Oxnard, Ventura College Students Stage Walkout

Hundreds of community college students in Oxnard and Ventura walked out of classes Tuesday to demand the reinstatement of part-time teachers and popular programs slashed last week to bridge a budget shortfall.

Carrying signs that read “I can’t afford to go to a university” and “Cut War Budget, Not Education,” students stormed out of classes shortly before noon and staged rallies at the two campuses to protest cuts to close a $7.5-million budget gap this year and next. There was no walkout at Moorpark College, the only other community college in Ventura County.

“I am mad, I am upset, because this is wrong,” criminal justice major Danielle Ward told a crowd at Ventura College, drawing cheers from more than 200 students gathered for the assembly.

“At first I told them I was going to leave if they made these changes,” Ward said. “Well, I’m not going to leave, I’m going to raise hell.”

Facing a $1.6-million budget gap this fiscal year and a nearly $6-million shortfall next year, trustees with the Ventura County Community College District voted last week to close cafeteria services at all three campuses, lay off about 130 part-time instructors and eliminate or reduce nearly two dozen academic programs.

The cuts will result in the loss of about 200 class sections across the 32,000-student district, including instruction in music, horticulture and theater arts. Journalism programs and student newspapers at Oxnard and Ventura colleges also fell victim to the budget ax.

“It’s our right and indeed our duty to stand up and fight for what we believe in!” shouted student Lara Shapiro-Snair, managing editor of the Ventura College Press. “We need to make our voices heard. Silence will get us nowhere!”

District Chancellor Jim Meznek, who attended the Ventura rally, said the cuts were unavoidable. He blamed the shortfalls on dwindling state dollars and declining enrollment at the three campuses.

Meznek said officials at all the campuses have worked hard to keep the cuts out of the classroom and away from full-time faculty members.

“It tugs at my heart strings,” said Meznek of the impassioned pleas Tuesday to save popular programs. “But if not these programs, then which programs?”

The demonstration marked the second week of protests at the west county campuses in response to the cuts. And students at both campuses vowed to continue to press their demands until key programs are restored.

Liberal arts major Victwa Shakespeare told the Ventura crowd she is the oldest student on campus. At 65, she said she is set to graduate this spring after five years at the campus.

“I’m not worried about me, because I’m on my way out,” she said. “But how about the people coming behind me? That’s who I’m fighting for.”