IRVINE : UCI Student Sit-In a Preview of Boycott
About 20 UC Irvine students staged a peaceful sit-in Wednesday at the university’s new student center to protest the school’s refusal to grant them more power in running campus institutions.
The hourlong protest was intended as a preview to next week’s scheduled boycott of the new $24.5-million student center, the primary focus of the group’s dissatisfaction.
“Our goal is not to wreak havoc at UCI,” said protest organizer Jeff Rouder, 23, a graduate student in anthropology. “But we are serious.”
The students say they are better judges than the administration of what students need, criticizing the new center as an enormous boondoggle featuring lavish conference rooms, pricey boutiques and an expensive bookstore.
Horace Mitchell, UCI’s vice chancellor for student affairs, has been in contact with the protesters about the issue they call “student empowerment.”
He said he has offered to sponsor an independent study course on student empowerment and what that has meant at other universities. “I do consider their interest a reasonable interest,” Mitchell added.
Mitchell said any action would ultimately be the decision of the UC Board of Regents.
Although portions are already open, most of the center is in its final stages of completion.
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