Janet Napolitano, University of California president and former Secretary of Homeland Security, apologized Thursday for calling student protests "crap" the day before.
"I’m sorry for using a word I don't usually use," Napolitano said in opening remarks at a regents meeting at UC San Francisco,
reported the San Jose Mercury News.
"Yesterday after we heard from a couple of dozen speakers, things got a little active from the audience in terms of chanting and throwing stuff and whatever," she said. "I was caught on a mic with a word that was unfortunate, so I want to just say I apologize for that. I ask for your empathy and understanding in my comments, but also to say we have public comment to listen to comments about serious things expressed seriously."
On Wednesday, roughly 30 students stormed into the regents meeting to protest tuition hikes and to demand that a new UC campus planned for development in Richmond benefit local low-income residents.
Some students stripped down to their underwear to show they were 'losing their shirts' over tuition and several threw fake money at meeting participants.
When the students rushed in, Napolitano turned to UC regent chairman Bruce Varner and said, "Let’s go. We don’t have to listen to this crap," before exiting the room.
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