Editor’s note: This story was provided by Long Beach State University’s Daily 49er.

LONG BEACH, CALIF. — About 1,500 faculty, staff and students of the California State University system gathered in downtown Long Beach to protest against CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and the practices of the CSU Board of Trustees at 9 a.m. on Nov. 15 .

The projected half-mile walk started on the corner of Magnolia and Broadway and ended in front of the chancellor’s office where a trustees meeting was taking place. Staff of the chancellor’s office could be seen peering through the windows of the office to watch the protest.

Brian Parkhill, a senior art education major, and Thuy Hanh, a senior education major, could be seen at the front of the protest line, with the poster the two created for the day’s protest.

“I am here to send a message to Chancellor Reed to keep the fees and money for schools for the students,” Hanh said.

Pablo Ranos, a sophomore at CSU, Dominguez Hills, said he came out because “they cut $2 million from the budget and we are trying to get it back.”

The main topics being protested against were the student fee increases that have been placed upon CSU students in the recent years, professor recruitment and retention, as well as the newly proposed “executive transition program.”

CSU, Los Angeles philosophy professor Jennifer Faust was among the protesters.

“I am here because the CSU administration is taking us in the wrong direction. They are making us a corporation,” Faust said. Faust also said that she has been working for the CSU system for 14 years.

“I have seen change, but not enough. I have seen student fee hikes and our faculty salary has not been keeping up with the rest of the nation,” she said.

Another major issue many were talking about was the recent decision of the CSU trustees to re-hire Barry Munitz, former president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, which owns and partially operates the Getty Museum.

Long Beach State University professor Elizabeth Hoffman was present at the protest.

“We are here today because the way the administration is operating is damaging public education,” she said. Hoffman went on to say, “the CSU budget is in the hole. We want to stop the fraud and the abuse.”

Not everyone at the chancellor’s office was there to protest. University Facilities Planner Roger Jaeckel, who works in the chancellor’s office, went into the lobby of the office to watch the protesters.

“Honestly, the board has limited power to address those things. The real protest should be brought to the people who are in charge of our taxes. They need to increase funding,” he said.

CSU Spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow also did not agree with the protesters views.

“The faculty are being unreasonable. In three years, the average CSU professor will be making a six-figure salary. They are portraying themselves as poor and hungry, but it’s not true. A six-figure salary is not bad,” Potes-Fellow said.

The protest was done in a peaceful manner, said Long Beach Police Department Sgt. Ernie Kohagura.

“The protesters did a great job, the event was well-organized, it’s nice to have both staffs working together.”

Sarah Marzouk can be reached at [email protected]