About 50 students assembled Thursday on the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s library lanai to demand cancellation of debt from student loans and to rally for tuition-free public higher education and a $15 minimum hourly wage for student workers.
About 50 students assembled Thursday on the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s library lanai to demand cancellation of debt from student loans and to rally for tuition-free public higher education and a $15 minimum hourly wage for student workers.
The protest was part of a national rally called the Million Student March. The demonstrations at schools from Massachusetts to Hawaii were inspired by remarks Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders made during an interview with Katie Couric in June.
The Democratic presidential candidate said Republicans in Congress would be forced to tackle the student debt problem if a million young people marched on Washington. Instead, groups of demonstrators delivered their message closer to home, including at UH-Hilo.
The demonstration, which included a march around campus, came just two days after thousands of fast-food workers nationwide made their own public push for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and collective bargaining rights.
According to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, $1.2 trillion in student loan debt is owed collectively by more than 41 million Americans. That makes student loan debt the second-largest class of consumer debt, behind mortgages and ahead of credit card debt.
That compares to less than $600 billion in student loan debt in 2006.
Briki Cajandig, a UH-Hilo student senator, said public college education “should be free for everyone.”
“There are a lot of students around the country who are in debt and need help financially, and I’m one of the students. I want it to be known that we are struggling. Tuition shouldn’t be this high,” she said.
Sasha Kauwale, a freshman liberal arts student at Hawaii Community College, said even community college students face a heavy debt load nowadays.
“I know some students who have more than $10,000 in debt because they need to pay their tuition, and they need to pay for their books, and I think that’s just ridiculous,” she said. “Knowledge is power, and we’re here to gain knowledge. It’s not something we should have to pay for to make a difference.”
RoxAnne Lawson, who described herself as “a local haole and a Waipahu High School graduate,” said she had her children first and earned her bachelor of arts degree at age 50, but makes less money than she did beforehand.
“I graduated with more than $50,000 worth of student loans,” she said. “Now, the job I’ve had for 18 years, I’ve taken a 20 percent cut in pay, even though they made me get a B.A. to keep the job.”
Lawson, who works for Child & Family Services as a skills trainer and therapeutic aide, referred to an April 2010 Honolulu Magazine story that reported the nonprofit organization’s CEO, Howard Garval, made $189,972 in salary and benefits.
“I am making less now with a B.A. than I did as a Waipahu High School graduate, and I have student loans to pay back,” she said. “Many other developed nations prioritize education and pay for it. And this is taking me down.”
According to the annual Project on Student Debt report from the Institute for College Access and Success, American students who graduated as part of the class of 2014 had an average of $28,950 in debt. Delaware students had the highest average debt at $33,808, while Utah logged the lowest student debt load at $18,981.
Hawaii’s average student debt, $24,554, is the ninth-lowest nationally.
Jennifer Ruggles, a member of the UH Student Union, a registered independent student organization at UH-Hilo and HCC with a website that heralds “mobilizing change,” said one way to mobilize the change students seek is “by spreading awareness of the issue among students and the community.”
“It’s an issue that should be on the platform of people running for office,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.