Hundreds Of UC Berkeley Students Walk Out Of Classes To Protest Planned Tuition Hikes
BERKELEY (KCBS) _ Students protesting tuition hikes in the University of California system held walkouts at multiple campuses on Monday.
When the bells on UC Berkeley's campus rang at noon, students walked out of classrooms and hundreds marched as planned in solidarity with UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis students.
Last Thursday, the UC Board of Regents voted 14-7 to approve increases of as much as five percent in each of the next five years unless the state devotes more money to the system.
Berkeley students marched throughout the campus and on city streets. One activist Destiny Awoma offered a fiery speech calling for no show of signs of weakness. Then a rallying call of "Whose university?" with a response from the uproarious crowd of "Our university!" was delivered.
They symbolically marched past Berkeley High School to highlight the effect the hike would have on future students. The fee hike will impact out of state students and students from households making more than $150,000.
Over the last five days, several dozen students have peacefully camped at Berkeley's Wheeler Hall, with as many as 150 students there at times.
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