YVCC, CWU students protest proposed tuition hikes, budget cuts

Chanting “No more budget cuts,” dozens of Yakima Valley Community College students protested Friday against looming increases in tuition and threats to financial aid.

Similar rallies were staged simultaneously at other college campuses across the state, including Central Washington University.

Billed as a student “walkout,” the YVCC rally got under way at noon at the base of the Clock Tower and lasted about 45 minutes. At its height, about 60 students joined in, with an equal number looking on.

Students said they feared the effects of a proposed 7 percent increase in tuition and related cuts in student aid and resources, such as at the library and math center, as the Legislature struggles to close a gaping $2.6 billion budget shortfall.

During the rally, students marched out to the intersection of 16th Avenue and Nob Hill Boulevard, where they waved signs such as “Budget cuts = dropouts” at passing traffic.

One of the organizers, Katie Clifford, said she was pleased with the turnout. Led by fellow student organizer Ivan Garcia, the initial group of about 20 students tripled in size by the time the rally was over.

“For a turnout, it’s pretty good at this college,” said Clifford, the student event coordinator for Associated Students of YVCC.

At Central Washington University, an estimated 100 students also marched in protest of a threatened 14 percent tuition increase and cuts in state need grants and work study.

A smaller group of about 30 students then took the protest directly to the CWU Board of Trustees, which was meeting at Barge Hall.

The board, along with school President James Gaudino, heard testimony of how tuition increases and cuts in financial aid are hurting students of modest means.

“There might not be blood on the streets,” said student body president Keith James, “but there’s definitely tears.”

• Darcy Wytko, editor of the CWU student newspaper The Observer and a former Yakima Herald-Republic intern, contributed to this report from Ellensburg.