At Thursday’s rally, nearly 300 Sacramento State students and faculty members yelled, sang and chanted their protests against fee increases, budget cuts, employee furloughs and fewer, more crowded classes.

The protesters, most of whom wore black, gathered at the Library Quad to mourn the “death of higher education.” As they marched around the Library Quad and across campus, they yelled, “They say cut back, we say fight back!”

“We demonstrate today as the start to the student movement to tell California that you invest in us because we matter,” said Associated Students Inc. President Roberto Torres. “It’s not right that we pay more and get less. It’s not right that they (legislators) justify our fee increases as still being cheap.”

Robert Graham, one of the lead organizers of the rally, said the protest, which was organized by the Sac State Coalition, is aimed at the legislators, the Board of Trustees, California State University Chancellor Charles Reed and Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez.

“What we’re looking to accomplish is bring media attention both to Sac State and get the students just aware that there’s a movement starting that’s not going to stop until we get what we want, until we get our money back,” said Rylan Gervase, ASI secretary of state affairs and California State Student Association representative for Sac State.

Senior psychology major Corin Ramos said her classes are “very full” and a lot of her part-time professors have been laid off.

“It’s very hard to make a relationship with the professor, to even have them know your name because the classes are so huge,” Ramos said. “There are so few classes available this semester and that’s not right, but the CSU knows exactly what they’re doing when they do this.”

Protesters marched around campus carrying a coffin filled with notes with student complaints on them. Some students, like Ramos, painted their faces as skulls. Others held signs that said “R.I.P. graduation rate,” “R.I.P. higher education” and “R.I.P. affordability.”

Some of the protesters, like senior women studies major Laura Pratt, said the administration doesn’t support the students’ cause.

Torres, however, said Gonzalez is supportive of the students.

In a written statement to The State Hornet, Gonzalez said he “applaud(s)” the students who participated in the rally.

“I wholeheartedly agree with our students’ concerns over rising fees and campus budget reductions prompted by severe cuts in state funding,” Gonzalez said.

The students and faculty also protested against CSU’s reimbursements to David J. Ernst, a former high-ranking official in the Chancellor’s Office.

According to a report released on Thursday by California State Auditor Elaine Howle, Ernst received $152,441 in “improper expense reimbursements” from July 2005 to July 2008. Ernst billed the CSU for commuter expenses, living allowances, home office expenses, duplicate reimbursements and “unnecessary trips” that have “little or no value” to the university.

These “unnecessary trips,” which include trips to attend non-university events in China, Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, cost the state $39,135, the report says.

The report said the CSU had poor oversight over the reimbursements, and Ernst “consistently failed to follow university policies in submitting requests for reimbursements.”

Ernst is now associate vice president and chief information officer at the University of California.

Erik Fallis, spokesperson for the Chancellor’s Office, said the CSU is asking Ernst to return the amount cited in the report as duplicate reimbursements or overpayments. This amount is $1,834.

The protest ended in front of Sacramento Hall where administration offices are located. Some protesters even marched up to Gonzalez’s office on the second floor of the building.

ASI Executive Vice President Shawn Smith said the high turnout at the rally showed that students feel strongly about the issue.

“Considering the stakes that we have and fees that are going up so high, I was not really surprised,” Smith said.

Torres said students can no longer be categorized as apathetic to issues that concern them.

“Today is a perfect example of how that is not the case,” Torres said. “If our students are continually being pushed to the edge, they will come out full force to show that enough is enough.”

Kristine Guerra can be reached at [email protected].