An Occupy UCLA protester was temporarily removed from a regular committee meeting of the UC Board of Regents this afternoon on the UCLA campus.

Seth Newmeyer, a second-year English and mathematics student, was escorted out by university police after he moved from the public viewing space to the table where the regents were seated.

Newmeyer said he grabbed an empty chair to sit up at the table where the regents were sitting to eat his lunch.

“I felt it was fitting for a student to be present at the table because students should have been part of the discussion,” Newmeyer said.

University police at the meeting said the student was being disruptive, said Nancy Greenstein, UCPD spokeswoman.

Newmeyer said he was later invited back inside, however.

Twelve other Occupy UCLA protestors were present in addition to Newmeyer. They were at the meeting because they wanted to be part of the student voice on matters concerning the UC, Newmeyer said.

The meeting took place in the South Bay Room of Covel Commons, and was attended by members of the Regents’ Committee on Investments to discuss UC investment policies and portfolios. It was a routine business meeting for the committee, said UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein.

The next full UC Regents meeting will take place March 27-29 at UC San Francisco.

Compiled by Hayden Padgett, Bruin contributor.