Coretta Scott King

In addition, the Office of Diversity Programs maintained its full-time secretary and the Coalition will continually negotiate with the office's supervisor, Eduardo Rhodes for additional funding. Gros Louis also guaranteed financial support for the GLB office.

The Coalition's final demand of University-wide recognition of King Day was perhaps its greatest victory. Though the BFC said the possibility would be discussed in the council's calendar committee, the IU Board of Trustees, when meeting Jan. 24 in Bloomington, voted to recognize the holiday, giving students and faculty a day free of classes.

Vertner said the decision shocked him because he thought the Trustees would never make such a decision for the BFC.

At the Trustee meeting, though it was held four days after the protest, Board of Trustees President John Waldo said the decision had nothing to do with the protest.

Nevertheless, sociology professor Elton Jackson, a BFC member, expressed concern about the ramifications of meeting students' demands so quickly. "Are we at all concerned about the precedent that's set from a group of people who wish changes at the University who come, present a list of demands and present arguments for them? Might this not happen next year, or the year after," Jackson asked.

Jackson's fears were not unwarranted, and the Student Coalition members said they couldn't be happier. Vertner, cofounder of griot, an activism-focused newspaper, said plans were in the works for further strides to increase IU's commitment to diversity though he would not elaborate on the Coalition's plans. "It's phenomenal to see what collective student support will do," he said. With the momentum we've created, it's not going to fizzle out, there's no way. The reason for this is that there are many issues that require exactly what we did (at the protest)." rl

Left: Freshman Johanna Meadows (left) waits in the cold at the Sample Gates where the protest ended. At 7:30 p.m. the six negotiators who met with IU Vice President Kenneth R. R. Gros Louis emerged from the meeting.

Photo by Matt McClain.

Above: Junior Jackie Tucker speaks at the open-mic session about why she participated in the protest after being encouraged to take the stage by junior Reagan Rush.The crowd cheered in response to the student speeches.

Photo by Kevin Stuart.