Oxy College students occupy admin building in diversity protest

As students continued their camp-out Wednesday in the Occidental College administration building to protest what they call racial injustice, the university president reached out to the group, asking them to take part in a “conversation about diversity and inclusion”.

Outside the building, tents decorate the steps. They put the onus on the administration to work with students to implement changes to better serve those groups.

A few hundred protesting students moved from their posh dorm rooms to an administrative building for a festive slumber party that included sleeping bags and delivery pizza.

Oxy United for a Black Liberation denounced Veitch’s presidency saying, “he is incapable of dealing with any issues concerning the wellbeing of marginalized students” and has “failed to guide students in their journey to justice”. In addition, non-minority students have shown strong support for the movement.

Activists have noted that Veitch also told students at the rally that he would be willing to step down.

“This institution ignores how uncomfortable we feel on a day-to-day basis”, organizer Diamond Webb said.

Late last week, Veitch, Occidental’s president, informed protesters that the fancypants school could not meet the demands of the privileged students. The demands include training for staff, demilitarization of campus safety and funding to support events and programming to shift the culture. The occupation is being organized by the Black Student Alliance.

President Jonathan Veitch met the students outside his home to try and discuss their concerns, but the crowd remained unreceptive.

“We’re not going to shut anything down”, Marty Sharky, the school’s vice president of communications, told the Los Angeles Times. “So what we’re working for now is to put pressure on the board of trustees to make that happen”.

Students are staging a sit-in at the Arthur G. Coons Administrative Center, and they plan to be there until at least Friday. And sometimes, yes, a person of color might be more sensitive or understanding to those issue and consider them…when you’re having a counseling session, having the person across from you that looks like you and understands the issues of diversity and race is very important. Associate Vice President Marty Sharkey, however, told the Times Veitch left because he “realized his presence there was no longer being constructive” and that he wanted the school to be a “safe and productive space”. “This has definitely been an ongoing issue that’s been happening for decades”, Cribbs said.