see is going further into debt and raising taxes,” she said. “Perhaps Mr. Crow could do some donations for student scholarships.”

Legislators have reviewed the options several times, Gray said, but the budget cannot be fixed without cuts from the universities.

“Everybody has to contribute to the shortfall that we have,” she said. “It’s a difficult time for everybody.”

Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, said any budget cuts are unacceptable because they will damage Arizona’s competitiveness in education and research.

“We’re going to see drastic cuts to financial aid to students, we’re going to see drastic cuts to faculty and what our faculty can get accomplished,” he said.

No amount of money should be taken from the university system before other areas like the Department of Corrections, which will have almost no cut to its budget, Ableser said.

Any cut to the universities’ budgets is ridiculous, he said, and legislators will drop the proposed numbers to make it seem like students accomplished their goals.

“We need to make sure that students look at this as a good first step, but they didn’t accomplish something today,” he said. “They need to keep pushing.”

Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu.