The two-hour rally brought together students, faculty, administrators and others at the Santos Manuel Student Union to launch Alliance for the CSU, a group aimed at opposing Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed education budget cuts.
Anthony Conley, president of Cal State San Bernardino Associated Students Inc., used a play on words, saying that students shouldn't "budge yet" in the fight to prevent budget cuts.
The group hopes to make its opinion heard before the revised budget is released in May.
The governor's proposed 2008-09 budget includes $312.9 million in cuts to CSU and exclusion of another $73.2 million to buy out a student fee increase, said Albert Karnig, Cal State San Bernardino's president. The governor has proposed reducing funding by 10 percent for most education programs, including the University of California and community colleges.
Cristina Fernandez, of Murrieta, a junior at Cal State San Bernardino studying political science, is bracing for student fee increases atop the mounting gasoline prices she pays to make her daily commute. "I'm going to school on a grant, so if they raise the fees I might not be able to come here at all," Fernandez said.
Some students said they're already shut out of crowded classes, so further cuts could postpone their graduation by months. Others worry that cuts will affect the timing of their financial aid packets.
Karnig expects Cal State San Bernardino will have to trim faculty and staff jobs, which would, in turn, limit enrollment and result in larger classes, fewer student support services and potentially higher student fees. The state budget cuts come in the wake of $522 million in reductions between 2002 and 2005, said Tom Meisenhelder, president of the California Faculty Association's Cal State San Bernardino chapter.
Meisenhelder urged rally participants to contact legislators during spring break to ensure they're aware that every dollar invested in CSU returns more than four times that much to the state economy.
Conley cited a quote from the Greek philosopher Diogenes as a rationale for fighting further budget cuts: "The foundation of every state is the education of its youth."