Photos by JANA SUMMERS Students prepare for a cold night
of camping on the lawn in Wilson Plaza Tuesday night.
By Lily Jamali
Daily Bruin Reporter
In an effort to boost morale for the affirmative action protests
on Wednesday, students took action in classic college-student style
““ they partied.
Between Monday and Wednesday, hundreds of students took part in
Freedom City, a camp out in front of the Men’s Gym organized
by the Affirmative Action Coalition. The event culminated with a
march on the UC Board of Regents’ meeting Wednesday.
During the day, students listened to speakers, attended
teach-ins and discussed issues of race. Although events on Monday
did not draw large numbers, by Tuesday night hundreds of students
congregated in Wilson Plaza to dance and watch cultural
performances.
“The vibe here is so comfortable and relaxed,” said
Tamara Hunter, a fourth-year theater student. “Everyone is
talking to each other and meeting people ““ it’s
great.”
Students from other UC campuses and high schools in the Los
Angeles area were housed in tents which were donated or rented.
“Freedom City is providing a space for teach-ins and
getting the word out about the march,” said Ralph de Unamuno,
a graduate student in the American Indian studies department.
De Unamuno and other students took a “Student Activism
Tour” given by Professor Glenn Omatsu Monday afternoon.
“We went around campus and talked about student of color
activism here throughout the past four decades, whereas the
traditional tour led by the administration tells you myths about
the campus,” de Unamuno said.
He said the tour showed students sights on campus where other
historical protests have happened, such as Vietnam protests in the
’70s and anti-apartheid assemblies in the ’80s.
“It showed us that there is a tradition of student
activism at UCLA that the university will not talk about,” De
Unamuno added.
A presentation by rapper and activist Sista Souljah at Rolfe
Hall on Tuesday night was followed by Freedom City Night, where
students gave salsa performances, listened to music and created
artwork for Wednesday’s rally.
Several students worked on signs and protest art for the rally.
One student helped make a fake coffin out of cardboard.
“The coffin is meant to symbolize the death of diversity
that has occurred as a result of SP-1 and SP-2,” said
Francisco Zarathustra, a third-year philosophy and Chicana/o
studies student. “It’s a visual representation that is
supposed to create questions about what it’s for.”
 First-year women’s studies and international development
studies student Christine Gocke and fifth-year
history student Brian Montes sleep in "Freedom
City" Monday night. The regents’ policies banned the use of
affirmative action in UC admissions and hiring in 1995.
For many students, Freedom City was the first event of its kind
in their time at UCLA. But a similar action took place before a
rally three years ago.
“In 1998 when they had the affirmative action rally, they
had the first Freedom City at UCLA up at Royce Quad,” said
Sameita Afzali, a second-year political science student.
“Freedom City has become a tradition.”
Initially, students planned to have Freedom City at Royce Quad.
But because of a movie filming, they had to relocate to Wilson
Plaza.
Nonetheless, the tents attracted attention. As students ate
lunch and sunbathed between classes on the hill by Janss Steps,
they heard speeches over loudspeakers.
“We had several speakers out and there were people walking
by wondering what is going on here,” said Claudia Salcedo, a
first-year undeclared student. “They are sitting down and as
they listen to the speakers, they are asking questions.”
But not all passersby were willing to sit down and listen.
“I think it’s kind of didactic and preachy,”
said Jason Sklar, a first-year business economics student who
walked past Freedom City to get to the library. “It
won’t really change people’s minds ““ actually it
might serve as more of a turnoff.
“I don’t think that beating on drums is going to
change the situation,” Sklar said.
Despite some pessimism from those passing by, many Freedom City
participants tried talking to people walking by to let them know
about the rally and to create dialogue about affirmative
action.
“I would challenge those people that are walking by and
thinking that we’re just making a bunch of noise to actually
sit down with somebody and talk about why we’re here,”
said Jamie Jefferson, a third-year business economics student and a
member of African Student Union.
According to Jefferson, Freedom City created a sense of unity
among student groups.
“Right now, I’m working on a sign for Raza
Womyn,” Jefferson said. “But I’m not in that
organization. I’m not affiliated with it, but I’m still
out here helping because this is my cause ““ this is
everybody’s cause.”