On April 30th, hundreds of UC lecturers taught their classes outside and attended rallies and press conferences to educate the public and their students about the fact that most of the people teaching in higher education do not have tenure and have limited academic freedom and job security.  Another important motivation for these events is that UC administrators are using the current economic downturn to justify the layoff of many non-tenured faculty.  We are currently witnessing a cutting of courses and an expansion of class size coupled with an increase in tuition and fees.

UCSB and UCR held Hug the Library events to raise awareness about the effects of chronic underfunding on UC's libraries, and on UC's education mission in general.  

Check out this u-tube video of the events at UCR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cbytumP7HE   

At UCSC, the New Majority Faculty day "Teach-Out" received tremendous support from over 300 students, faculty, and campus staff who came to hear speakers lay down the facts about UC's misplaced priorities. Many were there to protest proposed layoffs of long-time lecturers in the Latin American and Latino Studies Department as well as major cuts to the campus's flagship Community Studies Department. UC-AFT members in Santa Cruz are taking an active role in a growing broad-based coalition to protect quality education and services and programs for underrepresented students.