18 UT Students Arrested During Budget Cut Protests
AUSTIN (KRLD) -- Eighteen students were arrested while protesting proposed budget cuts at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday.
The students were participating in a sit-in in front of President William Powers Jr.'s office after the office closed at 5 p.m. The students will be charged with criminal trespassing, a Class B misdemeanor, according to campus officials.
"We don't think public universities should run themselves like corporations," said Kathleen Brower with the United Students Against Sweatshops.
Opponents of the proposed cuts say the move would cut as many as 500 on-campus jobs.
"Staff members at UT really depend on these jobs to feed their families, put food on the table and they also do very essential work at the university," said Brower.
18 UT Students Arrested
But Gary Susswein with the University of Texas says the cuts, which have been under discussion for more than a year, are necessary.
"This is really a way for the University of Texas to be good stewards of the tax dollars we get -- the tuition dollars that we get," said Susswein.
Susswein notes that the university has not yet finalized any plans.
The prosecutors office will now decide if charges against the students will be pursued.
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