Chicago, IL – Over 200 workers, faculty and students at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) marched here, Jan. 21, to demand full funding for higher education and an end to threatened furloughs and layoffs. The rally was held outside the meeting of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. It was called by a coalition of unions, including SEIU and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), as well UIC Concerned Faculty, an ad hoc group, and student activists.

The Student Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) met over the 2009 winter break to discuss education rights, building a movement against war and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting racism on campus and supporting immigrant rights. FRSO students came from as far as California and Florida, with large delegations from the South and Midwest. With a burning desire for social justice, the national cold wave could not stop them

Students from around the country protested the U.S. government’s plan for a 30,000 troop surge into Afghanistan in early December.

Asheville, NC – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a demonstration at the Federal Building here, Dec. 4, to protest the escalation of the Afghanistan War and to demand an immediate end to the occupation. This action was one of many nationally-coordinated events responding to the recently unveiled troop escalation.

San Bruno, CA – On Nov. 18, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) announced that the state was facing budget deficits of $20 billion each year for five more years . Over the past fifteen months, California responded to a total budget deficit of $77 billion with a combination of cuts in spending, increases in taxes on working people, federal economic stimulus monies and accounting tricks.

Milwaukee, WI – Lining the entryway with banners and loud chants Dec. 3, 100 angry people arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to demand Karl Rove, former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to the Bush administration, return the $25,000 speaker honorarium allocated to him by the university to speak.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call for students to join the protests in response to the escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

Los Angeles, CA – Student protests continued across California, Nov. 20, in the wake of the heavily-protested decision of the University of California (UC) regents to raise undergraduate tuition by a staggering 32%.

Los Angeles, CA – Students from all over the state of California gathered at the University of California regents meeting on UCLA campus Nov.19. They were there to protest proposed fee hikes.

On second day of protests, over 1000 students blockade building entrances and form a human chain around the building where the UC regents were meeting.

Chapel Hill, NC – Twenty students picketed the Board of Trustees meeting, Nov. 18, as the trustees voted to increase out-of-state tuition by $1162 for the coming year at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The protest was called by Students Against Budget Cuts and Tuition Hikes.

Los Angeles, CA – Shortly after midnight on Nov. 19, dozens of students barricaded themselves inside UCLA's Campbell Hall in protest of a planned 32% fee hike that will be enacted later today. Banners in front of the main entrance have renamed the building “Carter-Huggins,” after Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, two Black Panther leaders who were murdered there in 1969.

Berkeley, CA – While the University of California's Board of Regents were at UCLA voting to increase the cost of education by a whopping 32%, students, labor and faculty from across the state were fighting back.

Los Angeles, CA – As of Nov. 18, dozens of tents are cropping up on UCLA’s quad as over 100 students begin a tent city, part of an all-night protest against the budget cuts, layoffs and tuition hikes in the University of California (UC) system. The students are waiting for buses filled with trade unionists and students from across the UC system to arrive in the early morning hours, in time for massive protests on Nov. 19 and 20.

Urbana Champaign, IL – After two days of mass picketing that shut down hundreds of classes at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, the strike by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) has scored an amazing victory. On the morning of Nov. 17, management tentatively agreed to keep tuition waivers intact and retreat from threatened furlough days. In response, pickets were suspended and a GEO general membership meeting was scheduled for the evening. There, the 450 members present unanimously recommended to the strike committee that it accept the agreement and suspend the strike.

Daytona, FL – On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, a group of students, workers and community activists protested against a reactionary Tea Party rally in Daytona. The Tea Party organizers are racist, right-wing extremists and supporters of the Republican Party. The Tea Party rallied against health care reform, opposing the public option for insurance. Counter-demonstrators supported health care for all and promoted the single-payer option, which would create a viable system for years to come. Many of the protesters present were members of Gainesville Area Students for a Democratic Society.

Urbana Champaign, IL – At 8:00 a.m., Nov. 16, hundreds of teaching assistants rallied in a cold, driving rain on the campus of the University of Illinois. The members of the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) set up pickets in front of all doors of the four main lecture buildings on campus. Natalie Havlin, co-chair of the GEO steward's council, said 1000 people joined in the spirited circles.

Students from across the country participated in a National Day of Action for Education Rights, Nov. 10, demanding an end to the budget cuts, layoffs and tuition hikes hitting schools since the economic crisis began.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota.