An encampment at Cal State Fullerton is being disbanded Friday after a group of students who had pitched tents to protest education cuts was threatened with arrest and possible expulsion.
About 50 students had been sleeping overnight since Tuesday as part of a wave of demonstrations on Cal State and University of California campuses throughout the state.
The students had set up about 20 tents in a designated area after campus officials gave permission and provided extra trash receptacles.
But administrators determined that the encampment violated university policy and told the students they would be subject to arrest and disciplinary actions that could include expulsion if they remained.
"We started with the idea that there would be a point in time when it would need to come to a close," Dean of Students Lea Jarnagin said. "We're coming up on the holidays next week with no student presence on campus, so there doesn't really seem to be a need to continue."
Cameron Mahdad, a protest organizer, said students decided to comply and work instead on a signature drive to be presented to the California State University Board of Trustees at a special December meeting. The petition seeks more student and faculty voices in decision-making through an elected board.
“We feel like there would be no point in getting arrested, and none of us want to get expelled,” said Mahdad, 20, a business major. “That would ruin our message, and we feel we can move our fight toward gathering signatures.”
Meanwhile, at Humboldt State in Arcata, members of Occupy Humboldt are continuing overnight vigils begun several weeks ago in a corner of the campus quad. The students technically are not allowed to camp and must remain awake, but they are being allowed to shelter themselves with covers, campus spokesman Paul Mann said.
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-- Carla Rivera
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