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Claire Chadwick, student leader, leads a chant at the Board of Trustees meeting Friday. 

OUPD Chief: Three arrested at Board of Trustees meeting

The students, charged with disrupting a lawful meeting, have since been released.

Three students were arrested Friday for disrupting the Ohio University Board of Trustees meeting, OU officials have said.

The students, charged with disrupting a lawful meeting, have since appeared in the Athens County Municipal Court and have a pretrial date set for Feb. 16 at 8 a.m.

Claire Chadwick, a junior studying sociology and women and gender studies, alumnus Andrew Lake and Bekki Wyss, a senior studying English, were arrested by Ohio University Police after intentionally disrupting the meeting.

"We disrupted the meeting because we believe tuition hikes are class war," Chadwick said.

Wyss is a former Post columnist.

OUPD Chief Andrew Powers said protesting wasn't the problem — it was the way in which some did it.

"They're just not allowed to disrupt the meeting. Holding up signs was fine," Powers said.

All protesters left Walter Hall, where the Board had been meeting, by noon. They then marched to the Civil War Monument, where OUPD and Athens Police Department officers were standing by in the event that protestors became unruly or took to marching in the streets.

Student Senate President Megan Marzec and student senators Kyle Tussing and DJ Amireh were charged for persistent disorderly conduct by APD officers Thursday after blocking the street when they were ordered to move to the sidewalk during a previous protest against guaranteed tuition.

"I had hoped we could have some conversations before today and unfortunately that did not occur," said OU President Roderick McDavis. "In terms of students expressing their opinion, I think the first amendment is a wonderful thing ... I have no problem with students expressing their opinion on any matter, any issue."

Marzec and Tussing also appeared in court with Wyss, Chadwick and Lake around 1:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, with roughly 20 supporters in attendance. 

All five students requested their pretrial date be moved so they would have more time for legal council, and all have a scheduled pretrial at the Athens County Municipal Court for Feb. 16 at 8 a.m.. Amireh appeared earlier that morning.

"At the end of the day, the university is running like a corporation," Wyss said. "This is just one step in a larger campaign, we're building a movement."

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Prior the Board of Trustees approving tuition increases for both current and future Ohio University students, a group of nearly 30 protesters approached the front of the room.

OUPD read the students their rights as they chanted "no guaranteed tuition hikes."

Several Trustees walked out of the room as the meeting was temporarily suspended.

After about five minutes the meeting resumed.

Emma Ockerman contributed to this report.

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