Students, activists and lawmakers gathered outside of the Student Union on Tuesday to protest a proposal by the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees to raise student tuition and fees by 2.5 to three percent for the 2022-2023 academic year. The event drew a crowd of activists who held signs, chanted, gave speeches and shared their stories.

Despite the cold and windy conditions, a crowd grew outside the Student Union as the rally began at noon. Students held signs, some including the slogans, “no cuts, no fees, education should be free,” and “public college should not be a debt sentence.” Rally participants distributed pamphlets and signs while different speakers took turns leading chants and giving speeches.

Henry Morgan, a student senator at Greenfield Community College and an organizer on behalf of the Debt Free Future Act, said that “for so long, the educational establishment has maintained inequality … we’re here to stop that.”

Miles Cordin, a graduate student in the labor studies program, discussed the Fair Share Act, which will be on the ballot in the 2022 state election. This is a law that the state would pass to raise taxes by four percentage points on incomes above one million dollars. Cordin mentions that this bill, if passed, will generate “two billion dollars in revenue,” and help to reduce “economic and racial inequality.”

Although the rally was in opposition to raising tuition and fees, many other issues were also discussed. Mya Pol, a fourth-year communications major, mentioned that “the University continues to employ professors who teach ableist ideologies and deny students access to learning accommodations.”

Pol criticized the UMass administration for failing to “effectively staff disability services” and mentioned that many campus facilities were not accessible to students because there were no ramps or push-to-open buttons outside of the doors.

“Students with disabilities are suffering and hurting on a daily basis,” Pol said.

A crowd began to form as the speakers talked and some passerbys could be seen nodding in agreement. After the students spoke about accessibility and the proposed tuition increase, State Senator Jo Comerford and State Representative Carmine Gentile took turns discussing some legislation that they were supporting in the Massachusetts state legislature.

Senator Comerford thanked the students for organizing the rally. She pointed out that public funding for public higher education has decreased by 31 percent since 2001. She mentioned that she is a sponsor of the Cherish Act, which will adjust the amount of funding for higher education so that it returns to the 2001 level of funding. Senator Comerford also expressed support for the Debt-Free College Act, a bill intended to significantly reduce student debt and tuition prices in public colleges and universities, among other things.

State Representative Gentile mentioned that “In the Netherlands, in Germany, people are getting [bachelors and graduate degrees] for free,” while students in the United States often take out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans.

After the speakers had finished giving their speeches, students were invited to speak on the issue of student debt, and how it personally affects them. Students expressed optimism that future generations could be spared serious college bills but lamented the fact that many people have been pushed into poverty because of student debt in the past, and still are.

George Prodanas can be reached at [email protected].