8 arrested after protest at U-M Board of Regents meeting

A protest that featured police and protesters smashing into tables and wrestling on the ground is not the best way to get the University of Michigan to address diversity issues, university regents said.

"It does a great disservice to this important cause," Regent Mark Bernstein, a Democrat who has chaired the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, said. "It's essential that students engage in this vital issue in a way that is civil and productive. These types of tactics don't do that."

The regularly scheduled board meeting at the Michigan Union didn't make it through its first minute before being disrupted by members of the group By Any Means Necessary, eight of whom were arrested. Only of one of those arrested was possibly a student, university officials said. Charges were unknown as of press time.

The group is advocating for more diversity at the school.

The issue of race has a long history of protests at U-M, including back to the 1970s. Two Supreme Court cases over the use of race in admissions have their genesis at U-M, as does a Michigan law banning the use of race in admissions.

Last year, a group of students launched a Twitter campaign about being black at the University of Michigan that drew national attention.

After those protests, the university agreed to a number of demands, including improving a campus multicultural building and working to improve transportation for black students living in more affordable housing outside Ann Arbor.

Undergraduate black enrollment stood at 4.4% in the fall of 2014, according to U-M records. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 14.3% of Michigan residents identify themselves as African Americans.

On Thursday, President Mark Schlissel hadn't finished his first sentence starting the meeting when the group of more than 20 protesters rose from their seats about four rows back in the public area of the meeting. They rushed toward the front, chanting and waving signs.

They plowed through a table where media and university staff were sitting, knocking the tables backward.

The protesters were quickly met by uniformed and plainclothes university police, who started shoving back.

Several police tackled protesters, who fought back, shoving and kicking.

At least four tables went flying, along with multiple chairs. More police poured in from the hallway. Police used plastic zip ties to handcuff protesters as they were being held on the ground.

The bulk of the protesters were pushed backward out of the large meeting room and shoved down a long hall, where a line of five or six police officers walled off access to the hallway and meeting.

Those arrested were led into the back of the Michigan Union and eventually loaded into a police van to transport to jail.

The rest of the protesters spent the rest of the meeting — at least an hour and a half — screaming in a hallway. Their chants for more diversity could be heard inside the meeting.

They chanted, "Open it up or we'll shut it down."

At one point in the demonstration, police walked into the small crowd, grabbed a female protester who was the loudest. They forced her to drop her sign and then arrested her.

When other protesters tried to pick up the sign, the police grabbed it, ripped it in half and kicked the pieces behind them.

Inside the meeting room, the regents continued to meet, with a heavy police presence outside.

Toward the close of the meeting, regents on both sides of the political spectrum lashed out at the protesters.

"It is so misguided and hurtful to the cause," Bernstein said. "These tactics do a great disservice to an important cause. That is a great shame."

Regent Andrea Newman, a Republican, echoed his comments.

"Actions that happened today turn the story into other than what is important," she said. "Everyone is sensitive to the issues, but today I wasn't even sure of the issue. It takes us away from problems we need to focus on."

University officials were not surprised to see the protesters.

"We've had a contingency plan in place," said university spokesman Rick Fitzgerald. "The group isn't shy about letting people know what they plan to do. They posted flyers on campus saying they were coming. We were prepared to deal with them.

"The whole goal was to get the business of the meeting done."

This is not the first time the same group has disrupted the regent's meeting.

In November, BAMN members disrupted the meeting as well.

They pushed and shoved their way through a simple barrier.

The regents then reconvened their meeting in the nearby administration building under heavy security, with access denied to any member of the public other than the media. The building was locked, and several police officers were posted at each entrance. The entrance to the room in the building in which the regents were meeting was also locked.

No one was arrested then.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj