On March 3, a handful of ASUCD senators, along with students from ASUCD Lobby Corps and University Affairs participated in the March in March in Sacramento. The event began at Raley Field in West Sacramento, where students from all over California met and then marched to the State Capitol to advocate for legislation regarding higher education. Upon reaching the capitol building, students rallied and listened to speeches by California Assembly members Paul Fong and Rocky Chavez in addition to community college students and faculty members.
The Student Senate of California Community Colleges organized the march to unite students at community colleges and other state universities and to instill motivation in students to take action for higher education.
Harley Litzelman, a first-year sociology and communication double major and the current legislative aid for Lobby Corps, attended and helped organize the event. When external director of Lobby Corps and third-year international relations major Sumeeta Ghai ran for ASUCD vice president, Litzelman temporarily held the position and aided with the legislative aspects of Lobby Corps.
Litzelman described the main motives for UC Davis organizations’ participation in March in March.
“We want to expand Lobby Corps from its traditional status as elite students in suits marching the halls of the Capitol and briefly meeting with legislative staffers,” Litzelman said. “We still want to be lobbyists, but we also want to be activists, organizers, protestors and most importantly, advocates.”
Adina Kuncz, a third-year political science major, also helped organize March in March as a member of Lobby Corps. Kuncz previously attended Santa Barbara City College, where she served as a senator and attended the march last year as well.
“We needed to show that all students across California unify on their concerns for higher education, regardless if you’re from a CC, CSU or UC,” Kuncz said.
The march demonstrated the effort and advocacy for issues dealing with higher education, such as high costs and rising class sizes, that our California state legislature currently faces. Students were able to express their advocacy for more accessible higher education during the entirety of the march and influence ideas on state legislation.
“The quality of policy affecting community colleges is inextricably bound to the quality of policy affecting four-year universities,” Litzelman said. “Community college policy is higher education policy, so it is only natural for us to stand in solidarity with them.”
— Laura Fitzgerald
