Student protesters presented a united front against unprecedented tuition hikes earlier this month, but they appear to lack direction going forward.
At a meeting of the University’s Board of Trustees Nov. 17, students from a variety of groups joined together in unanimous opposition to the board’s passage of a 15.6 percent increase in in-state tuition.
Although protesters have formed a single coalition to continue protesting, members hold a diverse set of opinions about what constitutes the ideal tuition proposal.
The larger protest movement is also still fragmented, with three different groups — Students for a Democratic Society, the Campus Y and student government — disagreeing on what level of tuition increase, if any, would be acceptable.
Eric Bost, co-chairman of SDS and a member of the student coalition, said members will continue to push for tuition hikes to be scrapped, insisting that affordable education is essential to a diverse campus.
“We are still doing our own independent work,” he said. “We hypothetically want no tuition increases, so our proposal may be more conservative.”
But Mackenzie Thomas, co-president of the Campus Y, said continued demands to keep tuition at current levels are unrealistic, and unlikely to be considered by the UNC-system Board of Governors.
“There are people who think that tuition rises are acceptable, and there are people who think that free education is a right, and there is a large spectrum between those two points,” Thomas said.
Although Thomas said she accepts that some level of tuition increase might be necessary, some members of the Campus Y are looking to UNC’s $2.2 billion endowment for funding.
