Students protesting fee hikes sit in at Campbell Hall

CORRECTION: At the UC Regents meeting at Covel Commons, the regents
agreed to reopen Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital by 2012.

Students from UCLA and other campuses have taken over Campbell Hall, initiating a sit-in to protest the 32 percent fee increase that is to be voted on today by the UC Board of Regents.

The fee was approved by the Committee on Finance at Wednesday’s meeting. The occupation of Campbell Hall began last night when about 30 to 50 demonstrators locked themselves in the hall, according to a UCLA statement released by Chancellor Gene Block.

The hall will be closed for the day, according to the statement. Several hundred demonstrators can also be found outside of Campbell Hall.

The students occupying the hall plan to remain in place “indefinitely,” according to a source inside the building.

According to a fourth-year student occupier, who declined to state his name, protesters today dubbed Campbell Hall “Carter-Huggins Hall” after the two Black Panthers who were killed inside the building in the 1960s.

“Campbell Hall is closed indefinitely, but Carter-Huggins Hall is open to students today,” the occupier said.

Students have currently made no demands of the administration.

Meanwhile, at the UC Regents meeting at Covel Commons, the regents agreed to reopen Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital by 2012 in partnership with Los Angeles County. The decision was made by a unanimous vote.

Compiled by Ravi Doshi and Carolyn McGough, Bruin senior staff.

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