#uprrp

“Albergue de Memoria”, de Jomary Ramírez Segarra en la Galería del Departamento de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, recinto de Río Piedras. Febrero, 2015.

Part of worker's day protests.. #1demayo

        On May 3rd, 2018, students from one of the main precincts of the University of Puerto Rico gathered to determine the actions to take regarding the Fiscal Plan presented by the Government Board of the university, as well as the Fiscal Board of Puerto Rico. This suggested closing and consolidating precincts and duplicating the cost per credit from $55 to $115. It plans to eliminate all exemptions, including those given to athletes and choir members, and an increase in other quotas. In addition, the university is closing one of the student residences, leaving 375 students without a home. It’s important to highlight that just two days a national protest occurred, in which policemen followed students into their homes and illegally arrested students using excess of force. Students were angry and frustrated, to say the least.

Students at the student gathering shouting chants (Photo by  Xavier J. Araújo Berríos)

        Regarding these issues, a student suggested closing the university for 72 hours to express their discontent and repudiation of the acts performed against public education. Nonetheless, most students rejected the offer, stating that what the government wanted was for us to close the university for them to sell it, leaving Puerto Rico without a public university. Instead, a walk-out was accepted, as well as another student assembly to take place in two weeks and a demonstration involving multiple sectors on May 11th. During the walk-out, the students protested in the most visited mall in the country, Plaza Las Americas. Many Puerto Ricans deemed this disrespectful, saying “students should have protested on their grounds, not invading private property”.

        Taking into consideration the inaccessibility of public education as it is, consolidating and closing precincts would only amount to making public education more difficult to obtain. In addition, increasing credit costs will make it impossible studying for many families that have encountered troubling economic impact due to Hurricane Maria. The increase in costs doesn’t implicate better services, only maintaining it. Regarding the student residence closing, it’s ironic that this happens because the university is investing on an unnecessary project to create a building for research investigation, when the university already has two buildings dedicated to that. It’s difficult to find a way to have our voices be heard when the Puerto Rican citizens choose to remain unfaced by the abuse of the local and federal governments. Looking for alternative methods of protest are a challenge that the university must overcome to make their voices heard.