University of California, Berkeley (UCB) students Angela Miller and Zach Bowin have been suspended from school, and Miller threatened with eviction from student housing, for participating in a protest that occurred outside of UCB Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s campus home on Friday, December 11, 2009. (See: “Police crack down on California student protests: California governor denounces ‘terrorism’”)
The protest was part of ongoing actions by University of California (UC) students last fall and early this winter in opposition to a massive assault on public higher education in the state. As the result of a multi-billion dollar reduction in funding, in mid-November fees were raised at the 10 UC campuses located across California by 32 percent. Coming alongside hiring freezes, increases in class size, reductions in course offerings, and limits on enrollment, the tuition hike has meant that many students have had to either drop out of the UC system or forego enrollment because they cannot afford to attend.
Campus police arrested eight people at the December 11 protest, including the two UCB students and two students from University of California, Davis, charging them with felony property damage, threatening a university official, rioting, attempted burglary, attempted arson of an occupied building, and assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer. The police set bail at over $100,000 for each arrestee.