Students Protest at UC Regents Meetings

Students at four campuses are protesting Monday in response to crackdowns on Occupy movements and planned tuition fees.

The protests come during a UC board of regents meeting, which is being conducted by teleconference. A previous meeting scheduled for Nov. 16 in San Francisco was canceled after law enforcement officials expressed concerns about possible violence.

Board members, university administrators and members of the public are attending Monday's teleconference at locations on the Los Angeles, Davis, Merced and San Francisco-Mission Bay campuses. Students spoke about tuition fees, school budgets and Occupy camp crackdowns, including a high-profile case in which police pepper-sprayed sitting protesters at UC Davis, during the public comments period.

At UCLA, students upset over the UC Davis case at tuition fees planned to gather at the campus' southern edge. Some protesters stayed overnight in tents.

"Students are going to demand that the regents change the agenda to reflect their concerns," said organizer Kyle Arnon. "We are not going to be appeased if the only change is a longer public comment period."

The agenda did not mention the UC Davis case or the Occupy movement, but the board was expected to discuss a request to increase state funding to hire instructors, increase enrollment and avoid tuition hikes.

Regents added 45 minutes to the normal 15-minute public comments period. Each person was allotted one minute to speak.

Leave Comments