THE General Body stages rally outside Board of Trustees meeting inside Sheraton Hotel

THE General Body staged a rally outside the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center on Friday morning, holding signs and speaking with press as the SU Board of Trustees met inside the building.

The administration on Thursday had offered THE General Body a direct meeting with members of the Board of Trustees, on the condition that the students vacate Crouse-Hinds Hall by Friday. Tied to this proposal was an offer to postpone voting on the university’s new mission and vision statement, which is set for vote this weekend. THE General Body declined to accept these proposals and instead pushed their sit-in on to Friday.

Tara Tolton, a communication and rhetorical studies freshman, said some members of THE General Body walked from Crouse-Hinds to the Sheraton around 8:15 a.m.  on Friday. Other members maintained the group’s presence in the building lobby, which they have occupied since a Monday afternoon rally on the Quad.

Tolton said the Friday morning rally was intended to raise awareness of the movement to the public in general and to the Board of Trustees specifically. It ended around 9:30 a.m., she said, at which point the protesters felt they had made their point clear to the media.

Emma Edwards, a geography and policy studies senior, said THE General Body would continue their sit-in until the administration commits to a plan of action agreed upon by both parties.

On Friday morning the group was planning a formal response to the administration’s written response to their own list of demands. The administrative response was included in a Thursday evening email from Bea Gonzalez, liaison to the THE General Body for Chancellor Kent Syverud. 

“The concessions they have offered are definitely not adequate, so we’re staying, “ Edwards said.

“We have no problem staying here.”