CCSF student and environmental activist Giovanne Valdez and other students at CCSF have joined the broader Occupy movement to protest a number of issues including tuition fee hikes and mounting student debt. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Kat Anderson
December 12, 2011
Another campus joining the Occupy movement in solidarity is City College of San Francisco. Following OccupySF’s General Assembly held in front of the Federal Reserve last Wednesday, students from City College marched with the protesters and called for help in setting up their own encampment at the Phelan campus. FCJ visited City College on Friday and met student Giovanne Valdez. He explained that 5 tents had been set up the night before and that they were happy about “getting in the public eye.” Among the students’ concerns is putting an end to student debt.
Valdez will be the stalwart of the OccupyCCSF for the next few weeks because, as he explained, finals are upon the students and the occupiers had to pack up and go study. Valdez said that he could afford to skip out on the rest of his classes and was committed to continuing the encampment “until the cops come.” He’s running a 50 foot extension cord from his tent to an outlet of Smith Hall, and so far, the campus police “have not provided resistance.” Valdez expects more students to return in January. So far, all the feedback he’s gotten during this occupation has been positive.
Valdez immigrated to SF from the Philippines when he was 5. He is an environmental activist who is committed to the Occupy movement as a way to protest humanity’s waste of earth’s precious resources. He is taking classes at City College to learn how to build a light-weight, solar-powered camper. He plans to travel around the country in the camper to raise awareness about solar power. “We need to take care of what we have here,” he said.
The Hunger Site
No Comments
Comments for CCSF Joins Occupy Movement are now closed.