Do UC?

It’s that time of year again: the dreaded date for college application submissions.  Many students hope to be accepted at one of the many UC schools, but protests on UC campuses, may have an impact on senior college decisions.

The UCs are very valued schools, but recently, protests over the tuition increases and the decrease in the quality of education saturate the campus.  Retaliation has been ethically questionable; UC Davis police officers used pepper spray against prohibited student encampments.  At the UC Berkeley campus, incidents involved the physical beating of student protesters.  These events show that discipline is being actively enforced against college students, stinting their ability to protest and right to assemble, which may make seniors reevaluate which college is right for them.

“The protests at the UC campuses can affect my college decision.  I don’t want to go to a school where I can’t express my rights, especially if the protests are for something that is important, such as tuition increases that affect everyone at the school,” senior Maryam Rao said.

Students should take a stance against the suppression that is occurring and condemn it as a violation of student rights as these actions soil the good reputation of these colleges.