Free Speech Wall Memorial

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Welcome to the Free Speech Wall Memorial

Located at San Diego State University (San Diego, CA)

The Free Speech Wall Memorial Unveiling, May 1994 at San Diego State University

History

As a result of the California state government proposed budget cuts to the CSU campuses, 1991 to 1994 at SDSU were marked by a long period of university budget stress, faculty unrest/layoffs, and student protests against SDSU fee increases and class cuts.
Spring of 1991 brought large fee increases and budget cuts by the governor and state legislature to the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems impacted SDSU in a unique way. While other schools in the systems chose an across the board approach on campus, the president of SDSU at the time, Thomas Day, chose to use a “deep and narrow” approach to program cuts. The result were largest student marches and protests since the Vietnam war.
Yet again in Spring 1992, the CSU and UC systems were facing another round of severe budget cuts and dramatic student fee increases by the state government. Still a second time, SDSU President Thomas Day took the same deep and narrow approach for budget cuts for SDSU, but this time proposed elimination of not only full-time faculty professors, but of entire majors such as Aerospace Engineering. In an attempt to alleviate fears of students in those majors, a large meeting by President Day was planned in the student center with hundreds of students and teachers. However, meeting quickly turned angry and chaotic with an overcapacity crowd pressing against the glass windows outside. Following the meeting, students feeling betrayed a 2nd time after 1991, about a dozen students held a temporary occupation of President Day’s office. This occupation led to a 24-hour vigil in front of the Administration building, summer student bus trips to the state legislature in Sacramento, large campus student voter registration drive, and further student marches and protests in the Fall 1992.[78] Under heavy student, teacher, and public pressure, the conclusion of these events ended with CSU Chancellor Barry Munitz eventually reversing President Day’s deep and narrow approach, saving the majors and programs in Fall 1992.
Central and parallel to the SDSU student protest movement was an 8 foot high wooden construction fence that encircled a new campus building. Students quickly put up protest messages, paintings, and cartoons urging students to rally, vote, and challenge the school president. Citing a need to “clean up” the campus during graduation of 1991, President Day attempted to paint over the now symbolic construction fence wall. The night before the attempted wall paint over by President Day, a large police force arrested eight students peacefully sitting in front of the wall. The next morning, word quickly gathered on campus about the arrests and dozens of student rushed to sit in front of the wall ultimately stopping the painters.
In May 1994, the student government dedicated a permanent memorial to the wall in Pfiefer Lounge (later a Starbucks and now the new Student Center) a few yards from the wall’s edge. The student memorial to the protests included the wall painting of President Day’s head in a guillotine.

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