Sorbonne university closes after students clash over reform protests
Associated Press | Nov 23, 07 12:00 AM CST
The Sorbonne university in Paris was shut down Friday after violence between students protesting reforms by President Nicolas Sarkozy and students trying to get to class, the administration said.
Student protesters have been blocking entry for several days to the landmark Left Bank building, often a flashpoint of protests. On Friday morning, they resorted "to physical violence against students who wanted to go to class," the administration of the University of Paris said in a statement.
"People's security is no longer guaranteed," and therefore the Sorbonne campus was closed until Monday, the statement said.
No other details about the violence were immediately available.
Students at several French universities have been protesting a law passed this summer allowing universities more autonomy to raise private funding, which they fear will lead the way to the "commercialization" of free public education.
Their protests came alongside a nine-day strike by rail drivers against a retirement reform, another part of Sarkozy's broader plans to make France more economically competitive.
It was the first time the Sorbonne, a campus of the University of Paris, was closed because of protests since spring 2006, when students angry over a job law staged weeks of demonstrations that shuttered universities nationwide.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.