Students march forth in the fight for the better colleges
LACCD students and faculty march on the State’s Capitol with support from AFT
Los Angeles Community College District students and faculty flew to California’s Capitol in Sacramento to participate in AFT 1521’s annual March in March event on March 4, to spread awareness about the issues impacting them.
The union provides an internship program that encourages students to mobilize in politics and activism, including recruiting students to be part of this experience.
President of AFT 1521 and Pierce College Sociology Professor James McKeever helped organize the March in March event with LACCD students and faculty this year.
“I love community college, I took nine years to get through community college,” McKeever said. “I want to protect the rights offered to our students to access community college and hopefully get back to an affordable education again.”
Lejone Morris, a former counselor at Pierce, expressed concerns about the Pierce budget.
“Cuts were a lot deeper than we anticipated, and that left quite a few of us without assignments for 2025-2026,” Morris said. “There were also talks about there being a surplus right given by our governor, so I’m wondering what happened to that surplus at Pierce that led our cuts to be this deep.”
Some students marching to the State Capitol also chanted supporting phrases toward those who are undocumented, speaking for the students who couldn’t attend. Maya Refua, a third-year Biology major at Pierce, represented the Dream Resource Center program during her second march with AFT 1521 this year.
“I’m mostly here to represent our DRC at Pierce,” Refua said. “Especially in the recent wave against undocumented students and dreamers, is where I feel like this matters now more than ever.”
Pierce professors Angela Belden and Julio Tsuha also participated in the March in March event to fight for secure funding, education rights, and freedom for students.
“The reason that I’m here in Sacramento today is mainly because I want to be in solidarity with our entire community,” Tsuha said. “We’re at a moment when people need education, probably
more than any time before in recent history and it feels like we’re fighting an existential battle to keep it alive.”
“We do not want faculty layoffs because when it comes to a budget crisis, there’s one place we make money and that is students in the classroom,” Belden said.
Not every student could come from LA to Sacramento to participate, but there are many other opportunities to get involved in LA, “like signing” online petitions, and emailing legislators.
Juancarlos Farias, a communication major at Pierce, joined the march to be heard.
“With the new administration coming in, along with budget cuts and education, it’s something I can’t afford to ignore,” Farias said.
