Students Protest Graham Memorial No-Sleep Policy

Sophomore Rebecca Wingo said she organized the "sleep-in" after she was awakened Wednesday by a woman bearing a paper that explained the building's no-sleep policy.

James Leloudis, director of the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, which is housed in Graham Memorial, said he implemented this policy with the consent of the center's student-faculty advisory board.

"The policy was implemented last year after numerous complaints and expressions of concern from students," Leloudis said.

"Many, many students indicated that they felt uncomfortable trying to talk to professors when the couches and chairs next to them were crowded with sleepers."

Wingo said the paper explaining the policy stated that sleepers were creating a "socially awkward situation," but she said she disagrees.

"An unconscious person can't do anything wrong," Wingo said.

She also said sleeping is beneficial to a student's academic accomplishment.

"It's been scientifically proven that power naps promote productivity and efficiency," she said.

Wingo and two of her friends co-opted couches and sat signs in front of them which read, "Sleeping. Please do not disturb," and,"ZZZZZ. Oh I'm sorry. Are we creating a 'socially awkward situation?'"

Sophomore Behrooz Mostafavi, one of the student protesters, said he sleeps only two hours a night because of school and work.

"I sleep in the library, I sleep on the lawn, I sleep on benches, and this is a nice place," Mostafavi said. "I don't see why they would have comfortable couches and not let us sleep."

Another protester, junior Patrick Murphy, echoed Mostafavi's views. "It's supposed to be quiet in here," he said. "So how is sleeping loud?"

The sleep-in began at noon and lasted until 1:15 p.m., when Leloudis came in and confronted the students with the policy.

By this point there was a total of four sleepers.

Wingo said that when she questioned Leloudis, he explained the reasons for the policy.

She said she and the other sleepers then went around to every student in the lounge and asked if they minded the presence of sleeping students. She said all 11 of the non-protesters said they did not mind.

Leloudis told the protesters that a sleep-in was not the way to go about changing this policy.

Wingo said Leloudis suggested they formulate a paper that expressed their concerns and said he would turn it over to the center's advisory board, which Wingo said she plans to do.

Leloudis said he alone does not decide what the policy concerning sleeping should be.

"This is an open place and an open process," he said. "It is not about a single individual deciding what the policy should be."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.