UC Berkeley Students Vacate Wheeler Hall After 7-Day Occupation

Students and activists protesting tuition hikes at the University of California at Berkeley vacated their occupation of a building on campus early this morning, according to university police.

The group, which has taken on the moniker “The Open UC at Berkeley,” has been occupying Wheeler Hall since the evening of Nov. 19. They left the building at 3 a.m. today, said UC police Lt. Eric Tejada. Tejada said there have been no altercations with protesters and no one has been arrested during the seven-day occupation on Berkeley’s campus.

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“There was some vandalism done in the building -- some spray painting and things like that,” Tejada said. “But, other than that, there’s been nothing.” The group of demonstrators did not say when or if they would return to their occupation of Wheeler Hall.

“We, the Open UC at Berkeley, no longer feel the need to inhabit the Wheeler Commons at all times in order to assert our right to this space, this campus and this public institution,” said a statement issued on the Facebook page, The Open UC. “See you Monday!” Students began occupying Wheeler Hall on Nov. 19 after a UC Board of Regents committee voted 7-2 in favor of a tuition hike that would increase tuitions by as much as 5 percent annually over the next five years, despite opposition from prominent public figures, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Brown has argued that the university system needs to find ways to control its expenses rather than raise tuition.

Related: Protestors Take Over UC Berkeley Building After Tuition Increase Vote

On Thursday, the full Board of Regents voted 14-7 in favor of the tuition hike, drawing further protests from students attending the meeting. Under the tuition proposal, a 5 percent hike would raise tuition for in-state students by $612 to $12,804 in the 2015-16 school year, according to UC President Janet Napolitano’s office. Tuition for out-of-state students would increase by more than $1,700 to about $36,820.

By Bay City News

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