Students for a Democratic Society at ASU is preparing demonstrations to send a message to ASU President Michael Crow: No tuition increase.
ASU President Michael Crow proposed a tuition increase of 1.5 percent for in-state students, a 3.5 percent increase for out-of-state students and a 4.5 percent increase for international students on March 17, which was presented to the Arizona Board of Regents.
ABOR will hold a tuition town hall on Tuesday, March 28 where students can voice their concerns and provide feedback on the proposed increase. On March 30, all Arizona university presidents will present their tuition proposals at the Tempe campus. The decision whether or not to increase tuition will be made on April 6.
Fallon Leyba, a creative writing sophomore and co-chair of SDS, was not surprised by the tuition hikes, but felt the increase showed that the administrations doesn’t put the students first.
“Michael Crow, the administration and ABOR and all of these people in systems of power have shown us many times already that they don’t care about students well-being” Leyba said. “This is the straw that broke the camel's back. This increase in tuition for this upcoming year has made a lot of people angry.”
Leyba encouraged students to get involved on campus and within their communities to enact change.
“Get involved in terms of civic engagement but also in terms of direct action, we need to hit hard and fast to make sure they know we are angry and wont take anymore tuition hikes,” Leyba said.
Members from a SDS plan on attending all of the events hosted by ABOR, while also hosting their own events.
On Monday, April 3 they have planned a “Study-in” at Michael Crow’s office. They also plan to table at the Memorial Union in Tempe on Wednesday, April 5.
They will close the week of events with two more days of activities: a “Teach-in” on Hayden Lawn on Thursday, April 6 followed by a picket outside of Michael Crow’s office on Friday, April 7.
In addition to these events, SDS has encouraged students to flood ABOR and Michael Crow’s phone lines with calls voicing their opposition against the proposed tuition increase.
Outgoing USGD Vice President of Policy Jimmy Arwood said that USG was focusing on a long-term solution to the problem of rising tuition.
“I think at the end of day, SDS would agree with me that our end goal is to get the legislature to invest more money in our University," he said.
Arwood, who held a tuition town hall for students in February, said his approach is to create a long-term solution at the legislature level by talking to representatives and getting students engaged.
Sophia Garcia, a business junior said she wishes the University would lock tuition to a student's freshman rate, or incoming transfer rate.
“I’m an out-of-state student, and I wish I would have known tuition could increase so much in one year,” Garcia said. “Students should pay the tuition they agreed to pay when they started their time at ASU. Increasing it over time makes it difficult for students to continue. Where is that money going to come from?”
Garcia and other out of state students and will face over $900 in increased tuition next year if ABOR approves the increases.
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