Students at UCSB Protest Karl Rove - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Students at UCSB Protest Karl Rove

2.25.10

SANTA BARBARA - Angry students protest Karl Rove's visit to UCSB.

Former Bush senior advisor, Karl Rove, spoke on the UC Santa Barbara campus Thursday.

The event brought out hundreds of protestors who were upset for a couple of reasons.

Hundreds clashed on the UC Santa Barbara campus over guest speaker…Karl Rove.

"Karl rove is not interested in intellectual discourse we're being banned from asking him questions," said one of the protestors.

Holding signs and chanting "leave our school" multiple groups came together to protest against Rove, and the republican club for bringing him to their campus.

The former deputy chief of staff in the Bush administration had been invited to speak about current politics

His speaking fee is 25 thousand dollars.

Half of which was paid for through student government funds, it's money that all enrolled students pay into.

"They have been pretty secret about it especially about the amount of fees going out to this," says protestor Janesa Strickland.

"I might not agree with all of Karl Rove's policies, but I believe he has as much right as anyone else to come here and talk to our students and answer questions submitted by the students about his policies," says Andres Rey.

With tempers flaring hundreds protested outside while an entirely different protest was being planned inside."

"We decided to walk out as a symbolic gesture that we're not going to be in compliance with a war criminal at our podium," says Sophia Armen.

"One of the great things about American is that we have a first amendment and we have a great tradition of upholding the first amendment," says Karl Rove.

Tickets were free for students to attend tonight's event.

About 700 hundred people showed up.