Protesters hold South Building sit-in

Correction (March 14 11:23 p.m.): Due to a reporting error, an ealier version of  this story incorrectly stated sophomore Laurel Ashton's class. The story has been updated to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Student protesters broke the silence and broke the rules in Polk Place on Thursday afternoon, decrying administrative decisions that have led to budget cuts and tuition hikes.

No arrests were made, despite students staying inside South Building past the 5 p.m. deadline for sit-ins.

Ben Carroll, one of the event’s organizers, said UNC administrators told him no one would be arrested if the march from the Pit to South Building didn’t interrupt the Eve Marie Carson Memorial Garden dedication being held at the same time. Protesters said they waited 10 minutes after getting word that the dedication was over before beginning the march.

Their demands

-“Chop from the Top,” meaning cut administrative jobs before lower-level ones.
-No privatization or corporate kickbacks.
-Use UNC-system lobbying power to lobby for an increase in corporate taxes to cover budget shortfalls.
-Use UNC-system lobbying power to lobby for equal college access for undocumented students, including in-state tuition for all undocumented students.

The event was planned as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education. Students in roughly 30 states had events planned.

Sophomore Laurel Ashton said she and other organizers of the event didn’t know about the Eve Marie Carson Memorial Garden dedication, scheduled for the same time in a spot next to South Building, until after planning their own event.

Ashton said the rally was “kind of a last resort” after a year and a half of having administrators belittle, ignore and close the door on them when trying to discuss budget and tuition issues.

Despite much hype — many press advisories were released about the event and a Facebook page for it had more than 250 confirmed guests — only about 35 participants gathered for the rally in the Pit.

They had signs with facts (“Tuition has increased almost nearly 140 percent since 2000,”) and signs with quips (“We make the University. They make the crisis,”).

Protesters also had a petition to deliver to administrators, which they read aloud in South Building to an audience of reporters, campus police and themselves.

In an interview Tuesday, Dwayne Pinkney, assistant vice chancellor for finance and administration, spoke about some of the demands.

“The efforts that have been under way for more than a year now … really do focus the reductions away from academics and onto the administration,” Pinkney said about the demand to “Chop from the Top.”

The rally’s audience in the Pit was a smattering of reporters, students who stopped for a moment as they walked by and Lenoir Dining Hall employees who stepped outside to see what all the noise was about.

One exchange student who sat down to listen, Sultan Adanir, said she supported the protesters.

“I think governments should pay more for education, rather than the Army,” she said, adding that the government pays for education in her native Turkey.

Sophomores Teddy Klug and Elizabeth Smith were surprised by the students marching to drumbeats as they exited Greenlaw Hall. They said, as out-of-state students, they have tried to keep up with tuition hikes and would prefer lower prices but understand why they are rising.

“We chose to come here,” Smith said.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.