UCF’s Student Labor Action Project was joined by members of Students for a Democratic Society and other student groups outside Millican Hall to protest possible budget cuts to UCF coming from the Legislature.
The protest came on the same day students from across the country had enormous rallies in California to fight against raising tuition, and cuts to higher education.
The protest was publicized by a facebook event created by SLAP. David Fernandez is the group’s president, and used a microphone to make his point to students passing by.
Fernandez said students need to, “Scream, shout, chant and make our voices heard from every corner of this campus all the way to the halls of Tallahassee.”
SGA appeared to have some involvement in the event, but KnightNews.com received no press release from its paid team of public relations writing staff confirming that to be the case or notifying us of the event. In our attempt to confirm SGA’s official role, a public records request was sent by KnightNews.com to SGA requesting any press release about this event, but it was not yet returned.
KnightNews.com happened to notice the demonstration and stopped by to provide coverage of the issue of importance to students. If your organization is planning a student protest, e-mail news@knightnews.com and KnightNews.com will announce it to its regular audience of 20,000 unique visitors. We may even be able to arrange live streaming video as part of our coverage to reach those who can’t attend.
It appeared the protest ended after some officials participating in the demonstration warned those using the microphone they only had two minutes of “amplified sound” left, seemingly in reference to UCF’s policies governing student assembly.
KnightNews.com is considering possible possible legal action against UCF for the way it interprets the First Amendment. On Friday, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a national watchdog group, published a story about Our Fight for Free Speech.
As KnightNews.com’s Promise to Fight For You, we will scrutinize the Florida Legislature during this current legislative session and expose any proposals which could affect your education and rights.
Check out how the rally went down in California, below, courtesy of the LA Times:
