About 40 members of Occupy Charlottesville met for the third time this month to protest a luncheon hosted by President Teresa A. Sullivan for corporate sponsors of the University.
The movement's participants, who have expressed discontent with unemployment, financial statuses and corporate greed, among other issues, staged a protest march from McGuffey Park to Sullivan's house on Carr's Hill.
The anti-corporate protestors held signs reading "Goldman Sachs eats UVA Brains," "End the greed" and "People not Profit."
At the movement's first General Assembly meeting, participants agreed to stand united and remain non-violent.
"We can't predict how the law will interact with us, but we can predict how we interact with the law," facilitator Sara Tansey said. "The beauty of the occupation seems to be no one set goal or demand set. It allows for all different people who are frustrated to come together in occupied space, discuss problems, and beat the corporative greed of society."
Occupy Charlottesville formed a few weeks ago in concert with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City to protest economic and financial inequalities.
"The goal of this project is to remain visually effective and stay cohesive as a group," said Zac Fabian, facilitator and University graduate. "We really do not live in a globalized world, and it's not about the big picture. It is about piecing together the smaller pieces first."
In working for its cause, Occupy Charlottesville strives to decentralize its organizational structure.
"We alternate facilitators each week, in efforts not to imitate a hierarchy system that persists around us and contributes to our growing disparities," Tansey said.
Saturday marked the international day of solidarity against Wall Street and the beginning of what Tansey and Fabian hope will become a widespread movement. Thousands of protesters marched from New York City's Financial District to Times Square as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The local movement has taken up the mantra in which participants claim to represent the disadvantaged "99 percent" of American society.
"The banks, the mortgage industry, the insurance industry" are the other 1 percent, Occupy Charlottesville's website reads. "We live in a society made for them, not for us ... It's time the 1 percent got to know us a little better."
Linda Wood, an active member of the movement, expressed her concern with military involvement and government funding. "The national military budget must be cut and applied to things such as education and jobs," she said. "And most importantly, we need not just jobs, but jobs that benefit us."
Sarah Lanzman, a grandparent in the Charlottesville community, expressed her frustration about corporate power.
"CEOs care only whether they make money or not," Lanzman said. "They do not have an interest in us, and as a result they are selling us out."
Lanzman, who has been active in protests for several years, noted the importance of engaging people in meaningful discussions. "It simply isn't enough nor is it worthwhile to march the streets," Lanzman said. "We don't want handouts. We want justice"
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