Protesters Shut Down U. of California at Santa Cruz Over Tuition Increases

Student protesters effectively shut down the University of California at Santa Cruz on Thursday morning, blocking its entrances as part of a four-day protest of tuition increases, racism, and police violence, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports. The university responded to the early-morning action by telling students and faculty members to stay off the campus.

JUST IN: @ucsc entrances blocked as protesters rally over tuition hikes.Students/faculty urged not to come to campus pic.twitter.com/sI6o6XTwop

— KTVU (@KTVU) March 5, 2015

The shutdown came two days after six Santa Cruz students were arrested for blocking a highway as part of the same protest. They were subsequently suspended by the college for 14 days.

System regents voted in November to approve a plan that could raise tuition by as much as 5 percent for each of the next five years.