WATCH: Rutgers staffer holds student in headlock before Board meeting
Wednesday afternoon, the Rutgers Board of Governors was preparing to vote on a 1.7 percent tuition hike for the 2016 school year, and one student was eager to hear the news.
In the video above, School of Arts and Sciences senior Patrick Gibson is seen searching for information on the tuition hike in one of the binders on the table.
A Rutgers staffer warned him not to touch the binders, then proceeded to put him into a headlock.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Three times already, right? At least," the staffer says in the video.
A Rutgers University Police Department officer later escorted Gibson out of the room.
"I was attempting to figure out what my tuition would be in the upcoming year," Gibson told The Daily Targum.
University spokesperson E.J. Miranda said the incident was a misunderstanding between the staffer and the student. The incident is being investigated by the Rutgers University Police Department.
Gibson is part of a coalition of Rutgers students that was pushing for a tuition rollback of 2.5 percent. The rollback would equate to $350 in savings for the average Rutgers student, according to NorthJersey.com.
Student tuition and fees, not including room and board, amounted to $14,131 for New Jersey residents over the last academic year. It was $29,521 for out-of-state students.
Wednesday afternoon, the Rutgers Board of Governors instead voted to increase tuition by 1.7 percent.
At the July 20 meeting, University Vice President for Budgeting Nancy Winterbauer said the 1.7 percent increase is lower than the average increase of 2.4 percent over the last five years.
