WINNER OF 2023 ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS PACEMAKER AWARD, NEWSPAPER/NEWSMAGAZINE NAMED BEST CAMPUS NEWSPAPER IN CALIFORNIA FOR 2022 BY THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION AND CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Volume 162 No. 16 SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
ALEXIA FREDERICKSON | SPARTAN DAILY
Students march through the Student Union on Wednesday afternoon holding signs and protesting tuition hike and SJSU investment in companies that support Israel.
Protestors march through campus By Alexia Frederickson & Jonathan Canos NEWS EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER
More than 100 students rallied together across campus to protest against the CSU’s tuition hike and San José State investment in Israel-supporting companies on Wednesday afternoon. The walkout was organized by Students for a Democratic Society, SJSU Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine. The protesters congregated at the Student Union Patio before entering and chanting through the walkways of the Student Union. While in the building, they chanted “Free, free, free Palestine!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” while marching through the halls. Many attendees held signs in protest of Israeli occupation in Gaza. One read, “36,000 murdered by Israel” and another said, “Divest from Genocide.” The walkout congregated in several different locations around campus, including the housing quad, the Spartan Recreation building, Tower Lawn and in front of the Smith and Carlos statue. Many students were wearing keffiyehs and holding Palestinian flags as they attended the walkout. A keffiyeh is a traditional Arab headdress worn by the nomadic communities of historic Palestine, which
has become a symbol of support for Palestine, according to a Dec. 2023 NPR article. A protester who asked not to be named because of concerns for her safety said she attended the protest because she wants to do more to support the Palestinian cause. “I feel like it's important to be out here, just giving out support in any way,” she said. “I haven't been able to come to many events until today. So I figured I would just show up and be here.” The C S U ’s administration will increase tuition by 34% throughout the next five years starting in the 20242025 academic year. Students for Quality Education also took part in and led the walkout. They are a community organization with a focus on getting affordable h i g he r e du c at i on , according to their Instagram. “Education is becoming more of a commodity than an unalienable right,” said an SJSU student majoring in psychology. Just over a month ago, the school was also battling a potential CFA strike when faculty among the CSU’s demanded an increase in pay according to San Jose spotlight. Charlotte Casey, a San José resident and treasurer of the San Jose Peace and Justice Center, was disappointed and shocked by the tuition percentage increase. Casey said it was
obvious the school was targeting people of color with the sudden drastic increase in tuition. “Education should be free like it is in Cuba and other European countries,” Casey said. “Knowing that money is being put towards something that does not directly affect our students' interests, or faculty interests, or even the community's interest,” a psychology student said. “It's something that deeply bothers me.” She said she acknowledges how the United States compares to other countries when it comes to education access. One of the goals the c o nt r i b u t i n g organizations had for the walkout is to call for a reversal of the tuition increase by the CSU board of trustees, as well as cutting ties with apartheid states according to Tarentz Charite, one of leaders of the event.
Tarentz Char ite, philosophy sophomore and repres entative for Students for a Democratic Society, said his organization is calling for SJSU to divest from a number of programs and organizations that support and aid Israel. “I believe in ending oppression, I believe in preventing preventable death, I believe in freeing all people,” Charite said. “I think it was only reasonable that I come out in protest of my tuition and my taxes being used
towards everything that I'm against.” In a document sent to the Spartan Daily, Students for a Democratic Society is demanding that SJSU, “sever ties with war machines and defense companies, including L o ck he e d Mar t i n , Raytheon, IBM and more, as well as government surveillance entities such as the CIA.” Protestors gathered at the Smith and Carlos statue in front of the entrance of Clark Hall, which was being guarded by police officers. Multiple protesters yelled and accused President Cy nt hia Teniente-Matson of being a supporter and ambassador to Israel. Protestors chanted, “Cynthia, Cynthia we see you! Shame on you SJSU! You support a genocide too!” “We need to be so loud that Cynthia will be quick!”, one organizer said to the crowd. Charite said he wants a number of changes from SJSU, including passing a ceasefire resolution, the freezing of new University Police Department (UPD) hires and an investigation into racial discrimination for UPD. “There is only so much that individuals can do about the entire country, and about the globe,” he said. “But starting here, from the place that you work, or go to school, or live or all three – If you know that you can make change, then make change now.”
IN BRIEF More than 100 students gathered inside the Student Union on Wednesday to protest a variety of social justice issues. Protestors demanded SJSU no longer support comapnies that invest in Israel and to call on CSU to reverse the tuition hike. Organizers chanted at each stop throughout campus during the walkout. Israel and the Jewish Student Union, according to a Nov. 21, 2023 Spartan Protestors called for Daily article. the firing of SJSU history “It's leading me to professor, Jonathan Roth. think about other ulterior It was number seven motives and influences of nine on the list of and who else might be demands according to the dictating university community leaders. policy?” said a psychology Roth grabbed a major who chose to student's wrist and twisted remain anonymous. it before being removed by During the protest, SJSU’s University Police Charite led the group to Department, according to the SRAC where a large a Feb. 20 Spartan Daily banner was hung from the article. roof, “hands of Yemen”. “They put Roth on paid It was also the same administrative leave,” location that campus Charite said to the crowd. police arrested Omar in Charite said there front of his peers, Charite is hypocrisy on SJSU’s said. part in the handling of “Freeze University the altercation involving police hiring, improve P a l e s t i n i a n - A m e r i c a n oversight of SJSU UPD, SJSU student, Omar. investigate UPD for racial Omar was suspended discrimination,” Charite indefinitely for allegedly said. throwing an empty juice Follow the Spartan Daily pouch at students tabling on X (formerly Twitter) for the campus-based @SpartanDaily club, Students Supporting