Hourglass assignment

Twenty-two students were arrested and three police officers were injured Friday during a protest regarding the Board of Regents meeting.

The Board of Regents planned to discuss the university’s diversity course requirement for faculty. Currently, all students must take a course in diversity but faculty do not.

The two groups protesting, the American Student Organization and Students Against Racism have opposing views on the tentative faculty requirement.

“The two groups never began fighting, but they kept screaming at each other as though they would begin a brawl at any second,” University Police Chief R. Barclay Peterson said. “There never would have been a problem if they simply would have moved back when we asked them. Instead, both groups decided to gang up against the police.”

Brian Allen, a senior biology student and president of the American Student Organization said his group will continue protesting. Thirteen of those arrested were from his group.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to keep the regents from caving into every demand that comes along,” he said. “Our faculty do not need additional training in diversity. Many of our faculty aren’t even from this country.”

The regents did not take action on the new requirement. They decided to study the issue further and discuss it at their next monthly meeting, held May 16 in regents Hall.

There will be more rallies, not only at the next meeting, but before then, Jonathan Walterson, president of Students Against Racism said. Walterson, a journalism student, was one of those arrested.

“We will continue protesting until the regents vote to mandate faculty training,” he said. “We’re done negotiating with them. Now it is time to cause trouble.”

Peterson said they are not against rallies.

“They can hold them all they want, as long as they get a permit from the university,” he 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.”

More than 200 demonstrators were on campus during the meeting, and 22 of them were arrested. Twenty-one students were taken to County Jail. Their attorney, Susan J. Keegan, said that she expected bail to be set at $500 apiece. The 22nd student, a 17-year-old high school senior, was released into his parents’ custody.

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 officers.

Peterson said the two groups began a rally at noon.

At about 1:15 p.m., protesters from both groups started marching to Regents Hall, where they hoped to meet the regents at the steps as the officials returned from lunch, Peterson said.

Around 1:20 p.m. Peterson called in extra officers because “the demonstrators just got too loud and rowdy. We asked them several times to disperse and go back to the fountain, where the rally was to be held, but they would not. They shouted at each other even louder, and some of them began throwing things.”

Officers were injured when they were hit by stones or bottles.

Officer Andrea Wilson was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital with a gash on her forehead. She was the first officer hit, Peterson said. Officer James Nelson and Sgt. Jerico Turner were taken to Community Hospital with bruises they received from thrown items, Peterson added.

Until extra officers were called in, there were half-a-dozen officers 25 yards away, watching the two groups.

Peterson said he did not call extra officers in until the protesters started marching. Then, about 60 police officers, two of them on horseback, started toward the demonstrators. Peterson added that officers used bullhorns and ordered the demonstrators to disperse but they refused.

By 1:25 p.m., the demonstration was at its worst, Peterson said. That’s when most of the protestors started shouting directly at the police and began throwing things. Officer Wilson was hit in the head about that time, Peterson added.

The two officers on horseback were used to push back the crowds, Peterson said. By 1:30 p.m., most of the demonstrators began to back off and those who did not were arrested.

“It just got out of hand,” Peterson said. “First they were gathered around the fountain at Central Mall. One group was chanting, ‘No more racism’ and the other was saying ‘Stop diversity.’ Then they started marching toward Regents Hall, where the regents were meeting. They were disrupting classes. When they were asked to disperse, all hell broke loose.”

Peterson said the protest delayed the beginning of the afternoon session of the regents meeting.
“They should not have come at us,” Walterson said. “We would have remained loud, but peaceful. We were doing what we believed in. The university must do more to promote diversity.”

The regents refused to comment on why they took no action Friday.

“Until we make our decision on faculty training, we will not discuss it,” said regents president Clifford Eisel.