Day 4 of sweatshop sit-in: Rodin weary of protesters

The students camping out in College Hall are resolved to stay until demands are met. As the sit-in at College Hall entered its fourth day, University administrators expressed their growing wariness toward the United Students Against Sweatshop demonstration while protesters declared they were determined to stay for the long haul. In a University Council meeting held yesterday, University President Judith Rodin said the protesters in her waiting room "have pushed past the envelope of acceptable conduct." Rodin noted that the students were being loud and disruptive and added that the administration has "been very fair in our dealings with the students." But the dozen or so members of USAS showed no signs of slowing down their efforts. On yet another day of protests, students held a candlelight vigil in front of College Hall and then tried to storm Rodin's office to join those inside the building. The students were warned that their behavior may violate Penn's Open Expression guidelines and that administrators may impose stricter measures to try and squash the demonstration. Despite the warnings, they remained sitting. The students launched the sit-in on Monday, demanding that Rodin pull out of the Free Labor Association -- the current monitoring organization for University-logo clothing. USAS has long insisted that the FLA is ineffective and wants Penn to join the fledgling Worker Rights Consortium. But Rodin has not agreed to the protesters demands, saying that she has charged a committee to investigate the issue and plans to continue with this course of action. USAS has dismissed the committee as a stall tactic and is continuing to protest with no foreseeable end in sight, despite mounting irritation from officials. After last night's candlelight vigil ended, a dozen demonstrators used a key to gain entrance to the building and attempted to join the 16 protesters already inside. Although the demonstrators were able to get past the security guard posted next to the side doors of the building, a University Police officer stationed near the President's office threatened to arrest and remove the entire group if the intruders refused to leave. After consulting with USAS members already inside, the protesters demurred to the officer's demands. The students who left the building remained outside College Hall last night in support of the protesters. Having transformed the President's waiting room into a temporary headquarters for the student-led movement, morale among protesters remained high despite repeated warnings from Open Expression monitors throughout the day that they were overstepping protest guidelines. According to Harrison Blum, a College sophomore and a USAS member, Associate Vice Provost for Student Life Juana Lewis met with them and warned that if disturbance levels increase, the University would implement stricter measures aimed at curtailing the demonstration. Many USAS members, however, said they were unfazed by either Lewis' warnings or the threat of arrest. "If it came down to that, I'd have no problem being arrested," said Wharton sophomore Brian Kelly, a USAS member. Demonstrators said the turnout at last night's vigil was an encouraging sign that campus support for their activism was increasing. Speakers on the steps of College Hall voiced their solidarity with the protesters while the more than 50 people in attendance held candles and recited inspirational quotes. Jim Keady, who received national attention after refusing to accept the head coaching job of the St. John's University soccer team if it meant wearing the Nike logo, was among those who spoke. "It's a time for action. It's a time for justice," Keady said. "Seeing this moves me like you can't imagine." Although most of the people at the vigil supported the protest, others believed that the students inside were misguided and ill-informed about what would happen if their demands were met. "I've listened to a lot of the Economics professors and I've kind of made up my own mind," Wharton freshman Matt Butler said. "Either the companies that are operating these sweatshops are going to leave and the people are going to lose their jobs, or the people like us, who already pay an arm and a leg for clothes at this place, are going to end up paying even more." "We're just trying to watch the situation day-by-day and judge events as they come," Rodin Chief of Staff Steve Schutt said yesterday. "It's uncomfortable for everyone and we're trying to deal with it." Schutt said that work inside the building was continuing as usual and that the University plans to stick with the decision to form an ad-hoc committee on sweatshops. The committee -- which would include three members of USAS -- is asked to investigate the University's code of conduct and to evaluate the different monitoring organizations. Rodin wants the committee to report back to her by the end of the month.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.