Rutgers Students Stage Sit-In Over Tuition Hikes

About 20 students take over university's main administration building.

Nearly two dozen Rutgers students have occupied the university's main administration building as part of a protest over rising tuition costs and other issues, and many of them are planning to stay overnight.

The students vow to stay in the Old Queens building "until our demands are met or they throw us out," says student spokesman Richard Garzon, 22, a senior from Piscataway, N.J.

School officials said Wednesday evening that the kids would be allowed to stay overnight. They were told they are breaking criminal trespassing law but the administration has not arrested them.

Two university police officers will be stationed near the protesters overnight to make sure there is no property damage.

Garzon told NBC New York the students are demanding the university freeze tuition fees, stop charging $7 for transcripts and provide more support for university employees.

Rutgers, the state university, is the largest public university in New Jersey, with its main campus in New Brunswick and other campuses in Piscataway, Newark and Camden.

The university said in a statement that the president, Richard McCormick, had met with the students on Friday.

"He is studying the students' requests and consulting with other members of the university administration," the school said.

McCormick will respond to the students' demands "when he has reached decisions about their requests, according to the school.

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