On Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m., approximately 100 members of the College community held a demonstration outside of Main Building; though there were several faculty members present, the group was primarily made up of students and staff from the two major campus unions, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

According to a list of demands read aloud at the start of the demonstration, those participating were advocating primarily for the suspension of all further position eliminations; the group also asked that those who have had their positions eliminated be reinstated in their former position or in another College position.

A draft of demands was discussed at an open meeting on Monday in the Gold Parlor, which was attended by about 10 students and briefly visited by All Campus Dining Center (ACDC) Chef’s Helper Cathy Bradford. After the demands were discussed and communally agreed upon, they were formatted on Tuesday by John Joyce ‘12 into the draft presented on Wednesday in front of Main Building.

At the start of the demonstration, Bradford was the first to speak. “Stop the laying off. We have families and children that we have to take care of,” she said. After further remarks from Bradford and from Anastasia Hardin ‘10, Sarah Muenzinger ‘10 and CWA Business Manager Carl Bertsche, the group explained that they would march first past ACDC, then Baldwin Hall and then Rockefeller Hall. Hardin said that once the group walked around campus, they would “present a copy of the demands to the senior officers in person.” All the senior officers, however, were scheduled to be in a faculty meeting in Rockefeller Hall until about 5 p.m.; the meeting was scheduled in May, according to the Dean of the Faculty office. Over the course of the group’s trip across campus, the demonstrators grew in number to over 200 people, according to students involved.

Update: By approximately 4:25 p.m., the group moved from the College Center to Rockefeller Hall, positioning themselves outside the building in hopes of attracting the attention of administrators and faculty meeting in Rockefeller 300. By 4:40 p.m. the group had disintegrated to about 25 people, and about five minutes later the demonstration ended officially.

Update: About mid-way through the faculty meeting, which lasted from about 3 to 5 p.m., the group of demonstrators gathered outside Rockefeller 300, where the faculty meeting was being held. President Hill reported that she heard banging on the double doors of the auditorium, at which point Dean of the College Chris Roellke exited to talk with the group. ”We requested that we deliver the demands to the senior officers,” said Joyce, “when others from the group demanded that President Hill come to us to receive them. Dean Roellke was already outside of the room at this point. President Hill met with the group briefly, and it was agreed that Stephen [Cheng '10] and I would enter Rocky 300 and the rest of the group would wait outside.”

According to Hill, at the time when Joyce and Cheng entered, Dean of the Faculty Jon Chenette was actually already halfway through reading the demands aloud to the faculty in attendance, as he had been forwarded a copy earlier that day.

When Joyce and Cheng entered the room, Chenette asked if they would like to finish reading through the demands and they declined, instead delivering a brief statement to the group. Joyce also presented President Hill, Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs Rachel Kitzinger and Vice President for Finance and Administration Betsey Eismeier with copies of the demands, which were also distributed to members of the faculty at the meeting. “I think it was really good that they sent two students in and that they were given the opportunity to speak,” said Director of Institutional Research David Davis Van Atta, who attended the meeting.

According to Van Atta, the rest of the meeting was spent discussing the original items on the meeting agenda.

This From the Newsroom entry has been updated with corrections and further information since it was first posted at the scene of the demonstration this afternoon. The last update was made at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Please continue checking miscellanynews.com for more breaking news throughout the week.