Matt Weir / Collegian File Photo

We hope the message of those who demonstrated peacefully on our campus Thursday and marched through city streets will resonate with our elected leaders in Sacramento.

We join the students, faculty, staff and concerned community members in telling legislators to stop cutting higher education, which jeopardizes California’s future even as it causes pain today for everyone on the Fresno State campus. We do not, however, condone the actions of a few individuals who staged a sit-in Thursday afternoon and evening in the office of Vice President Oliaro. They took the focus off of the important message that others are sending to Sacramento.

Cuts we’re forced to make at Fresno State destroy the dreams of students who won’t get to attend classes here and some already on campus who may not find classes they need to stay on schedule to graduate. Our staff and faculty endure salary freezes, pay cuts, layoffs and furloughs that ripple through our economy. Those adverse impacts cannot be calculated and shouldn’t be tolerated.

We are grateful for Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposals to reinvest in higher education beginning with the 2010-11 budget. We’ll continue to make every dollar count at Fresno State.

Now our legislators must do their part by assuring adequate long-term funding for higher education, honoring California’s commitment to our young people today and to our state’s secure future.