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Student Protestors Gather Outside Dinner Party At Cal State Chancellor's House

LONG BEACH (CBS) — The chancellor of Cal State Long Beach got an earful from outraged students Tuesday night, as he threw a pricey party.

Assisted by an ear-splitting bullhorn siren, a couple dozen protesting students made their presence known outside the dinner at the home of Cal State Chancellor Charles Reed.

They chanted, "Reed, reed, stop the greed, give the students what they need."

The students were angry about what they felt was outrageous spending by the leaders of the Cal State system at a time when students and faculty were being called upon to make sacrifices.

"So when you see them make decisions, like raise our fees by 9 percent and then raise the salary of San Diego State University President Elliot Hirshman by $100,000, there's a clear, huge disconnect," said Dave Inga, a graduate student at Cal State Fullerton.

Many of the Cal State leaders, who attended the dinner, including board of trustee members and some university presidents, were greeted at the sidewalk outside Reed's house by the protestors.

Chancellor Reed, who greeted them at the door, kept his distance.

Reed was the subject of an exclusive report this week by CBS2/KCAL9 Investigative Reporter David Goldstein. The report exposed excessive spending on dinners and transportation, among other things, totally nearly three quarters of a million dollars.

"Alright, do we really need to spend $5,000 on a dinner or 35 bottles of wine," one protestor questioned?

One Cal State Trustee, Steven Glazer, senior adviser to Governor Jerry Brown, walked out to talk with the student protestors.

"How can you possibly justify getting housing and car allowances when you're making six figures and you're telling your students, that are starving and getting put out on the street, that they're not allowed to get classes. And that they can't fight and that they can't eat," a protestor asked Glazer.

"I voted against all the pay increases for the university presidents over the past year. And I was happy that today, as a board policy, we have now frozen presidential salaries," Glazer said to the crowd.

A spokesperson for the Cal State system said that the dinner was paid for with foundation funding, not out of taxpayer money.

The board of trustees will wrap up its two-day meeting on Wednesday.

» RELATED STORY: Investigation Reveals Questionable Spending By CSU Chancellor's Office

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