Students staying in "the village" at the HUB-Robeson Center for the past three days flooded a joint meeting of the Undergraduate Student Government last night.
Black student leaders who were involved in negotiations thanked USG and the crowd for their support and spoke about the demands that have been discussed in their talks with Penn State administrators.
"Our roles here are to act as agents of change," said Chenits Pettigrew (senior-media studies), a student who was involved in the negotiations.
All of the bills, including a resolution to support the protesters and condemn a lack of action by the administration and a resolution to establish a committee on diversity, passed the joint session of USG, which included Senate and Academic Assembly.
Following the meeting, however, USG President Justin Zartman said protesters approached USG members, asking how they voted. If the USG member said he or she had voted against the resolutions, the protesters questioned why the student representatives did not support them.
The questioning was "peaceful but emotional," Zartman said, adding that he is pleased USG members are being held accountable for their votes.
The issues that remain under negotiation between black student leaders and administrators include restructuring the office of the vice provost for educational equity, funding for an Africana Studies Research Center and amnesty for student protesters arrested at the Blue-White game last weekend.
Although members of the administration issued a statement agreeing to restructure the office of vice provost for educational equity and support the idea of an Africana Studies Research Center, the student leaders said the proposed changes weren't enough.
They said the office of vice provost for education equity, which is currently held by Terrell Jones, must be given more power. Currently the position is structured to make suggestions, not implement them.
"There needs to be a sense of accountability," said Hasan Amenra, president-elect of Black Caucus.
They also said the university should commit to building a research center, not just support the idea of it.
The administration has agreed to lower the charges against student protesters, but the student leaders said they should be dropped completely because of the nature of the event. The protesters, they said, sacrificed to mobilize the community.
"We were trying to warn people," said Brian Favors, who works in the AT&T Center for Service Leadership.
The black student leaders also expressed concerns about the lack of communication about death threats on campus. There is poor communication between groups that have received reports of hate mail — including the administration, Penn State Police Services and leaders of the football team, the students said.
Black Caucus President Lakeisha Wolf encouraged supporters to continue their solidarity.
"This is not a political issue, this is a human issue," Wolf said. "Please don't give up, no matter how long this may take."
The crowd responded with chants of "ashé," which means "I agree."
Collegian staff writer Matt Hymowitz contributed to this report.
