UC San Diego students and workers assembled on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at Price Center to protest the University of California’s multibillion-dollar investments in Blackstone Inc., an international alternative asset and real estate management firm.
In May 2019, Blackstone faced accusations from the United Nations of “[contributing] to the global housing crisis.” The protest was organized to criticize Blackstone’s role in the housing market.
A crowd gathered on the steps of Price Center, holding signs reading “University of CA Break Up With Blackstone.” Many of the protesters themselves were tenants of housing complexes operating under Blackstone Inc.
Jorge, a custodian at UCSD for the past 30 years and tenant of Blackstone-owned property, was the first speaker to address the protest.
“Se ve, se siente, los inquilinos están presentes,” Jorge said.
“You can see it, you can feel it. The tenants are present,” Jorge said.
“We cannot pay rent close to where we work anymore,” Jorge continued. “A lot of us end up on the freeway, one, two hours from here … If you look at the numbers, $120,000 to $150,000 for [Blackstone’s] down payments, is too expensive. We are one paycheck away from being homeless.”
Various other stakeholder groups were in attendance of the protests. The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and the American Federation of State 3299, UC’s largest worker union, were among those present.
Celeste, an ACCE state representative and single mother with two jobs, critiqued the ethics of the UC’s involvement with Blackstone.
“[Blackstone’s] rent increases are exorbitantly high,” Celeste said. “The corporation has spent over $7 million fighting against rent control, opposing statewide ballots for rent caps in 2018 and 2020.”
Leaders of ACCE and AFSCME 3299 held sister marches with campus-based workers and students across eight different UC campuses, including UCLA and UC Berkeley.
At noon, protesters began marching down Library Walk, which was lined with numerous student organizations tabling for Valentine’s Day. The protestors then stopped in front of the Chancellor’s Complex, where they began voicing their specific demands.
The systemwide UC Investments Office invested $4 billion into Blackstone’s Real Estate Income Trust’s housing developments for UC workers, according to Blackstone itself. This is in addition to the $2 billion that the UC has previously invested in Blackstone Inc.
“Did the UC ask us to use our pensions to fund the corporation kicking us into the street?” Jorge asked, to which the crowd responded by shouting “No!”
The crowd began knocking and addressing the Chancellor’s office. An ACCE member carried a large “valentine,” which read ‘Our Demands to the University Of CA’, in hopes of delivering it to Chancellor Pradeep Khosla in person.
Six demands outlined the following:
— UC’s “breakup” and divestment from Blackstone
— Alternative investment in affordable housing
— Frozen annual rent rates for housing on and off-campus
— Immediate repurposing of UC facilities for low-income housing
— Further divestments from corporations violating tenants’ rights
Although Khosla did not appear at the protest, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Patricia Mahaffey accepted the postcard and said that she would try to deliver the card to him.
Despite the Chancellor’s absence, the crowd repeated their chant: “Khosla, be our valentine! Break up with Blackstone now!”
Statewide organizer for ACCE Patricia Mendoza spoke about ACCE’s role in helping to organize the protest with The UCSD Guardian.
“We fight for economic, social, and racial justice, and of course, tenant rights,” she said. “We empower our communities to fight back to organize and to fight back because when we organize, we fight against illegal evictions, illegal rent increases, and against landlord harassment. That’s what we do.”
In reflection of the event, Mendoza expressed optimism towards the results of the protest.
“When we organize, we win. Regardless of where you’re from, where you’re at, because sooner or later, this housing crisis is gonna hit all of us,” Mendoza said. “If it’s not hitting you today, it’s probably hitting your neighbor … Blackstone is the greediest monster in the whole world, not just in the state, not just on the national level, but worldwide.”
