Occupy Wall Street Goes to College

If you’re wondering why the Occupy Wall Street movement is drifting over to college campuses, take a minute to listen to Salina Mendoza.

The 19-year-old Chapman University sophomore works hard outside of class for a marketing company, but she’s still up to her neck in student loans. Her mom has moved into a one-room rental in Pacoima just to save money and help with the tuition, but Mendoza still doesn’t know whether she’ll be able to afford to go back to school next year.

Why should Wall Street bankers get bailouts and bonuses, she says, when there’s little money to help young people who are trying to go to college? And if she does graduate with all those loans coming due, how is she going to pay them back if she can’t find a job in today’s economy?

“I know graduates who became strippers because they couldn’t pay their student loans,” she said, breaking down in tears. “I know some graduates who have stooped to levels they’ve never began to even think of,  Just to pay off these student loans. They tried to better themselves to get these great jobs and there are no jobs out there.”

Mendoza spent the morning Wednesday painting posters for a last-minute “Occupy Colleges” protest planned for noon today at Chapman's campus in Orange. Other events, also at noon, are taking place at UCLA, Cal State Northridge and other campuses, part of a day of protest called by students at college campuses around the nation.

It’s not clear how many students are actually planning to participate in the protests. Mendoza said she only knows of about a dozen who plan to gather at Chapman.

But she says she’ll have posters ready for them. “Whether we have 12 people or 100 people, I will be out there,” Mendoza said.

“I love Chapman University with all my heart,” the business major said. “But I don’t know if I will be able to be here next year. They should help you if you’re doing all the right things.”