For more than an hour Saturday, UW System students, faculty and community members endured a minus 11 degree wind chill to express opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget cuts. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day frozen fingers held up signs that said, “The Budget is Heartless,” and “Walker has a Love Child.”
The protest featured 10 speakers, including state Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, and several UW faculty members. Following the speakers, the protesters planned to march to the Capitol, but did not because barricades for a special city event surrounded the Square.
Although the event was titled “Stop the Cuts—Save UW,” supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement were in attendance as well. Many saw the two issues as related, including Young, Gifted and Black Coalition member and the protest’s emcee Brandi Grayson.
“I am in solidarity with the UW faculty, with [the Teachers Assistant Association] and with the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition. We are standing against the proposed budget cuts by Walker,” Grayson said. “We must come together and stand together, we must understand that our liberation, black and brown people liberation, is bounded in everybody’s liberation.”
TAA members attended the protest to voice concerns over how the cuts would affect TA salaries and job opportunities. Sociology graduate student Katie Zaman said she worries that TA funding sources will become “even more precarious,” along with her future job prospects in the UW System. Zaman said she believes people should write letters to the Legislature to further express their concerns.
“We [TAA] have a letter writing event on Monday at Bascom Hall. Our last line of defense against getting this budget cut is to work on the legislatures. Not to mention that we will be in the streets,” Zaman said. “We will not take this sitting down.”
The cold weather forced demonstrators to rotate between protesting and huddling in the entrance to Memorial Library to stay warm. For some, showing up despite the weather was a sign of determination.
“The fact that it’s cold and people are still coming out [shows] how important it is to get awareness out about these budget cuts and why they are a problem for not only the university, but the entire state of Wisconsin,” said UW-Madison graduate student Ismail Umer.
The event was not exclusive to UW-Madison students and faculty members. Demonstrators came from all around the state, including UW-Milwaukee professor Lane Hall and Christina Luna, a UW-Stevens Point student.
“I came to protest because I believe that we can make a difference by voicing our concerns,” Luna said.
Saturday’s protest marked the four-year anniversary of Act 10 protesters marching from Library Mall to the Capitol to give Walker Valentine’s Day cards. That march sparked a week-long sit in at the Capitol opposing the “Budget Repair Bill.”
Video edited by Haley Arenson. Footage by Ian Zangs
