Student-led protests vary from state to state

Student-led protests vary from state to state

Terence Chea

Associated Press Writer

According to the Associated Press, protests ranged from peaceful to violent at universities nationwide.

In Oakland, protesters gathered on Interstate 88 forcing the closure of the freeway in both directions for more than an hour and causing traffic to back up for miles. Police arrested more than 150 people.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police arrested at least 15 people protesting tuition hikes after protesters tried to enter an administrative building to deliver petitions to the school chancellor.

In Northern California, University of California Santa Cruz protesters blocked major gates at two universities and smashed the windows of a car. No arrests had been made.

At the University of California, Berkeley, a small group of protesters formed a human chain blocking a main gate to the campus. Later in the day, hundreds gathered for a peaceful rally in the middle of a busy intersection near Sproul Plaza.

At UC Davis, about 75 police officers were called to the scene after nearly 300 students tried to block a freeway onramp near campus, said university spokeswoman Claudia Morain. A standoff between students and police ended after police fired pepper spray into the crowd and one female student was arrested, Morain said. There were no reported injuries.

At the University of Illinois, about 200 professors, instructors and graduate faculty marched through campus carrying signs that read “Furlough Legislators”—a reference to recent furloughs and 4 percent pay cuts imposed on thousands of university employees.

In Olympia, Wash., a group of about 75 protesters arrived at the Capitol bearing a faux coffin emblazoned with the slogan “R.I.P. Education.” They were later ejected from the state Senate gallery after interrupting a debate with a protest song that followed the tune of “Amazing Grace.” Several Democratic senators applauded the performance, as security guards escorted the protesters from the building.

At the University of Texas at Austin, about 100 students and staff rallied on campus to protest a 5.4 percent hike in tuition and fees approved by regents a day earlier. Protesters complained the quality of education was taking a backseat to the university’s bottom line.

In Alabama, Broderick Thomas, a 23-year-old Auburn senior, attended an annual higher education rally in Montgomery and said he feels “it’s the moral duty of the state to give back what they promised.”
Hundreds of students, teachers, parents and school employees from across California gathered in Sacramento for a midday rally at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to restore funding to public schools.

Information provided by Associated Press