UCSC students rally in solidarity with UC Davis protesters

Students at the University of California at Santa Cruz were demonstrating Monday against rising tuition costs and the police pepper-spraying incident at UC Davis earlier this month.

The demonstration began at noon at the school’s Quarry Plaza and later, participants held a general assembly.

The students were rallying in solidarity with students at UC Berkeley and UC Davis, said Bryan Mathewson, a freshman at UC Santa Cruz.

On Nov. 9, "Occupy Cal" protesters at UC Berkeley were met with an aggressive response from UC Berkeley police, and on Nov. 18, UC Davis police pepper-sprayed demonstrators who were sitting on the ground.

"I hope that students realize that they have a voice, and by being silent they're almost consenting to what's happening," Mathewson said Monday morning.

Mathewson said that at about 5:30 a.m., dozens of students surrounded and shut down the Hahn Student Services Building.

He said the students were demanding the resignation of UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, the removal or disarmament of the police departments at all UC campuses, and the rollback of tuition increases.

Mathewson said the demonstration was intended to coincide with a Board of Regents meeting held via teleconference today at four campuses -- Davis, Los Angeles, Merced and UC San Francisco's Mission Bay campus.

Dozens of UC students and employees spoke at the meeting, which included a discussion about alternate funding sources beyond tuition increases.

A UC Santa Cruz spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment about the protest.