Carrying banners, signs and a megaphone, more than 20 students and professors gathered at Old Main yesterday afternoon demanding that Penn State adopt anti-sweatshop policies.

Members of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) and other concerned members of the Penn State community marched from the HUB-Robeson Center to the front steps of Old Main rallying for support of the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP).

The DSP is a plan for universities designed to ensure that logo apparel is not being made in sweatshops. The document outlines steps universities can take to eliminate unfair labor practices from their clothing supply chain. It has been adopted by more than 20 universities nationwide, including Columbia, Georgetown, Cornell and Syracuse.

Over the past two years, anti-sweatshop activists have repeatedly called on the university to reevaluate its role in sweatshop labor practices; however, Penn State refuses to sign onto the DSP, indicating anti-trust issues and structural problems.

Erin Davis, a member of USAS, said the purpose of the rally was to educate the community on the principles and elements of the plan.

"It's mostly to clarify what the DSP is," Davis said. "A lot of people can identify the DSP with us as a group, but they don't know exactly what it is, what it means or what it entails."

Annemarie Mountz, assistant director of public information, said Penn State cannot adopt the DSP until the U.S. Justice Department clears the legality of the plan. She added that Penn State President Graham Spanier is committed to addressing unfair labor practices.

"This is something the president has paid a substantial level of attention to," Mountz said.

Yesterday's event lasted an hour and included readings of testimonials from former sweatshop workers, a play about Penn

State's involvement in the apparel supply chain and an informative speech about the elements of the DSP.

"It's basically a culmination of all our work," Molly Bolick, a member of USAS, said. "We want to show the administration that we are still serious and we want the DSP adopted now."

Last month, 48 Penn State professors joined the effort when they delivered a letter to Spanier encouraging university compliance with the DSP and pledging their advice and support to work through any structural problems of the plan.

USAS will continue to put pressure on Penn State to adopt the plan, USAS member Olivia Guevara said after the rally.

"We want to bring the DSP back into perspective," Guevara said. "We want to let the administration know that we haven't forgotten about our goals and our campaign."

In February, a district judge dismissed charges that alleged Guevara was responsible for chalking anti-sweatshop messages on two university buildings, resulting in damage.

Bolick said Penn State must address the problem.

"We're shouting right at them, but at the same time they keep their windows closed as tightly as possible," Bolick said. "They try their hardest to ignore us."