Students protest budget cuts, tuition hikes across nation

Demonstrations began in California as part of a national “Day of Action to Defend Public Education.” The effort was a response to the state’s approval last fall of a 32 percent increase in undergraduate tuition at public universities, an effort designed to help combat California’s $20 million budget deficit.

At the University of California, Berkeley, protesters blocked the main entrance at Sather Gate and smashed in car windows, according to The Daily Californian, Berkeley’s student newspaper, which live-blogged the protests. Riots were also staged last week at Berkeley in response to recent tuition hikes and perceived racial tensions within the UC system.

Officials at UC Santa Cruz urged individuals to avoid the campus on Thursday due to reports of violence and belligerence. UC Santa Cruz provost David Kliger said that there were accounts of protesters carrying knives and clubs, though Santa Cruz police Capt. Steve Clark could not confirm the information, according to The Huffington Post.

University of California president Mark Yudof said in a statement that he saluted protetesters who were “making themselves heard today in a peaceful manner on behalf of a great cause.”

“My heart and my support are with everybody and anybody who wants to stand up for public education,” he said, adding that “public education drives a society’s ability to progress and to prosper.”

Participants also organized a protest on the steps of the state capitol building in Sacramento.

Outside the Golden State

Protests ranged from peaceful to violent across the country, the Associated Press reported.

Demonstrators at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee turned to physical violence, throwing punches and chunks of ice at police, and fifteen protesters were arrested after roughly 150 students rushed an administration building, according to the AP.

Tom Luljak, a spokesman for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said that one female student had been allowed inside the building and had encouraged demonstrators to rush the building upon leaving.

Roughly 100 protesters at the University of Texas at Austin rallied against a 5.4 percent increase in tuition and fees approved on March 3 by the University of Texas System regents.

At the University of Illinois, about 200 demonstrators carried signs reading “Furlough Legislators” through the campus, calling attention to furloughs and paycuts for university employees.