A planned “day of action” to protest education cuts began quietly on the UC Berkeley campus Tuesday, with students hanging banners and some teachers holding classes in the early morning chill on Sproul Plaza.
Student activists working with the groups Refund California and Occupy Cal are calling on teachers and fellow students to stay out of classrooms to attend teach-ins, workshops and rallies that oppose tuition increases and call for raising taxes on big banks to fund higher education.
They are also protesting what they call excessive police force at a rally last week that resulted in dozens of arrests and several injuries. Organizers said Tuesday’s demonstrations would be peaceful and will include a march on banks in downtown Berkeley.
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, now a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, planned to hold his Mario Savio Memorial Lecture on Tuesday evening on Sproul Plaza in conjunction with the protests.
Savio was a leader in the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in the 1960s.
Students said they also will attempt to re-establish an Occupy Cal encampment, which could provoke a police response. University officials have said they will not allow any campers.
No comments:
Post a Comment