More than 200 demonstrators—most of them students—were on campus during the Board of Regents meeting. The first item on the regents’ afternoon agenda was the university’s plan to require a class in cultural diversity for all faculty. Currently, students must take a class in diversity, but faculty do not.
Two newly formed campus groups, Students Against Racism and the American Student Organization organized the protest. The two students groups’ views on the requirement differ.
“Our faculty do not need additional training in diversity. Many of our faculty aren’t even from this country,” said Brian Allen, president of the American Student Organization.
All of the 22 arrested were students. Their attorney, Susan J. Keegan, said that she expected bail to be set at $500 apiece. All of those arrested were charged with trespassing on state property after they refused to disperse. Twelve were also charged with resisting arrest. Ten were charged with assault after they allegedly threw rocks and bottles at university police officers.
“It just got out of hand,” said University Police Chief R. Barclay Peterson. “One group was chanting, ‘No more racism’ and the other was saying ‘Stop diversity.’ They were disrupting classes. When they were asked to disperse, all hell broke loose.”
“They should not have come at us,” said Jonathan Walterson, president of Students Against Racism. “We would have remained loud, but peaceful. We were doing what we believed in. The university must do more to promote diversity.”
Peterson said the two groups began a rally at noon. The regents had been meeting since 8 a.m. and were on their lunch break in the Student Union from noon to 1:30 p.m.
At about 1:15 p.m., protesters from both groups started marching to Regents Hall, Peterson said. He said he called in extra officers at about 1:20 p.m. because the demonstrators were too loud and rowdy.
By 1:25 p.m., the demonstration was at its worst, Peterson said. That’s when most of the protesters started shouting directly at the police and began throwing things at them, Peterson added.
The regents stayed in the Student Union until about 2 p.m. and then returned to Regents Hall, he said. The regents did not take action on the new requirement and will discuss it again at their next monthly meeting, May 16.
Walterson said that there will be more rallies, not only at the next regents meeting but before then.
“We’re not against rallies,” Peterson said. “But we don’t want them to get out of hand. We don’t want our officers hurt. They can rally, but other peaceful students also have the right to attend classes without being disrupted by shouting and violent demonstrators.”
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