Among sounds of beating bongos and thunderous digeridoos, students from across California rallied and chanted “What can Brown do for us? Fund our future!” at the State Capitol for Monday’s March on Education.

Approximately 10,000 students and faculty from California State Universities, Universities of California and community colleges marched from Southside Park in downtown Sacramento to the Capitol to protect higher education. Some of the speakers at the rally included student senator from UC Berkeley Sydney Fang, Speaker of the Assembly John Perez, Sen. Darrell Steinberg and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom said in his speech the cost of higher education is growing at an unsustainable rate, so students have to work hard to keep quality education in California.

“It is incumbent upon us every day to wake up and ask ourselves, ‘What world are we living in?’” Newsom said. “We have to reinvest, we have got to reinvigorate education in the state of California.”

Governmental Relations Chair George Escutia, Jr. said the theme for the rally was to fund the future of students and make college affordable in California.

“We want California to renew its promise for higher education,” Escutia Jr. said. “To roll back the cuts, to reinvest in higher education and to insure the promise of accessibility to education is kept.”

Not only was the rally meant to promote lower cost of tuition, but it also promoted Perez’s Middle Class Scholarship and Steinberg’s Open Source Textbook Act.

“We have to compete; we have to fight to protect Cal Grant for everyone in California,” Perez said in his speech. “For the middle-class families who are getting priced out, we need a solution and that’s why I propose the Middle Class Scholarship.”

If passed, the scholarship should reduce fees at UCs by $8,200 a year, CSUs by $4,000 a year and will send $150 million to California Community colleges. The Open Source Textbook Act would also lower the cost of educational materials for students.

“We’re also supportive of Senator Steinberg’s Open Source Textbook Act, which would produce 50 of the widely used textbooks for free on a digital domain so students can use it,” Escutia said. “If you wanted to print it, it would be $25 and it would make textbook publishers donate three copies of every textbook for college libraries.”

San Francisco State University photography student Joshua Ian said the issues happening now will affect the future of California students.

“It’s not just our generation that’s going to suffer,” Ian said. “It’s generations coming after us and it’s all layering up.”

When he is not making political statements through his art, Ian is working with protest groups in Los Angeles, Pasadena City College, Los Angeles City College, UCLA and San Francisco State.

“I think (protests on higher education) have just been getting bigger and bigger and people are really getting involved,” Ian said. “People that I saw that weren’t as willing before have dropped everything they’re doing and hopped out there. “

Ian said he is hopeful the awareness of the cause for education is growing among students.

“It’s showing how much this is impacting us by how many people are starting to change now,” Ian said. “We’re going to make that change happen; we’re going to make it possible.”

Fang said in her speech there is a diverse spectrum of students who have been affected by the towering costs of education.

“Budget cuts and fee increases have made it harder and harder for low-income students of color to pursue higher education,” Fang said. “Regardless of our background, we all have been wounded by these cuts.”

Chabot College English literature student Karina Contreras has been affected by tuition hikes like many other students.

“A lot of these budget cuts mean less sources, less help for (students) and less money,” Contreras said. “I come from a low-income family, so this is really hindering me as well.”

Vice President of external affairs at San Francisco State Yesenia Martinez said even though these events happen annually, students are trying to change their future and will continue to do so.

“I feel like these rallies happen every year, but at least we leave knowing that our voices have been heard,” Martinez said. “I think the Occupy fellas will hold it down for the students who couldn’t be here.”

Contreras also said these protests have potential to create the kind of change students are looking for.

“It starts as baby steps that can lead to something big,” Contreras said. “Look at the revolution in Egypt and India. It all starts small.”

Sacramento City College student Octavio Plascenci said the cost of college hinders people because the tuition is out of their means.

“I know a lot of people that actually tell me ‘I don’t go to college because it’s too expensive and I can’t afford it’,” Plascenci said. “They just drop out afterwards.”

Every college student in California is entitled to an education because they deserve higher and affordable education, Fang said in her speech.

“Education is a right, not a privilege,” Fang said. “In my four years at UC Berkeley, I’ve seen my tuition go up 130 percent. Enough is enough.”

Alyssa Sanguinetti and Camille Anglo can be reached at [email protected].