UIUC students protest trustees

URBANA, Ill.--Students and campus workers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) organized to confront the Board of Trustees during its September 23 meeting on the state university system's flagship campus.

The day of protest culminated in a student demonstration during the afternoon public comment session that effectively shut down the trustees' meeting.

The trustees met behind closed doors throughout the day, deciding on a budget for fiscal 2011 that is expected to contain further cuts in classes and student services--even though the board hiked tuition over the summer by a 9.5 percent, pushing base tuition at UIUC to $10,386 per year.

Only at 3 p.m. was the meeting opened up for public comment--and even then, the trustees chose a small room, so only half the graduate and undergraduate students who mobilized to confront the board were allowed in, with the rest forced to watch from an overflow room.

Those students who get to address the board spoke passionately about tuition rates, a drop in minority enrollment and the need for tuition waiver security for graduate students. Speakers requested responses from the board, specifically asking for a tuition freeze.

When board members refused to answer any questions, students broke into chants of "Whose university? Our university!" and "What do we want? Tuition freeze! When do we want it? Now!" Within 15 seconds, board members started leaving the room. As they exited, the students who had not been allowed into the session lined the halls, wearing white bandanas over their faces with their demands written on them.

Earlier in the day, about 150 people attended a noontime rally organized by campus unions and student groups to speak out about the crisis for students and workers at UIUC. In the morning, members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) and Service Employees International Union, which both represent workers on campus, held a 50-person picket as board members arrived for their meeting.

THE BOARD of Trustees meeting took place as leaders of the U of I system have come under criticism for mistreating university employees, mismanaging the system's resources and failing its students.

For example, one prime concern of students is the fact that diversity has decreased at UIUC. Project 500, a university initiative that emerged from the student struggles of the late 1960s, sets a goal of recruiting 500 Black and Latino students into each freshmen class. Last year, for the first time in 40 years, the university failed to meet this goal.

Last November, members of GEO went on a two-day strike that centered importantly on winning a commitment from the administration on tuition waivers, which are vital for most teaching assistants and graduate assistants to continue attending UIUC. The strike won widespread student support, with huge protests on the quad. Because of the determination of GEO members and the support of the wider community, the administration gave in on the union's demands for tuition waiver security, wages and health care benefits.

In the year since, administration and trustees have come under fire for a long list of shady practices. The best-known was a scandal over admissions--members of the Board of Trustees, the chancellor, the president and many state politicians were part of a scheme in unqualified applicants were accepted on the basis of political clout. Several trustees, plus the president and chancellor, stepped down over the controversy.

Nevertheless, the heads of the U of I system still treat each other like royalty. In May--on the very day that the university hiked tuition--the system's new president, Michael Hogan, got a $170,000 salary increase, bringing his total annual compensation to $620,000. Last March, the administration doled out a $273,500 retirement bonus package for the chancellor of the Springfield campus, Richard Ringeisen.

Then there's Joseph White, the corrupt former president who had to resign because of the admissions scandal. He's still on the payroll at U of I--paid $350,000 a year. White is is teaching a course on "business ethics." The list goes on and on. The administration also tried to use $100,000 in student fees to build a sculpture of retired President Stanley Ikenberry. After the Chicago Tribune started investigating, the university changed its mind.

By taking a stand when the trustees met, stends sent a clear message that they won't tolerate this mismanagement of public education.