User:Cring/University of Puerto Rico student strike

In the fall of 1981, students at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras campus protested the university's decision to raise fees from $5 per credit hour to $15. The proposed increase was the first since 1947 and made because the university feared losing accredidation over an inadequate library and facilities. The students contended that the legislature should provide some of the added funds and were angered by the size and speed of the increase. Thirteen strike leaders were barred from campus, arrested, and fined for organizing student groups and staging protest marches on campus. The strike was called on after the Council on Higher Education rejected the students' proposal that tuition be adjusted to family income.

On November 25, riot police and students clashed when the police broke up a meeting of students. Dozens of students and six police were injured. Roberto Alejandro Rivera, president of the student council, attempted to speak to students from a flatbed truck just outside of campus. He was barred from the campus and the riot ensued when the police attempted to remove the truck.