Just after noon today, some hundred-odd students gathered at the flagpole plaza by the rose garden to march against UBC's proposed housing increases.
Last term, a 10 per cent increase in international tuition was passed by the Board of Governors. Now, UBC administration is looking to increase the eight-month housing contract prices and other residence fees by 20 per cent.
Protesters carried signs reading everything from the blatant "Fuck the Fees," to the obvious "it's more affordable to not be a student," while making a loop down Main Mall from Koerner Plaza to just outside Kaiser and back.
On their Facebook event page, IAmAStudent stated that there was a "surprise planned for President [Arvind] Gupta," which turned out to be a sit-in outside his office door in the Koerner Library. There, protesters whipped out their phones and laptops and took to Twitter to participate in Gupta's "Twitter Town Hall," a selective Ask Me Anything-type Q & A.
Here's a few tweets to Gupta from IAmAStudent protesters:
.@ArvindUBC why did it take you from July to November to meet with a student elected council on campus #Iamastudent #AskArvind #iamubc
— Silken Handford (@SilkenHandford) January 29, 2015.@ArvindUBC if you think $2,000 is inconsequential can u give me $2,000 #AskArvind
— Jastin (@jaasstin) January 29, 2015Hey prez you want to have some pizza with us? We're just outside your office. #AskArvind #iamastudent
— will sullivan (@will_sully) January 29, 2015Sit-in selfie! @ArvindUBC would you like to be in the next one? #AskArvind your reception space is gettin cozy. pic.twitter.com/9PZ8V4A1w8
— #iamastudent (@iamastudentubc) January 29, 2015@iamastudentubc have been doing their best to put pressure on Gupta to "answer the real questions."
@ArvindUBC YOU AREN'T ANSWERING THE QUESTION ABOUT HOW THE 10% WILL AFFECT DIVERSITY. COME ON. #AskArvind
— #iamastudent (@iamastudentubc) January 29, 2015The Twitter Town Hall is going on until 4 p.m.. As for the protesters, they say they'll be sticking around outside of Gupta's office until the fee hike proposals are cancelled.
If you missed out on the protest, fear not! We've recapped it all for you here:
Also keep an eye out for an more extensive profile of the protesters and their mission, as well as a collection of the best #AskArvind tweets in our next issue.