Thursday’s rally to protest budget cuts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ended in 15 arrests and the detainment of the student government president.

As part of the National Day of Action for Education Rights, UW-Milwaukee students gathered to protest budget cuts and an alleged pay increase to UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago’s salary.

The UWM Education Rights Campaign, which consists of students and faculty, held a demonstration to present the chancellor with a petition to give up his alleged salary increase before making budget cuts and raising tuition by 3 percent, according to Michael Raspanti, UWM Education Rights Campaign spokesperson.

Even after the arrests, Jacob Flom, UW-Milwaukee junior and member of the Students for Democratic Society, which co-sponsored the demonstration, said the organizations involved in the demonstration are sticking by their original goals to push the chancellor to get rid of his alleged pay increase, his mansion by the lake and his luxury car.

According to UW-Milwaukee spokesperson Tom Luljak, the information the demonstration revolved around was erroneous and “intellectually dishonest,” and the chancellor has taken eight unpaid furlough days and not received a pay increase.

While Luljak said the chancellor was off campus at meetings all day, Raspanti said members of the demonstration saw the chancellor, and he did not come out to accept the petition.

“They said he was not available, but people saw him,” Raspanti said.

The students involved became agitated, Raspanti said, when the chancellor did not come out to accept the petition or meet the demonstration.

The incident ended with 15 students arrested and charged with one to three tickets, ranging from disorderly conduct to possession of illegal drugs, according to Luljak.

Raspanti said members of the press were arrested, though he was not sure if they were members of the student newspaper, The UWM Post.

According to Flom, police officers attacked members of the press. He said when two people were arrested and brought into the chancellor’s office, the demonstrators tried to follow and the police responded with pepper spray and physical violence.

Police officers on the scene were kicked and punched by protesters, Luljak said. They were also targeted with snowballs. He said the demonstration crossed over from peaceful protest to violent demonstration, and there had to be consequences for those involved.

Raspanti said the next steps for the UWM Education Rights Campaign will be to go to Santiago and demand pardons for those demonstrators who were issued tickets.

Jay Burseth, president of UWM student government, was not arrested or charged, but was detained for questioning in the chancellor’s office, according to a statement from the student government.

Flom said Burseth was not arrested and was ultimately released because the university did not want bad publicity, but Burseth may face impeachment.

Luljak said the false information the demonstration presented does a disservice to a cause UW-Milwaukee is sympathetic to: Helping students pay for postsecondary education.

“It is our right to protest our education rights,” Flom said. “Students are a powerful force in the university and should have [a say in] decisions.”