LONG BEACH, Calif. – Trustees of the once-affordable Cal State University system approved a 6% tuition increase annually over the next five years Wednesday. The board is attempting to narrow a $1.5 billion deficit, a decision that some students labeled “disheartening.”

The university’s governing board voted 9-0 to approve the increases that will start across the 23-campus system in the fall of 2024. Annual tuition for full-time California undergraduate students will increase by $342 next year to $6,084. By the 2028-2029 school year, those students will be paying $7,682, the Associated Press reported.

The increase is the first of its kind since 2017, and comes amidst the economic crisis wherein many high school graduates are unsure whether they can even afford a college education in the first place. 

California’s Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis reacted in a statement saying: “A $2000 tuition increase over 5 years could drastically affect the lives of over 184,000 CSU students who do not receive full tuition coverage. This is unacceptable.

I stand firm in my opposition towards a tuition increase and will continue to do everything I can to make a CSU accessible & affordable for ALL.”

 Revenue from the increase will bridge approximately 56% of the $1.5 billion Cal State system budget gap that has forced the institution to skimp on teacher and employee pay increases, facility renovations, course options, and more. The funds will also allow for better mental health resources and changes to how the system handles the sexual discrimination cases that have been rising at CSU and have led to the resignation of top officials.

Cal State officials claimed they are still dedicated to keeping the Cal State system affordable and pledged to retain almost one-third of the budget increase for financial aid. This financial aid will cover full tuition for 60% and partial tuition for 18% of the nearly half a million CSU students across its 23 campuses.

The tuition hike will begin in the fall, raising in-state student tuition by approximately $350. By the end of the five years, in-state tuition will rise roughly $2,000. 

CSU students gathered Tuesday to protest the increase at a public hearing that lasted over 2.5 hours. Students implored trustees not to approve the increase, calling the sudden rise in tuition unfair as many students already struggle to pay CSU’s tuition despite working multiple jobs. Come even called the increase racist, as the CSU student body is predominantly made up of people of color.

The board of trustees favored the institution’s finances over student pleas and voted 15-5 to approve the tuition inflation. 

Cal State trustee Jose Antonio Vargas called the increase a “nightmare scenario” but joined the 15 in favor of the hike.

According to a report about the system’s finances released in May the Associated Press noted, found the system with 460,000 students, many of them minorities and first-generation college students, has enough revenue to cover about 86% of what it actually costs to meet student, staff, and institution needs, leaving it with a $1.5 billion gap.

MONTEREY PARK, Ca. – In a first for a California community college, East Los Angeles College (ELAC), one of the nine Los Angeles Community College District’s (LACCD), network of campuses, announced Friday that the school will offer its new Central American Studies program.

Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D) who represents the 51st Assembly District which is home to close to 500,000 residents in the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated East Los Angeles and includes some of the most historic and iconic communities in the city joined Los Angeles Community College District officials to launch the new program.

A spokesperson for LACCD said this program is historic as it will be the first Central American Studies program offered at a California community college mirroring similar programs found in the CSU and UC systems and at Occidental College, a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit and Marymount research university also located in Los Angeles.

The program will be housed in the ELAC Chicano/a Studies department and students who complete the requirements can earn an Associate’s of Arts (AA) Degree in Central American Studies. Five transferable CSU and UC courses in Central American Studies will be offered, including the Central American Experience, Central American Literature, Introduction to Central American Studies, Central American Arts, and Central American Film.

“East Los Angeles College historically has paved the road for the development of Ethnic Studies programming. The Department of Chicana/o Studies is excited to establish a program focused on the Central American experiences and perspectives, which is the first of its kind in the community college system in California and the nation,” said ELAC Department of Chicano/a Studies Chair Beatriz Tapia. “We are committed to educating all of our diverse Chicana/o, Central American, and Latina/o students by providing them with a relevant and challenging curriculum that will prepare them to transfer to a 4 -year institution and beyond. This program will further prepare students for careers that center the experience of Central Americans and overall, our increasingly diverse community.” 

“Central Americans are the fastest growing demographic across the country according to a 2021 study by the Pew Hispanic Center. In California alone, Salvadorans make up the largest population outside of the country of El Salvador followed closely by people from Guatemala and Honduras. Given the history of civil strife in Central America, many 1.5 and second-generation Central Americans who immigrated or were brought to the US as children, don’t know the history of their countries of origin, nor the contributions of the Central American diaspora to the United States,” said Assemblywoman Carrillo.

“As the only Salvadoran immigrant elected to the California legislature and co-author of AB101, which ensures Ethnic Studies are a high school graduation requirement, I applaud East Los Angeles College for their commitment to the Central American community and advancing much-needed academic discourse,” she added.

“I offer my congratulations to the faculty and staff of East Los Angeles College for their bold leadership in establishing the first Community College Central American Studies Program in the state.  This will be an incredible learning opportunity for all LACCD students,” said LACCD Board President, Gabriel Buelna, Ph.D. “This new curriculum prepares our students to become well-informed, 21st- century citizens and professionals in an increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse world and job marketplace.

