6 arrested in U tuition protest

Protesters demanded resignation of President Eric Kaler.

June 10, 2016 at 8:25PM
Protesters interrupted a University of Minnesota regents meeting Friday over planned tuition hikes and demanded tuition cuts and the resignation of President Eric Kaler.
Protesters interrupted a University of Minnesota regents meeting Friday over planned tuition hikes and demanded tuition cuts and the resignation of President Eric Kaler. (Randy Salas — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Protesters disrupted the Friday morning meeting of the University of Minnesota regents. Six people were arrested after they refused a police order to leave the regents meeting room, while about three dozen others chanted in the hallway outside.

The group left about 9:25 after a university official warned they would be arrested for trespassing.

Six students were arrested, cited for unlawful assembly and released, according to a U spokesman.

The group protested planned tuition hikes and demanded tuition cuts and the resignation of President Eric Kaler.

The regents are poised to approve the 2016-17 budget, including Kaler's recommendation to raise undergraduate tuition for Minnesota residents by 2.5 percent, or $306, to $12,546 a year. He has scaled back a plan to request a nearly 10 percent tuition increase for students who come from states without reciprocity agreements in Minnesota. He now recommends a 7.5 increase for new nonresident students. Tuition for returning nonresident students would be capped at a 5.5 percent under Kaler's proposal.

Maura Lerner • 612-673-7384

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