There was a protest on campus Friday, and 22 people were arrested. Three university police officers were also injured.
More than 200 demonstrators—most of them students—were on campus during the Board of Regents meeting. One of the items on the regents' agenda was the university's plan to require a class in cultural diversity for all faculty.
The protest was organized by two newly formed campus groups, Students Against Racism and the American Student Organization.
All of the 22 arrested were students. Twenty-one were taken to County Jail. Their attorney, Susan J. Keegan, said that she expected bail to be set at $500 apiece. The 22nd student, a 17-year-old high school senior, was released into his parents' custody.
All of those arrested were charged with trespassing on state property after they refused to disperse. Twelve were also charged with resisting arrest. Ten were charged with assault after they allegedly threw rocks and bottles at university police officers.
"It just got out of hand," said University Police Chief R. Barclay Peterson. "First they were gathered around the fountain at Central Mall. One group was chanting, 'No more racism' and the other was saying 'Stop diversity.' Then they started marching toward Regents Hall, where the regents were meeting. They were disrupting classes. When they were asked to disperse, all hell broke loose."
Peterson said he did not call extra officers in until the protesters started marching. Then, about 60 police officers, two of them on horseback, started toward the demonstrators.
"They should not have come at us," said Jonathan Walterson, president of Students Against Racism. "We would have remained loud, but peaceful. We were doing what we believed in. The university must do more to promote diversity."
Walterson, a junior journalism student, was one of those arrested. He was charged with assault, resisting arrest and trespassing.
Peterson said that his three officers were injured when they were hit by stones or bottles.
Officer Andrea Wilson was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital with a gash on her forehead. She was the first officer hit, Peterson said. Officer James Nelson and Sgt. Jerico Turner were taken to Community Hospital with bruises they received from thrown items, Peterson added.
Peterson said the two groups began a rally at noon. The regents had been meeting since 8 a.m. and were on their lunch break in the Student Union from noon to 1:30 p.m. The first item on their afternoon agenda was the class requirement. Currently, students must take a class in diversity, but faculty do not.
Walterson, a junior journalism student, was one of those arrested. He was charged with assault, resisting arrest and trespassing.
Peterson said that his three officers were injured when they were hit by stones or bottles.
Officer Andrea Wilson was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital with a gash on her forehead. She was the first officer hit, Peterson said. Officer James Nelson and Sgt. Jerico Turner were taken to Community Hospital with bruises they received from thrown items, Peterson added.
Peterson said the two groups began a rally at noon. The regents had been meeting since 8 a.m. and were on their lunch break in the Student Union from noon to 1:30 p.m. The first item on their afternoon agenda was the class requirement. Currently, students must take a class in diversity, but faculty do not.
At about 1:15 p.m., protesters from both groups started marching to Regents Hall, where they hoped to meet the regents at the steps as the officials returned from lunch, Peterson said.
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They never made it to Regents Hall.
Peterson said he called in the extra officers at about 1:20 p.m. because "the demonstrators just got too loud and rowdy. We asked them several times to disperse and go back to the fountain, where the rally was to be held, but they would not. They shouted at each other even louder, and some of them began throwing things."
Until extra officers were called in, there were a half dozen officers watching the two groups. They were about 25 yards away.
Peterson said that the protesters were stopped midway between the fountain and Regents Hall, near the Liberal Arts Building.
He said that officers using bullhorns ordered the demonstrators to disperse.
Peterson said that the demonstrators refused.
By 1:25 p.m., the demonstration was at its worst, Peterson said. That's when most of the protesters started shouting directly at the police and began throwing things at them, Peterson added.
Officer Wilson was hit in the head about that time, Peterson said.
He said that by 1:30 p.m., most of the demonstrators began to back off. Those who did not were arrested, he added.
Peterson said that the two officers on horseback were used to push back the crowds. "The horses worked well," he said. "The demonstrators were not afraid to push police officers, but they couldn't push the horses."
Peterson said that the protest delayed the beginning of the afternoon session of the regents meeting. The regents stayed in the Student Union until about 2 p.m. and then returned to Regents Hall, he said.
The regents did not take action on the new requirement. They decided to study the matter more and discuss it again at their next monthly meeting, which will be held May 16 in Regents Hall.
"We will continue protesting until the regents vote to mandate faculty training," Walterson said. "We're done negotiating with them. Now it is time to cause trouble." Walterson said that there will be more rallies, not only at the next regents meeting but before then.
"We're not against rallies," Peterson said. "They can hold them all they want, as long as they get a permit from the university. But we don't want them to get out of hand. We don't want our officers hurt. They can rally, but other peaceful students also have the right to attend classes without being disrupted by shouting and violent demonstrators."
The regents refused to comment on why they took no action Friday. "Until we make our decision on faculty training, we will not discuss it," said regents president Clifford Eisel.
Brian Allen, a senior biology student and president of the American Student Organization, said his group will continue protesting, too.
"We'll do whatever it takes to keep the regents from caving into every demand that comes along," he said. "Our faculty do not need additional training in diversity. Many of our faculty aren't even from this country."
Allen was one of the students arrested and charged with assault, resisting arrest and trespassing. Thirteen of those arrested were from his group.
"The two groups never began fighting, but they kept screaming at each other as though they would begin a brawl at any second," Peterson said. "There never would have been a problem if they simply would have moved back when we asked them. Instead, both groups decided to gang up against the police."
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Exercise 5.4
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education