Yesterday’s UC Board of Regents meeting in Sacramento was interrupted by student protesters as the board prepared to discuss a potential tuition increase.

Students dressed in mock prison jumpsuits circled the room and sang about the woes of “working on the chain gang,” analogizing students’ “imprisonment” by debt and compelling the board to retreat into yet another closed session. The Regents originally planned to meet at the state capitol and rally alongside students in favor of increased funding for higher education; however, board members subsequently scrapped this plan in favor of arranged — and presumably closed — meetings between Regents and various Assemblymembers.

Yesterday’s protest follows a lengthy series of student demonstrations, which have taken place at nearly every public Regents meeting this academic year. The most recent rally came in the wake of a UC administration announcement that tuition could climb 6 percent in July.

UC Student Association President Claudia Magaña said she rejects the notion that tuition hikes are the Regents’ last possible resort and urged the board to consider searching for alternative cost-cutting measures.

“Once again, it appears to us that a fee increase has been presented to the Regents as the only viable option. Students are unconvinced,” Magaña said in a press release. “This proposed fee increase sends a dangerous message to students and the California public,

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