“The Chicano/a Studies department has always been a vital part of ELAC and this new program will continue to provide quality diverse educational options to our students. I applaud the department’s leadership in making this program a reality. East Los Angeles College serves diverse communities within our service area and this program will create learning opportunities for students to embrace and celebrate diversity through an equity-minded and rigorous academic program that will be the first of its kind for a community college in the nation,” said ELAC President Alberto J. Roman.

LACCD Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D. noted: ““At LACCD, we have advocated aggressively in support of ethnic studies because it provides a critical view and better understanding of our society’s intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, which ultimately helps our students build a more informed, racially-just and inclusive future. The Central American Studies Program at East Los Angeles College further diversifies and amplifies our curriculum and makes today’s urgent call for racial equity and social justice a reality.”

BROOKLYN, Ny. – In a response to the sharp increase in recent weeks by school boards and communities across the United States banning books about race and those authored or about LGBTQ+ people, the Brooklyn Public Library is fighting back.

The Brooklyn Public Library kicked off a new program on Wednesday that allows 13 to 21 year old young people to apply for a free eCard or traditional library card regardless of where they live. Normally, an eCard costs $50 for non-Brooklyn residents, The Hill’s Changing America reported.

According to the library, the new initiative will give young people across the country access to hundreds of thousands of e-books and audio books including those that have been impacted by recent book bans in some states. 

A new report released by the American Library Association (ALA), covering its annual assessment of books being challenged or banned in the United States showed a dramatic increase in just a three month period of time in 2021 versus all of the previous year.

According to the ALA, nearly 1,600 books in more than 700 libraries and library systems across the nation involving race, gender and the LGBTQ community, were targeted by conservative groups in many cases led by anti-LGBTQ+ groups like the Florida-based ‘Moms for Liberty.’

ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2021, resulting in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals.

In 2021, libraries found themselves at the center of a culture war as conservative groups led a historic effort to ban and challenge materials that address racism, gender, politics, and sexual identity. These groups sought to pull books from school and public library shelves that share the stories of people who are gay, trans, Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrants, and refugees.

“Challenges to books and book bans are nothing new but it just seems that… the efforts have gotten a lot more coordinated, a lot more intense,” said Nick Higgins, chief librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. “So, the pushback needs to be as coordinated and as urgent.”  

Higgins hopes that the BPL program will help provide support and encouragement to smaller libraries and library systems to stand up against book challenges and bans.  

“A healthy democracy requires confronting ideas that we don’t agree with and having discussions with people who have different points of view,” Higgins added.  

To receive the card, teenagers need to send an email to [email protected] or send a message to the library’s Instagram account @bklynfuture and share an essay, story or video on the importance of intellectual freedom and the impact that a book ban or challenge has had on their life.  

Teens living outside of Brooklyn can also access information and resources to fight censorship in their own communities by connecting with peers in the borough on the library’s Intellectual Freedom Teen Council, The Hill’s Changing America reported.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today signed legislation to ensure students in the incoming class at UC Berkeley can enroll on campus this fall. A recent court order could have forced UC Berkeley to shut the door on thousands of potential college freshmen and transfer students, disproportionately impacting students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds.
 
“I’m grateful to the Legislature for moving quickly on this critical issue – it sends a clear signal that California won’t let lawsuits get in the way of the education and dreams of thousands of students, our future leaders and innovators,” said Governor Newsom.
 
Governor Newsom today signed SB 118, which ensures that student enrollment at a college campus is not singled out as a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), while preserving requirements that campus long-range development plans are comprehensively reviewed for environmental impacts.
 
This legislation comes in addition to Governor Newsom’s amicus brief filed in the case, arguing that the California Supreme Court should block a lower court’s order capping enrollment because the order would undermine critical priorities of the state. 
 
The state, consistent with the Governor’s budget priorities, has made historic investments in higher education, including a total of $47.1 billion in the last enacted budget. Expanding college access is the keystone of the higher education vision, with the state supporting expanded enrollment of nearly 5,000 full-time equivalent students within the UC system and nearly 10,000 full-time equivalent students within the California State University system in the 2019-20 budget.

The state also invested $2 billion to build thousands of units of affordable student housing – earlier this month, the Administration recommended the first $480 million be used to create affordable housing for 3,545 students of public colleges and universities.
 
The Governor’s California Blueprint proposal builds upon these priorities by expanding access to education at all levels, with a focus on expanding enrollment for in-state residents and community-college transfers at the UC System, including UC Berkeley. The proposed expansion of access to California’s world-class higher education system includes the following:

• For the UC system, beginning in 2023-24 and through 2026-27, increasing California resident undergraduate enrollment by more than 7,000, with a significant portion of the new enrollment growth occurring at UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, and UC San Diego – tracking demand from prospective students and families.
• For the CSU system, beginning in 2023-24 and through 2026-27, increasing California resident undergraduate enrollment by more than 14,000.

In turn, both systems have committed – in exchange for historic investments – to close equity gaps in graduation, expand access for transfer students, create debt-free pathways, and increase by 25 percent the number of students in fields related to climate action, health care, education, and technology.

Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statement about Senate Bill 113 passing the Senate earlier today that Governor Newsom signed:

“The NIMBY lawsuit that led to an arbitrary UC Berkeley enrollment cap will make it harder for thousands of California young people to get an education and enter the middle class. The triage legislation we passed today will solve that immediate problem. But it’s not enough just to solve this immediate problem; we need to ask ourselves how we got here.

What happened at UC Berkeley happens every day in the state of California. Not in ways that generate national headlines, but in much smaller ways that deeply harm our state. In many ways, CEQA is the law that swallowed California. In addition to CEQA being used to arbitrarily cap UC enrollment, CEQA has been used to stop or delay bike lanes. It’s been used to stop or delay trains and other public transportation. It’s been used to stop clean energy projects. It’s been used to stop apartment buildings right next to major train stations.

“What do all of those projects have in common? They’re all good for the environment. They all help reverse carbon emissions. And yet CEQA is regularly used to stop or delay climate-friendly projects. CEQA is an important law. I don’t agree with the people who think it needs to be repealed. But I do agree that it needs to be changed so it actually achieves climate action rather than impeding climate action by giving anyone with enough money to hire a lawyer the power to delay or kill environmentally sustainable projects.

“When it comes to CEQA, this UC Berkeley trainwreck isn’t a bug. It’s a feature,” Wiener added.

LOS ANGELES – Through a virtual awards ceremony, the Latino Equality Alliance (LEA) recently announced the recipients of the 2021 LGBTQ Youth College Scholarship Awards. This year, 13 LGBTQ-identified students were awarded scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

In total, $33,000 was awarded through the scholarship fund and in partnership with Southern California Gas Company and Keck Medicine of USC. 

The virtual ceremony was attended by scholarship recipients and their family members along with scholarship committee members, staff, and board members of the Latino Equality Alliance. During the presentation, California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo of the 24th District gave special remarks to the scholars in attendance. “I applaud the Latino Equality Alliance for supporting and uplifting LGBTQ+ youth. Through these scholarships, our youth will thrive. They will lead our Movement for Justice. They are our future teachers, scientists, firefighters, and Senators!,” stated Senator Durazo.

This year’s scholarship awards recipients are Jazmin Hernandez Perez (UC Berkeley), Brandon Ramirez (Santa Monica College), Evelyn Avalos (UCLA), Kevin Palomo (CalPoly Pomona), Mel Avina-Beltran (UC Davis), Fatima Mendoza Choto (UC Irvine),Alejandra Chavez (UCLA), Katherin Velazquez (UC Berkeley), Asher Madariaga Rivera(LA Trade Tech), Alejandra Aguilar (Pierce College), Luka/Isa Gidwani (UCLA), GeorgeDel Real (UC Berkeley) and Blake Trejo (UC Berkeley).

The Latino Equality Alliance scholarship fund was established in 2018 to support the
higher education pathway for queer students of color. LEA’s work is rooted in organizing and developing young leaders in low-income and communities of color to empower them and their families to fight for the resources and policies that will promote a healthy school climate and their academic success.

A scholarship fund was needed to ensure low-income students have the needed resources to purchase essential school supplies, meals and pay rent.

“Achieving equity among the Latinx LGBTQ community is a key part of LEA’s mission.
Our youth scholarship program helps advance equity in higher education by providing
low-income LGBTQ students access to funds that will lessen the burden of financing
their studies compared to higher-income students,” stated Edith Moreno, an LEA board
member and chair of this year’s scholarship committee.

This year’s awards were made possible by the fundraising efforts and donations by
supporters and community leaders in the Latinx LGBTQ community.

Javier Angulo, a longtime supporter of LEA states, “I am proud to support LEA and its
scholarship fund to provide opportunities to Latinx LGBTQ youth to achieve their
academic dreams, and I challenge others who have been rewarded with success to
donate what they can to support the growth of this fund.”

Angulo along with LEA supporter Alberto Mendoza helped raise $15,000 for this year’s
awards. “Supporting our LGBTQ youth is essential, a lot of us couldn’t be when we were
in school or felt isolated and alone. I’m glad things have gotten better overall, and I am
proud to be in a position where we can provide this financial support to these amazing
scholarship winners,” said Mendoza.

Keck Medicine of USC has been a strong supporter of the scholarship program for the
past three years. “Keck Medicine of USC has been a proud sponsor of Latino Equality
Alliance since 2017,” said Lindsey Lawrence, scholarship committee member and chair
of Keck Pride, the health system’s LGBTQ+ committee. “We are honored to recognize
two students pursuing health care careers with the second annual Keck Medicine of
USC scholarship award.”

The mission of Latino Equality Alliance (LEA) is to advocate for equity, safety, and
wellness for the Latinx Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer + community.

LEA is located at Mi Centro LGBTQ Community Center in Boyle Heights.

For more information on the services and programs of Latino Equality Alliance and/or to donate:
Please visit www.latinoequalityalliance.org.