Why did RISE block Sather Gate on Cal Day?

Juan Prieto, a fourth year transfer and undocumented student at UC Berkeley, was one of the students leading Saturday’s Cal Day demonstration ending in a human chain to block visitors from passing through Sather Gate.

Prieto is an influential leader in UC Berkeley’s group, RISE-Rising Immigrant Scholars for Education, who helped organize the demonstration on Saturday.

RISE was protesting against attacks on the funding for undocumented student programs on campus. UC President Janet Napolitano has not yet made a commitment to renew funding for programs that support undocumented students in the UC system.

Cal Day is an event hosted each year for newly admitted prospective students on campus. As visitors wandered to and fro in search of free food and swag, UC Berkeley students were mobilizing behind the scenes, ready to disrupt and educate the masses about the struggles of undocumented students on campus.

In the heat of the afternoon,  UC Berkeley senior Juan Prieto along with other undocumented students and allies stood linked arm and arm blockading the entrance of Sather Gate, a popular and historical landmark for student demonstrations on campus.

What is R.I.S.E. and how did you get involved?

R.I.S.E. is Rising Immigrant Scholars through Education – through various protest and advocacy tactics, including lobbying to hunger strikes, undocumented students and their allies were able to pressure the administration to fund programs for undocumented students at Berkeley.

Eventually, through the efforts of undocumented students and campus allies – including our Chicanx/Latinx, API as well as other multicultural spaces – we were able to create the Undocumented Students Program in 2012, which would eventually provide legal support and resources to undocumented students.

Back in community college. I did a lot of community building alongside other undocumented community college students and started advocating for more resources for our underrepresented groups on campus. Coming to Cal I discovered an inclusive community of undocumented students in numbers I had never seen before. There was a wide spectrum of students – from those who were not out in the open about being undocumented to those who were very open about their immigration status.  Having a community of people who came from the same realities (fears of deportation and separation from our families) has been essential to my life here at Berkeley.

What are your personal views on how undocumented students are treated on campus, why is this an issue worth advocating for?

Although a lot of progress has been made for undocumented students by organized student movements, our resources are now under attack during the university’s current financial crisis. UC President and former Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has continued to stall student movements that have strived for a more sustainable model of undocumented student funding.

Students are waiting for Napolitano to renew the funding that is aimed at continuing the resource programs for undocumented students on UC campuses. Napolitano has deported more folks than had ever been historically done as the US Secretary of Homeland Security, according to her own words. It pains many students that the person who once signed laws which tore their families apart is now signing their diplomas. It is no surprise now that the UC Office of the President (UCOP) along with our administration are coming after our programs first to address the deficit.

They are cutting our services, services essential to our existence and survival here, yet continue to promote  ‘diversity’ on our campus. Given the high cost of rent and living in the Bay Area, undocumented students need this funding and now fear hunger, homelessness, and the inability to sustain themselves while attending university, should the services currently in existence dissipate.

What was the purpose of the undocumented student chain across Sather Gate on Cal Day?

Cal Day is the time in which the university orchestrates a big lie–to recruit and bring students in but then choose to not highlight how difficult it is to be a sex assault survivor on this campus, for example; or how to survive as a person of color on campus, or how to survive as an undocumented student on this campus beyond the limitations of the Undocumented Student Program.

The campus does not mentally prepare us for the amount of stress we will face and how our needs and circumstances will be neglected. We wanted to remind visitors that undocumented students exist and that we are striving everyday to have the same access to opportunity that is boasted during Cal Day.

It was a symbol of the barriers we face from our university and that the more the institution chooses to not sustain our resources, the more we will continue to face these inconveniences well beyond the hour-long occupation we organized. Additionally, we were extremely mindful and ensured that families with bay carriages and those who were not able-bodied were able to pass.

What were some of the responses you received from the action?

Well, the most negative comments were actually from folks who actually identify as Cal students. They were shouting at us, ‘are you even students, do you even pay taxes?’ It is unfortunate that students on this campus with access to so many classes and resources are not making the time to actually educate themselves that undocumented students do pay taxes and that we, in fact, can come to Cal.

While they felt inconvenienced at that moment, we wanted them to realize the symbolism and purpose of our demonstration: that we would not have the resources we need to survive here without ours and our allies’ efforts and that the entire administration and UCOP likewise blocks our entrance into this university everyday by not providing sustainable resources. A memorable and positive response, however, was speaking with newly admitted students who saw our demonstration and felt they had the courage to openly admit and discuss their undocumented status.

What were some key takeaways from the event?

This action would not have been as successful without support from communities beyond the Latinx undocumented stereotype. From the Black Student Union to REACH!, PASS to Underground Scholars, and other multicultural group allies, there was a unity that we have not seen on our campus in a very long time present in solidarity. As we try to hold our administration accountable while we face future threats of administrative budget cuts, we must stand in solidarity with one another to educate and mobilize our communities.

Although these 4% budget cuts may seem like equality to the administration, it will leave a profound impact on our futures at this university due to how that percentage affects how many resources our low income communities will be cut from.

How effective do you think the event was in mobilizing students on campus to be educated about this issue?

The administration did reach out and wanted our asks, and allowed us to educate many potential allies who were completely unaware about the budget cuts and Janet Napolitano’s lack of commitment in renewing funding for these services.

What’s next for R.I.S.E. and the undocumented student movement at Cal?

As a UC collective, we want to hold admin, UCOP, and hopefully the state accountable to renew and provide sustainable funds for undocumented students on our campuses. This weekend, we will be attending the UC Undocumented Summit in Los Angeles for all undocumented students and allies within the UC System to further discuss how to move forward as students throughout the UC system.

Our demonstration at Sather Gate was the first undocumented action in a very long time at Cal now that we are facing a dark period in Berkeley’s history where our resources are in limbo, our time to mobilize has come. In the past, all of the UCs have united together to call out Napolitano’s hypocrisy around claiming that the UC supports undocumented students while not having a commitment to sustain the resources necessary to our survival on these campuses.

We have also released multiple statements critiquing the DREAM Loan Program and other student governing bodies who appropriate our pains to boost their personal agendas. We want transparency, authenticity, and action to provide the resources necessary to continue supporting our undocumented siblings beyond Berkeley and beyond the UC.

Photo credit to Antonio Dominic Dighera for pictures of the Cal Day Demonstration