On Monday, UCSD students camped out in front of a closed library, and eventually forced open the doors and rushed inside said library to protest the lack of 24 hour study space on campus.
Because is there anything worse than a crowded library? No!
Since budget cuts forced the closure of 3 UCSD libraries this year, the student's main library Geisel has been especially cramped and students had had enough.
At around 7am, students camped out in front of the Center for Library & Instructional Computing Services, aka the CLICS library, which was formerly open 24 hours a day during finals and is now shuttered due to budget cuts. They carried assorted bedding and study materials as totems of their displeasure.
“It’s not like we just want to go in there and party,” said one student told NBC San Diego “We just want to study for our finals.”
The police were there when the students arrived but were eventually sent away around 10am by the administration to avoid conflict.
Around 11am, after a show of hands, students forced open the library doors and ran inside, vowing to stay there until their demands were met.
Sign On San Diego has more:
Several of UCSD’s top administrators arrived just moments after the students entered the building.
Suresh Subramani, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the university is prepared to overlook the forced entry.
“It’s a moot point,” he said. “We were on our way over here with the keys to open it up.”
The administration opened up the library and is now letting the students study there. They also opened up the Geisel library 24 hours a day during finals week.
The students however are quick to say they 'reclaimed' the library instead of 'occupied' it, perhaps to distance their grievances from the official occupy movement.
“I’m here to help reclaim CLICS,” Eden White, a sophomore biochemistry major, told Sign On San Diego, “I think we’re trying to get away from ‘occupy.’ It’s got kind of a negative connotation.”