After nearly an hour of protests, though, the group dispersed.

About 18 protesters, borrowing tactics from the Occupy movement, had a sit-down protest in the room at UC Riverside where the regents were holding their two-day meeting that continued Thursday.

Students protesting budget cuts temporarily disrupted the UC Board of Regents meeting Thursday in Riverside, at one point forcing officials to move to another room.

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

The protesters locked arms in a circle and proceeded to conduct what they described as their own general assembly meeting to discuss higher-education funding issues.

About 30 campus police officers surrounded them just several feet away. Ultimately, none of the protesters were arrested and there was no violence.

At one point, Sherry Lansing, chairwoman of the board of regents and former film executive, approached the students and urged them to end the protest. She said regents were about to discuss possible alternative sources of revenue that could help avoid future tuition increases.

But the students refused to move.

The regents switched their meeting to another room in the building of the UC Riverside Student Center while the sit-down continued. Once the protesters dispersed, the regents moved back into the main room and continued their meeting, but with limited public access.

[For the record, 12:10 p.m., Jan. 19: An earlier version of this post labeled Sherry Lansing as a member of the Board of Regents; she is the board's chairwoman.]

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-- Larry Gordon in Riverside

Photo: Students lock arms while police look on at the UC regents meeting on the UC Riverside campus Thursday. Credit: Stan Lim / Associated Press