Living Wage Campaign activists staged a protest yesterday that resulted in the arrest of a University professor and an ongoing sit-in by 17 students at Madison Hall, the administration building.
The day included a rally in the afternoon at the Rotunda featuring History Prof. and national NAACP chairman Julian Bond. Later that evening, as Madison Hall was closing, Prof. Wende E. Marshall was arrested for trespassing when she tried to enter the building.
Seventeen supporters of the Living Wage Campaign entered Madison Hall yesterday morning in an effort to "dramatize the importance of the issue" of the living wage, said third-year College student Benjamin Van Dyne, organizer for the Living Wage Campaign at the University. The campaign organized the afternoon rally to support the sit-in participants.
"The 17 students sitting in Madison Hall are not sitting for arrest," said fourth-year College student and Living Wage Campaign organizer Abby Bellows, who spoke at the rally. "We're demanding a living wage; we're not demanding to get arrested."
The rally, which was attended by over 150 people, included four sets of speeches from supporters, most notably Bond.
At the rally, Bond spoke in support of the "living wage" platform, which calls for a $10.72 minimum wage for University workers. In his speech, Bond made references to recent pro-immigrant rallies held throughout the country and to the non-violent actions of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Alluding to comments made by King, Bond commented that, "we who engage in non-violent direct action are not the creators of tensions ... we bring it out into the open."
Also in attendance at the rally were critics of the Living Wage Campaign, most notably the supporters of the "Market Wage Campaign."
"The Living Wage Campaign has been pushing through its agenda, and there hasn't been a group of students who are against it," said fourth-year College student and "market wage" spokesperson Karin Agness. "We care just as much about lower wage workers at U.Va. and the companies that U.Va. has contracts with as they do."
Agness argued against the Living Wage Campaigns' $10.72 flat-rate.
"We believe that the best way to improve their situation is not by imposing an artificial wage floor," Agness said.
The Living Wage Campaign's activities culminated last night at a vigil held at Madison Hall, the building that houses the office of University President John T. Casteen, III, in support for the sit-in participants.
University police had been on the scene of the sit-in since noon, University Police Captain Michael Coleman said.
"We always have to keep order," Coleman said. "People have been very calm and respectable."
As supporters for the campaign began to organize outside of the building for chanting and speeches, Prof. Wende E. Marshall was escorted out of the building by University police officers.
According to Marshall, she was arrested by the police for trespassing.
"I was just trying to support the students," in the sit-in, Marshall commented while in police custody.
"The students [inside] looked to me and waved and they pointed to the side door and they opened the door for me and I got in," Marshall said. "I didn't even have a chance to speak to the students, and the police said I was trespassing and I needed to go."
Marshall, who was released from police custody shortly thereafter, said she was led to a police van and taken to the Albemarle county annex where they issued her a summons.
University spokesperson Carol Wood confirmed that Marshall was arrested for trespassing, but was unable to disclose more information because the details of the incident would have to be found in a police report. The police report was not available as of press time.
At 5:30 p.m. Pat Lampkin, vice president for student affairs addressed the 17 students in Madison Hall, Wood said.
"She advised them that the building would be closed and secured for the evening as it is normally," Wood said. "She asked the students to leave at that time."
Soon thereafter, Van Dyne said, campaign organizers' fear of arrest for the 17 students subsided.
"The University was planning on arresting students, and, because of the vocal and sustained presence of our community of supporters, instead, the University will allow the students to remain in the locked building overnight," Bellows said.
Wood explained that the University is "continuing to monitor the situation."
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