Students staged a sit-in and gathered signatures for a petition Thursday in Bird Library in protest of Syracuse University’s tuition raises.

As part of a national day of action against tuition raises at universities, SU’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and the New York Public Interest Research Group called for lock-in tuition rates, as well as student representation on the Board of Trustees and a limit on the administrators’ salaries.

From noon to midnight Thursday, approximately 20 students were gathered at any given point during the day on the first floor of Bird. They set up tables to gather petition signatures and sat on the floor of the first level of the library. SDS garnered several hundred signatures and presented the petition to Thomas Wolfe, the vice president and dean of student affairs, Friday. They also plan to meet with Chancellor Nancy Cantor in the coming weeks.

This protest was one of many across the United States as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Education. The nationwide protests originated from plans by students in the University of California system to protest a 32 percent raise in tuition in October.

‘We want to send a message to kids across the country that we need to have a discussion and propose solutions to these problems,’ said Ryan Hickey, president of SDS and a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The petition calls for lock-in tuition, which would ensure students pay the same tuition for every year they are at Syracuse. Lock-in tuition is needed to ensure students can make an informed decision about whether to attend SU based on the prices and the amount of aid they are getting, Hickey said.

At Wednesday’s University Senate budget meeting, Cantor announced plans to raise tuition by 4 percent next academic year. This is the lowest planned tuition raise in 44 years. Last year, tuition was raised by 4.5 percent.

Student Association President Jon Barnhart said he hoped to work towards lock-in tuition during his campaign last fall. Barnhart, who was not at the sit-in, would still like to see lock-in tuition implemented, but said he doesn’t see it happening any time soon. But he also said it’s hard to lower tuition when students also want better facilities.

‘We run into an interesting problem when students say they would like lower tuition, but at the same time they would like things like renovations to the library, because, frankly, you can’t have both,’ he said.

SDS also demanded student representation of the Board of Trustee. Student Association elects two student liaisons to the Board, but that person has no power to vote on issues like tuition raises.

The protesters also wanted to place limits on administrators’ salaries. Instead, the money should go to teaching assistants and graduate student faculty with low salaries and few fringe benefits, Hickey said.

In preparation for their sit in, SDS also built a ‘snowman army’ Wednesday night in front of Crouse-Hinds Hall, where Cantor’s office is located, to present their demands.

John Crandall, a senior anthropology major who was at the sit in, said he was hoping the sit in and petition would show university administrators how many students care about tuition issues.

‘Not many students vote in things like the SA election, so if we could surpass that we can demonstrate that this is an issue people care about,’ he said.

Though the petition was not addressed to students at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the sit in also addressed New York state’s $148.8 million in budget cuts toward SUNY. NYPIRG, which participated in the sit in, has been involved in a letter writing campaign to congressmen and the governor to protest cuts on education.

‘State budget cuts affect us indirectly,’ said Joclyn Wallace, a junior history major who was the sit in. ‘Whether you’re at a public or private college, education should be affordable.’

jdgenco@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2010 at 12:00 pm