The Fresno City College Associated Student Government cancelled its plans to attend the March in March event in Sacramento. Instead, they will exchange it for a local event at Courthouse Park, which they are calling The March for Community Unity. The rally means to help unite the Fresno community by gathering students alongside community members and organizations. It will take place in front of the Courthouse on March 14, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The “March in March” in Sacramento is meant to protest the tuition increases caused by state budget cuts. However, ASG President Daniel Gai believes it’d be best for the school and its students if a local event was held, feeling it’d be more effective than protesting the state legislature with the small amount of students that the ASG could afford to send over.

The event will not just be for FCC students but for students from all State Center Community College District schools who are concerned about the negative effects of the $400 million budget cuts.

President Gai wants the rally to focus on education as well as the Fresno community, hopefully “attracting resources through grants and public and private partners,” Gai said.

The ASG hopes to also raise awareness to the fact that FCC is the primary local work force provider. According to the “March for Community Unity” Facebook event page, FCC students go on to fill the University of California and California State University schools, and after graduating become providers throughout the state, many of which stay local. This provides a positive economic and cultural impact on the local community.

The $400 million budget cuts will affect more than just the school. Budget cuts will lead to reduced enrollment, which means fewer people earning degrees and certificates, and ultimately less people entering the work force. Gai says the hit to the output of skill sets being provided to the Fresno community by FCC will only compound the problem.  “These budget cuts literally affect everybody,” he said. 

The event will help focus on strengthening FCC’s collaboration with local community groups, as well as raising awareness of how important the community colleges are to the economic growth of the Fresno workforce.

The March for Community Unity will have a positive atmosphere, featuring speakers and live performances.

According to the facebook page, guests like local poet and literary icon Gary Soto will be attending the event.

According to the ASG, some of the message they want the students to get out to the community are that this is community issue before it is a student issue, the prosperity of the Fresno community depends on the student’s present education, and the community college is the economic lifeblood of the community. They want to specify that education is the best way to prevent poverty.

With tough times looming due to the budget cuts, Gai hopes the rally can give focus on “cohesiveness by bringing together all ethnic groups and demographics working together for the purpose of weathering this coming storm.”

More information is updated every day on the March for Community Unity Facebook event page by ASG members involved in the events planning.