Photos: Occupy Cal Crowd Fills Sproul Plaza

Across campus Tuesday, students sat in rings on the grass with their professors for "teach-outs." Protesters decorated Sproul Plaza like a giant living room. And that police say was unrelated to the Occupy Cal demonstration, the atmosphere was positive and energetic as the crowd on campus grew for the 6 p.m. general assembly meeting. 

Occupy Oakland and Occupy Berkeley joined in — swelling the scene even further with bodies, signs and even bicycles. There was singing and chanting, and group discussions about capitalism and student debt. One student commented that it was "just like camp."

Around 8 p.m., the crowd began to grow even bigger in anticipation of the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture, which was delivered by UC Berkeley Public Policy professor and former secretary of labor Robert Reich. 

"The Occupy movement is the way our country is responding to our crisis of democracy," said Reich.

Following the lecture, demonstrators began to re-establish the Occupy Cal encampment. An attempt to set up tents during last Wednesday's day of action  as UC Berkeley police dismantled the encampment.

Demonstrators voted during the general assembly meeting, with 88.5 percent in favor of re-establishing the encampment. UC Berkeley spokeswoman Claire Holmes said that university officials and police would assess the
situation on Sproul Plaza as the evening progressed before deciding how to
respond to the new encampment.

Add your pictures and video from Occupy Cal by clicking "submit photo & video" above.

To stay up to date with stories about Occupy Cal and Occupy Berkeley, check out Berkeley Patch's Occupy Berkeley and Cal page.

Were you at the Occupy Cal demonstration Tuesday? What was the atmosphere like? Share your experience in the comments.