For Mustangs for Justice, advocating for students is their highest priority. The activism group formed on campus this quarter and hopes to make changes at Cal Poly to address inaction from administration on pressing issues. To help accomplish this goal, Mustangs for Justice held a protest Monday, May 22.
“For my two years here at Cal Poly, I haven’t seen a whole lot of change from the administration, from up above,” physics sophomore Dylan Spencer said. “So I think it’s important for students to make sure their voice is heard.”
The protest, which moved from Dexter Lawn to the University Union, took place from 12 to 3 p.m., with a small group of organizers and volunteers rotating through chants and raising handmade signs.
The event also worked as a way to call attention to a petition created by the group highlighting four key campus problems: sexual assault action, accessibility, affordable housing and food insecurity.
In their petition, Mustangs for Justice call for changes to Title IX and response to sexual assault as well as more funding for Safer.
For accessibility, the group is advocating for more funding for the Disability Resource Center, the creation of a Disability Cultural Center and Program and changes to the university’s infrastructure to make it more physically accessible.
In addition to these changes, the petition also demands that Cal Poly should not raise housing or food prices, add more protection for student workers and RAs, increase food pantry funding and not privatize campus dining.
“Students are getting no accommodations, or if they are getting accommodations they’re not great, they’re not serving students,” interdisciplinary studies senior and protest organizer Max Hofer said.
During the protest, Mustangs for Justice garnered more than 100 signatures on their petition from students passing by. Currently, the petition sits at more than 650 signatures total and the group hopes that they can continue to get students, faculty or staff to sign it.
“Just a little bit of signatures goes a long way just to show that the student body wants to see these changes,” Hofer said.
To learn more about Mustangs for Justice or their petition, visit their Instagram page @mustangs4justice.