Student protesters grew violent during a California State University Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach Nov. 16, a meeting in which board members announced another increase of tuition for CSUs for the 2012-13 academic year.

The 15-member board voted 9-6 to request the 2012-13 budget to include an additional $333 million in CSU funding from the state governor and Legislature. Also involved in the vote was an agreement to increase tuition by $498 beginning in the fall semester.

“The additional revenue requested in this budget is critical to addressing the deep and painful cuts the CSU had to absorb, and to ensure the students have access to needed courses and support services,” said CSU Chancellor Charles Reed in a press release.

With the increase – about 9 percent – tuition for full-time undergraduates will now be $5,970 per year.

The board made it clear the $333 million it is requesting from the state government is not what some would label a “bailout,” but instead it is presenting the case of why funding is needed in the CSU system.

All 15 trustees agreed the funding request was a step in the right direction but protesters at the event disagreed with the actions the board made.

Student protesters were initially allowed inside the meeting as public comments were encouraged before the board members made their final decision.

Comments turned sour as protesters began to disrupt the meeting by whistling and shouting from inside the meeting room, forcing CSU Long Beach University Police to step in and remove them from the building.

Once the protesters were removed, they were not allowed back into the building. A recess of 10 minutes was taken and the meeting was moved to the room next door.

CSU spokesman Erik Fallis said it was a different scene once the unsatisfied protesters were locked out.

“People are not allowed to disrupt the meeting,” Fallis said. “The people not allowed back into the building were the ones being disruptive.”

Once the students were outside the building, they attempted to force themselves back inside by shattering one of the glass doors at the building entrance, injuring three police officers – hospitalizing one – in the process.

Kevin Wehr, the CFA Capitol Chapter President, believes the Board of Trustees were the ones out of line by raising tuition again.

“The CFA has a long reputation for being against tuition increases,” Wehr said. “We believe CSUs should remain open and accessible for all Californians.”

Wehr said the CFA has been trying to negotiate an agreement with the CSU chancellor for a raise for CSU faculty salaries for a while now. Included in the new request to the Legislature was a proposal for a 3 percent salary increase for all CSU employees.

Wehr also said he believes the protesters at the CSU offices had the right to express their opinion, and that they are not the only ones to blame for the incidents.

“It’s very clear to me that banging on doors is not an attempt to destroy property, and by looking at the YouTube video, it’s clear that the reason the door shattered was because the police barricaded the door with batons,” Wehr said. “Now that means that there is plenty of blame to go around; one could argue that the students should not have been banging on the doors, others can argue that the police should not have put pressure on the door as well.”

Wehr said he believes that the protesters there were not violent at all.

“I would not define them as violent; I think we need to make a distinction between property destruction and violence,” Wehr said. “Violence is something you do to people; property destruction is something you do to property.”

Wehr said he believes the people of California have a justified sense of outrage of what is going on in the CSU and UC systems, and with justifiable outrage when people’s voices are not heard, sometimes events escalate.

Three of those arrested were students of the CSU system.

“Four people were arrested, with one of them from Long Beach State and two from San Diego State,” Fallis said.

He said the fourth was a UC student who was part of the student activist group, “ReFund California.”

The UC student was charged the most of the four: resisting arrest, battery of police officer, disturbing the peace, vandalism and intent of rioting.

The three CSU students were charged with resisting arrest.

“If you’re only being charged for resisting arrest, what were you being arrested for?” Wehr asked.

Two days after the CSU incident, more controversy erupted as peaceful protesters at UC Davis were mass pepper-sprayed by riot police.

Russell Preston can be reached at [email protected]