Share:

The stage was set once again at the Aug. 29 Board of Trustees meeting for another clash between protesters and the board; protesters, faculty, students, journalists, and what looked like spectators made up the audience in the packed room.

The protesters were surprisingly calm at the beginning of the meeting except for a few outbursts which quickly ceased, apart from that they remained reserved that is until the item on the new calendar.

Once the public comment on winter session began the sounds of chanting could be heard from outside the meeting room.

At one point the meeting became so disrupted board members tried to leave the room. They returned to their seats when they discovered the doors were locked.

The first speakers talked about the benefit of having a winter intersession. “Of the top ten transfer schools 60 percent offer winter intersession. Of the bottom 20 percent, zero offer winter intersession,” said Faculty Association representative Julie Kiotas.

When the next person to speak was told by board President Geoffrey Baum that he had only five minutes, the crowd began chanting the familiar, “Let them speak!”

Meanwhile, outside the crowd gathered and began chanting, “Whose school? Our school!”

The next speaker, Sam Resnick threatened to recall Baum if winter intersession was cut.

“You can’t cut winter intersession…it only takes one thousand names on a petition to get rid of a board member,” said Resnick belligerently. “If winter intersession is cut Geoffrey Baum will be put on one of these petitions.”

Soon after Resnick was done speaking, what sounded like tribal drums began to be heard in the hall outside the room. The sound was the protesters pounding the glass doors in an attempt to get inside.

When Joshua Fleming, performing arts instructor approached the podium to talk about how the Faculty Association is not representing all the faculty, audience members did not take it fondly and began yelling, “Non agenda item! That is inappropriate.”

A protester then stood up and began yelling at the board as the police officers moved to escort him out of the room, he shoved an officer and a scuffle ensued. Other officers then jumped in to assist the first one.

“ Don’t fucking touch me,”’ yelled the protester at the officers trying to escort him as he continued to struggle with police while being marched out of the room.

A female protester in the audience then got up and cried, “Shame on you,” at the board for the way the protesters were being treated.

After both the protesters were escorted out President Mark Rocha continued to speak to a surprisingly calm room until another protester stood up and began yelling at the board. Board members then stood up and tried to leave the room but the doors were locked. Police then escorted that protester out peacefully.

Police Chief Stanton Perez then addressed the crowd and asked audience members to stop the outbursts.

“Unless there is order in the room we cannot continue with our meeting,” said Perez.

The meeting was then called back into order with a noticeable number  of seats vacant in the room.

As soon as the motion passed to eliminate winter intersession, almost all of the protesters left the meeting and a five-minute break was called.

When the break was over the room was nearly empty.

Follow: