A petition was initiated by Mustangs for Justice to push the university administration to address student-based issues at Cal Poly including sexual assault, accessibility, affordable housing and food security.
Mustangs for Justice is an unaffiliated group of students that advocate for university-wide change to accommodate students’ needs and demands.
One of the authors of the petition, political science senior Alexandria Raynes, hopes to make student voices heard by the university administration to create tangible change at Cal Poly.
“[We hope] to prove to people at the top of this university that students care about these issues and students are frustrated that the university administration is not listening to students and kind of leaving them in the dust,” Raynes said.
The group is holding a protest on campus Monday, May 22, starting at Dexter Lawn and ending at the Administration Building.
The petition was made public on May 3, and now has roughly 512 signatures from students, staff, alumni and community members as of May 21. However, the group hopes this number will grow to the thousands in weeks to come.
Five authors of the petition included Raynes, Jaenine Santos, Max Hofer, Tyler Coari and M.K. Kaplan. An additional dozen members of the Mustangs for Justice group contributed opinions and ideas to the petition.
“I feel like people think these are crazy demands and unreasonable asks but they’re really not, it’s just the mindset Cal Poly has convinced us of,” Santos, co-author of the petition, said.
Raynes researched by talking to students in the Disability Alliance Club and SAFER for an account of their experiences using resources mentioned in the petition. Raynes also used resources like the Cal Poly Basic Needs Task Force Report to inform the demands listed in the petition regarding food security and housing.
One of the petition demands asks for $500,000 to be allocated to the SAFER program which would come from the campus police budget. It also includes a demand for an additional $750,000 for the Disability Resource Center.
Raynes asks that students share the petition in their classes and clubs to garner more awareness for the Mustangs for Justice efforts.
“It’s only with a lot of people actively working to make this petition grow that we can actually make a difference,” Raynes said.
For more information on the specific demands listed view the petition or email @mustangsforjustice@gmail.com.