A crowd of approximately 100 University of Vermont anti-racism protesters, waving signs, chanting and forming a human chain, caused rush-hour havoc Thursday in Burlington by demonstrating in the middle of Main Street.
Police shut down the busy roadway near the South Prospect Street intersection after students set up a roadblock around 5 p.m. and refused to leave until they met with UVM president Tom Sullivan. Diverted traffic flooded side streets in an effort to get to Interstate 89 after the demonstration began.
Many of those protesting said they stood in solidarity with John Mejia, a UVM staffer who has vowed to refrain from eating until the university and the city of Burlington address a list of nine demands.
The assembled included second-year graduate students from the Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration program who staged a walkout and didn’t sit for their final exam.
“Everybody has to sacrifice something in the movement,” Doretha Benn said. When asked if she was worried about failing her class and not being able to graduate, Benn said, “I think we should never be penalized for standing up for what we believe in.”
As the evening wore on, the students distributed hand warmers, scarves, coffee and food. A handful of UVM staffers also mingled with the students.
Shortly before 8 p.m., UVM’s vice provost for student affairs Annie Stevens addressed the protesters. “President Sullivan isn’t available tonight,” she said to a chorus of jeers and boos from the crowd. “He does want to meet and will reach out to whoever you want him to reach out to.”
The announcement ended the road blockade, and vehicle traffic on Main Street resumed. The students then marched their way to the Waterman Building to reconvene. Once inside, organizers pledged to continue with their protest actions until their demands were recognized.
Waterman was also the site of a protest Tuesday, when students gathered to decry several racist incidents on campus and urge university administrators to heed Mejia’s demands, which include permanently flying a Black Lives Matter flag on campus and increasing funding for anti-racism events.
In response to the latest demonstration, UVM spokesman Enrique Corredera said in a statement that the university “does not condone any activity that can result in serious unintended consequences.”
“Taking over a major intersection in the city of Burlington, and impacting the lives of thousands of individuals and families is such an activity,” he wrote.
Corredera said that Sullivan “welcomes” a meeting with the organizers and vowed “to continue a dialog with students.”
“The university will remain focused on the work it is doing to advance its diversity and inclusion goals, and will continue to speak out against every form of racism, bigotry and injustice on our campus,” Corredera’s statement read.
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leaterhune, don’t bother responding to Snow Creek. They’re not willing to accept examples of racism from the executive branch, and don’t appear to know the meaning of the word “implicit.” I can use it in a sentence: “Many of the arguments against Black Lives Matter are implicitly racist.”
“I would have run right over them” – yes, and we wonder why we need signs explicitly saying that black lives matter…
“While I support their cause, These protesters have to realize that their lives are no more important the the lives of every other person. What if someone in one of these ambulances had been critical and died? Could you live with the fact that your cause took a life?”
You might want to rethink what you support as you are supporting them shutting down our roads. This is not uncommon for BLM. Just do a quick google search and you can find this kind of behavior all across the country. They are demanding things- and they will not stop until you grant their demands. They are a race based supremacy group more than willing to use such tacticts to force their agenda on VT. And they dont care about all lives- they care about “black lives- specifically black womens lives” as their website openly proclaimed until recently.
You have given them an inch- they now want a mile.
This was and is entirely predictable when you feed into the demands of a racist organization being coddled by white liberals to afraid to defend themselves or the values they want to uphold.
I have said it before and I will say it again- Vermont is being trolled by these groups and these people.
you dont have to accept it.
IF being called a racist is what you want- then keep letting these people get away with it
And if you want to encourage more of this nonsense- give into their absurd demands.
they will be back with more within days
The irony of HomerC’s comment on parenting and his bravado of running right over them with his car.
From the BFP,
Carrese said five ambulances were headed toward the hospital during the time of the protest. None had patients in critical condition, he said, and no patients were placed in jeopardy because of the delays.
“I’m sorry that you were delayed. I’m also sorry that people of color are suffering on this campus,” Edosomwan said when asked about the disruptions. “Our lives have been disrupted ever since we stepped onto this campus.”
While I support their cause, These protesters have to realize that their lives are no more important the the lives of every other person. What if someone in one of these ambulances had been critical and died? Could you live with the fact that your cause took a life?
Getting sick of this black supremacy group yet>?
Violence will soon follow as they continue down the road map drawn by their national charters.
Leathrhune- can you name ONE official policy that “institutinalizes” (a fake word) racism?
These children at UVM have overplayed their hand. Shame on Del Pozo and the Burlington Police for condoning and enabling them to break the law and disrupt our community. How many thousands of gallons of gasoline were needlessly burned by motorists stranded by their illegal behavior? How many hundreds of hours of working peoples time was wasted by these childrens temper tantrum? BLM has given themselves a well deserved black eye.
The person that they are protesting against for putting up flyers legally under free speech did so within the law. These protesters have now created a hazard and have broken the law. So under their premise they should all be expelled from school. Keep your protests on campus and off the streets. How would these students feel about being block from attending class during their finals?
If you want to lose support for your cause, this is the way to do it: block a public street so that innocent people are put in danger. And yes, that is what blocking a public street is: it is endangering the public. Would they have moved for an ambulance? What if someone were rushing a child to the emergency room? What if someone who is unemployed were trying to get to a job interview on time? I’ve been generally supportive of this movement, but that support is now waning. It appears to be a movement of very childish people who need to grow up.
Thanks to BLM for challenging an issue that the mainstream accepts as normal. Racism isn’t going to disappear without confronting the system that institutionalizes it. Civil disobedience and boycotts are effective tools when negotiation fails. Negotiation that drags on indefinity wears everyone down. Get it done UVM. It’s win win!
I would have run right over them. Blocking residents at 5pm from getting home after working a long hard day. Something these kids probably never will understand. Parents have killed our society with their lack of parenting.
This protest has nothing to do with the residents of Burlington, they should have just stayed on campus.