Thousands of student protesters from across California gathered at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Monday to protest recent budget cuts and lobby politicians for increased state funding for higher education, actions that evolved into an occupation of the Capitol rotunda by the afternoon.
Fifteen members of Occupy UCLA were among the several hundred protesters who occupied the rotunda, said Mathew Sandoval, a member of Occupy UCLA and a graduate student in world arts and cultures.
Police officers began issuing dispersal orders at around 6 p.m., the closing time for the Capitol. The remaining members of Occupy UCLA left at around 7:15 p.m., after the third dispersal order was issued, Sandoval said.
About 68 people were arrested on trespassing charges later in the evening, according to the Associated Press. As of press deadline, it was not confirmed whether any of the people arrested were UCLA students.
Sandoval said, however, no Occupy UCLA students were arrested.
Earlier in the day, protesters participated in a rally called “March in March,” which was sponsored by the University of California Student Association, the California State Student Association and the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.
Among the protesters who marched during the late morning were 70 UCLA students, including members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said Gilberto Soria Mendoza, a UCLA representative to the University of California Student Association and a fourth-year political science student.
UCLA students traveling with the USAC External Vice President’s office were also not among those arrested, Soria Mendoza said.
Protesters marched to the Capitol building, rallied on its steps and listened to speeches from various state lawmakers. The legislators, including Assembly Speaker John Perez, California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, expressed solidarity with the students’ concerns.
UC Student Regent Alfredo Mireles was also present at the rally throughout the day.
“The Capitol was jam-packed with students across the state enthusiastic about refunding higher education,” said Mireles, speaking on his cellphone from inside the Capitol building.
At noon, students from the UC, California State University and the California Community Colleges systems met with individual assemblymen and state senators to lobby on behalf of higher education.
UCLA students said they met with 31 state legislators representing the Los Angeles area to lobby for several pieces of legislation that would refund higher education, including the Middle Class Scholarship Act.
If passed, AB 1500 and 1501 would revise tax policy for out-of-state corporations, a measure that would generate $1 billion in funding for scholarships for students whose families make less than $150,000 a year.
Students also lobbied for AB 970, legislation that would require the UC Board of Regents to make students aware of potential efforts to raise tuition, Soria Mendoza said. The legislation would help create a working relationship between students and the university, he said.
UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said that while the university supports peaceful efforts to refund higher education, neither the regents nor the Office of the President have taken a stance on specific legislation concerning higher education funding.
Third-year political science student Anum Khan participated in the UCLA lobbying visits with legislators.
Khan met with Democratic Assemblymen Tony Mendoza, Mike Feuer and Ricardo Lara, and her lobbying efforts were greeted with support from each politician, she said.
Lara, who was a student activist in college, was particularly supportive of the students’ efforts, Khan said.
Moving forward, UCLA student lobbyists and other UC and CSU students said they will reach out to Republican legislators who are potential sway votes for these pieces of legislation.
“The UC has been cut by $1 billion in the last four years, and UC tuition has been raised 300 percent over the past 11 years,” Mireles said. “We’re tired of being underrepresented, and it’s time our legislatures make their budget priorities our priorities.”