On the week of March 24–28, interns from Students for Quality Education (SQE) on six Southern California CSU campuses are planning to walk out in solidarity with CSUSM students, organizations, and community members affected by alleged Time, Place, Manner (TPM) policy violations.
As of now, seven students have received alleged TPM violations according to an SJP member. Three of those students were student workers and one of the three was fired from her campus job.
SQE interns are employees of the California Faculty Association (CFA) which is a union of 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches. CFA fights for social justice, anti-racism, and academic freedom. SQE interns are not part of the CFA union.
“SQE is the student-facing branch of the CFA,” CSUSM SQE intern Jaelin Ivester said.
The CFA supports SQE in their activism. At CSUSM, Ivester teaches students about their rights while bridging the gap between students and faculty.
According to Ivester, bridging the gap is essential because the CSU administration consistently “[punishes] teachers by giving them more students” and “[punishes] students by making faculty conditions worse and more difficult to deal with.”
As of now, the CFA has organized a petition for the “San Marcos 6”–the six, now seven students, who have received TPM violations. Two community members and 4 received alleged student conduct code violations and two received alleged TPM violations. Some SJP members say more than 4 students received violations and the actual number of students who received violations may reach up at 7. CFA added the hashtag #LiberateTheCSU on their Instagram; this hashtag is commonly attached to CFA posts that address free speech issues.
To promote this petition and voice their cause, SQE are coordinating walkouts for the week of March 24–28 at CSU San Marcos, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Fullerton, Channel Islands, and Dominguez Hills. CSUSM will start the first series of walkouts on Monday, March 24, and the SQE at the above campuses plan to follow.
SQE’s walkout will protest the TPM violations SJP, MEChA, many students, and two community members received after they demanded CSUSM be declared a sanctuary campus, safe from ICE.
Ivester says SQE will also be “protesting Chancellor García’s actions against students, protesting in solidarity with UCLA students who were also punished for protesting, and to show the Board of Trustees that the CSU will not stand for their lack of action against [Chancellor] Mildred García.”
SQE will continue fighting for immigrant rights, along with SJP and MEChA, while demanding justice, equity, and action throughout the CSU system.
On the week SQE is planning a walkout, the 25-member CSU Board of Trustees will meet. This board controls and makes decisions on regulation and policy across the CSU system, including the TPM policy.
SQE intern Jaelin Ivester will lead the March 24 walkout. Ivester points out how CSUSM is the first CSU to be hit with community violations of TPM. Two CSUSM alumni who attended the February 20 demonstration faced violations.
Ivester shared a statement:
“On March 24th, from 9am-6pm, SQE, in coalition with SJP and MEChA, will be having a student walkout. The TPM policy, a threat to freedom of speech, has been leveraged unfairly at six organizers—four students and two community members, and there has been a punitive action leveraged against the student organizations of MEChA and SJP.
No matter your personal or political beliefs, the TPM policy is a threat to your personal freedoms. The CSU system is punishing individuals for maintaining their first amendment rights, and the policy itself is a threat to democracy, the constitution, and we will not stand for it.
Our student walkout will consist of poetry sharing, community building, food and drink, and sharing your rights as students.
Join us in Kellogg Plaza on March 24th, from 9am-6pm, and for a peaceful demonstration at 12pm.”