The state of Florida has never been terribly good at funding public education; much political oversight on the issue is born out of a combination of conservative politics and catering to retired transplants to the state. The recession, however, has sent the status of education here spiraling downward.

The University of Florida, the flagship school in the state, is taking major hits thanks to the budgetary crisis at the state level. The President of the University, Bernard Machen, required every major sector of the University to submit a budget proposal that accounts for a 10% reduction in budget. The results of this proposal request can be found here: http://budget.president.ufl.edu/.

If you click on "Division of Student Affairs," you will notice two budget cut proposals: the latter of the two addresses a suggested merging of our university's Counseling Center and Mental Health Center. The first, however, is a proposal to elimate all state funding and potentially eradicate our campus's Center for Leadership and Service and office of Multicultural and Diversity Affairs. The Center for Leadership and Service currently houses programs like the Women's Leadership Council, World AIDS Day, our alternative service spring break trips, and more. The office of Multicultural and Diversity Affairs houses our Institute of Black Culture, Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures, office of LGBT Affairs, and office of Asian/Pacific-American Affairs. Essentially, these two departments host the only social justice-oriented programs and service on the University of Florida campus, and, more explicitly, are the only offices that provide directed support services and opportunities for women, LGBT, and Asian-American students.

Needless to say, students are outraged. Rightfully so. The budget proposal was released last Thursday afternoon, leaving students a grand total of four more class days to organize around the issue. By the time students return for Summer classes, the proposal must be finalized and approved. To avoid boring you with details, the official student movement in support of MCDA and CLS site is http://www.dayofsilenceuf.org/. Click on "Budget Cut Info" for a clearer layout of the process that led to MCDA and CLS facing eradication.

What is of particular note, however, is that oppression seems to bring students together. Never before have MCDA and CLS rallied in unison around an issue so strongly, and students from Student Government, Black Student Union, Pride Student Union, Women's Leadership Council, Florida Alternative Breaks, etc. have all been collaborating extensively in response to the horrors of budget cuts. It is interesting that social justice, minority needs, service, and diversity education are the first to hit the chopping block in a time of economic crisis.

In this student's opinion, it is ironic that the recession, which is preventing competent, intelligent, and hardworking alumni-to-be like myself from finding work, didn't affect the number of staff at the University's Career Resource Center. 25 staff members... and none of them have helped me get hired. 25 staff members, and the recession doesn't result in any of them being fired.

I digress... students have rallied in opposition on our campus to oppose the silencing of student needs surrounding leadership, service, multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice. In collaboration, they have taken the idea of Day of Silence and reworked it to address the ways in which budget cuts in the Division of Student Affairs are silencing the needs of multiple students on our campus. As a queer student, I am delighted to watch an LGBT-oriented event take on profound meeting for a myriad of social justice activists and members of identity-based communities. Tomorrow, students across our campus will wear silencing masks in direct opposition to the heinous proposal offered by Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin. I am excited to see what happens, and hope this means that, among others, LGBT student experiences will finally be brought to the forefront of the institution's concerns.

Will this work? I do not know. In some ways, I highly suspect students are being abused to draw attention to the need for reallocation of funds. Removing state funds in some ways mandates that student activity and service fees be substituted for state funds in these departments, but student A&S fees are subject to Student Government and require massive student buy-in. Why this attitude wasn't applied to increasing employer donations to the CRC I do not know... focusing on that, though, wouldn't've screwed over students like me who have a senior thesis due Wednesday. Damned higher education politics...

Keep UF in your thoughts. In Gator Pride, here is this week's song: Gator Bait Song