AMHERST — A student-organized sit-in demanding that the University of Massachusetts abandon its investments in fossil-fuel companies ended Friday with no arrests after five consecutive days of protest.
The sit-in, which has occupied the Whitmore Administration Building during the day for the week, attracted around 100 people by Friday afternoon. The protest began Monday morning with 21 people and swelled to a crowd of over 200 by Wednesday afternoon.
The protest is organized by Divest UMass, a student group calling for the entire UMass system to publicly commit to divesting from the top 200 fossil-fuel companies as determined by Carbon Tracker, an independent financial think tank focused on climate change.
Divest UMass spokesman Filipe Carvalho said the group will not continue to occupy the building, but protests will continue to “escalate” on Tuesday. Monday is the Patriots’ Day holiday in Massachusetts.
“We know the world is watching so we’re going to be more visible and give them something to watch,” Carvalho said Friday evening.
Carvalho said the group plans to hold a “sit-out” rather than a sit-in by occupying an undetermined outdoor space on campus Tuesday. According to Carvalho, 500 different people participated in the sit-in over the course of five days.
The decision to halt the sit-in comes after five days of negotiations with university administrators and 34 arrests of protesters Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
The university released a statement Thursday evening in response to protesters saying UMass President Martin T. Meehan and board of trustees Chairman Victor Woolridge agreed to advocate for the divestment and prohibition of direct investments by the university’s endowment in fossil fuel companies. They also said they would place the subject on the agenda for the June 15 board of trustees meeting.
“Woolridge and Meehan have said divesting direct investments in fossil fuel companies represents ‘a logical next step’ to the action UMass took last year when it divested its direct investments in coal companies,” the statement said.
However, Divest UMass spokeswoman Mica Reel said this agreement does not satisfy the group’s demands. Reel said the university has talked about divestment for three years and the protesters are seeking action.
The group is calling on Meehan to release a public statement committing to divestment and commit to bring the issue to a vote at the next board of trustees meeting.
“We are prepared to escalate and show our power until something is negotiated, and that is a commitment to full divestment,” said Carvalho.
Because the university’s endowment is managed by a private foundation, Divest UMass cannot prove that the university has money invested in fossil fuel companies. However, Reel said she trusts those investments exist based on conversations with administrators and donations the school receives from Exxon-Mobil.
Many were surprised when all protesters vacated the building peacefully when it closed at 6 p.m. Thursday, ending two straight nights of arrests connected with the protest and contradicting a statement from Carvalho that 20 to 25 people would remain inside and risk arrest.
Reel said organizers decided Thursday evening it would not be “an act of good faith” to have the protesters arrested following university response.
“We don’t have to sacrifice ourselves and get arrested to show our power,” Reel said Thursday. The protest grew to include community members, UMass faculty, alumni, students from the area’s four private colleges and even high school students.
Ellie Smith, 16, of Amherst, and Lucy Lomax, 14, of Northampton, returned to the sit-in Friday after volunteering to be arrested the day before. The two girls are both students at the North Star independent learning program.
“It is incredible that they are showing their determination and willingness, and we do appreciate them coming out, but we advised them not to get arrested,” Reel said.
After leaving the building peacefully at 5:40 p.m. Friday night, protesters held a rally outside Whitmore where a series of students spoke.
“We want people to reconnect with why we are here and be sure people feel grounded,” Reel explained.
Kristie Herman, a Divest UMass organizer, encouraged people to return Tuesday to continue the protest. The group held hands and sang as a sign of commitment to stick with the protest.
Divest UMass is affiliated with the National Divestment Student Network. Every Friday, Reel and organizer Sarah Jacqz speak with the national group by phone.
“The escalation this spring has been in the works for a long time,” Reel said.
She added that the UMass protests are part nationwide string of protests, mentioning the University of Mary Washington which committed to divest Friday, and Yale University which agreed to partially divest Tuesday.
The Divest UMass chapter operates through a group of seven to eight core members who share responsibilities and meet weekly. Weekly general body meetings attract about 30 people.
For the duration of the sit-in, trainings are held every 30 minutes outside the building to brief new protesters on their legal rights and the university picketing code and code of student conduct.
During that training, protesters are advised to defer any media inquiries to spokespeople Reel and Carvalho. Reel said this decision was made consciously, because those speaking with media need to be “updated” and “aware” of the divest movement and its history.
“There is complete transparency between us and the people upstairs,” Reel added. “People are not prohibited from using their voices at all.”
Police have arrested 34 protesters since Tuesday in connection with the sit-in. They were charged with trespassing for refusing to leave Whitmore after it closed Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
All protesters pleaded not guilty in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown on Wednesday and Thursday and had their cases continued for four months while they complete community service in lieu of monthly probation costs, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
The cases will be dropped provided each person completes the necessary service hours. As part of the probation conditions, the protesters who were charged must stay clear of Whitmore Hall.
, according to the district attorney’s office.