Vandals promoting March 4 Day of Action cost City College thousands

Officials say cleanup expense will be equal to the price of saving one class

By Liska Koenig
The Guardsman

Police say numerous buildings on Ocean campus including Batmale Hall, the Community Health and Wellness Center, the arts buildings and some bungalows were vandalized by unknown individuals during the early morning hours of Feb. 23.

The buildings were spray painted with slogans like “No More Cuts,” “Business as Usual,” “Education is Liberation” and “3/4/10,” referring to the date of the statewide rallies and marches to protest against cuts to education in California.

“The janitorial staff alerted us about one site, but when we went out to see it, we realized the graffiti was all over campus,” said officer Christian Smith of the San Francisco Community College District Police Department.

Buildings and Grounds, the City College department in charge of campus upkeep, expects the cleanup to be as costly as $5,000 to $7,000.

“You want to encourage students to be activists in terms of standing up for their rights and protesting — in terms of coming together to speak or march — that’s a democratic process. It’s what people should be doing, so I want to encourage that,” Chancellor Don Griffin said.

“But then there are some people who are too exuberant, or they may not have the same level of awareness that they should have or will ultimately develop,” he continued. “And they may decide to do some things that are not appropriate, but that has not been the history at City College.”

The total cost to reinstate a canceled class is $6,000 according to Griffin. Now an additional class could be cut from the college’s educational plan to cover the financial damage of the cleanup.

“It makes no sense. People are sitting around, complaining how there are no classes and then they go out and do this,” Rachele Hakes, public information officer of the SFCCDPD said.

The incident was also discussed in a recent Associated Students meeting where all present student representatives agreed the incident has done nothing but harm to the City College community.

“I understand that people are angry, but I wish they would have used chalk or fliers. This sucks for everybody, it was nothing but a big waste of money and time,” City College Inter Club Council senator Eloy Najera said.

If caught, it is not clear what disciplinary measures will be taken against the suspects. Nobody from the office of Student Advocacy, Rights and Responsibilities at City College was available to comment on the situation.

“We are hoping somebody will grow a conscience and come forward,” Hakes said. Police are still investigating the crime and are encouraging anybody who might have information regarding this incident to contact the Ocean campus police department at (415) 239-3200.