The NC State Board of Trustees meeting Friday morning was marked by student protesters of various campus activist organizations. The demonstration came after the organizations issued a list of demands at the Board of Trustees committee meetings Thursday.

The demands came from a group of organizations known as the Divestment Coalition, which consists of the NC State Young Democratic Socialists of America, Students for Decarbonization, NC State Dissenters, the Campus Community Alliance for Environmental Justice, the Graduate Workers Union and NC State Students for Justice in Palestine.

“Over the past week, the Board of Trustees have received emails from concerned students, staff and community members,” the list of demands read. “Their concerns range from climate change, to our investments in genocide, to our mistreatment of students. The emails you have received, as well as those present at this meeting urge the board to listen to the organizations that have been entrusted as a community voice.”

Fifteen protesters stood at the head of the conference table for the duration of the meeting, holding signs that pertained to a variety of the causes represented in the list of demands. At the start of the meeting, Chair Ed Weisiger Jr. read the ethics statement which included the reminder that while the Board of Trustees meeting is open to the public, it is not a meeting for public comment in addition to other ethical reminders. 

Nathanial Dibble, a third-year studying political science, asked in response, “Why do y’all want to talk about ethics but not want to talk about your investment in fossil fuels?”

Weisiger reiterated that comments from the public were not permitted.

“You’re causing disruption to this meeting,” Weisiger said. “If that happens again, we’ll have you escorted out.”

Divestment from the fossil fuel industry is just one of 26 demands listed. Others include instating higher stipends for graduate student workers at $41,000 per year, democratizing the University by allowing “all major stakeholders to appoint and vote on all potential trustees and high-ranking admin” and calling for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine in light of the Israel-Hamas war. 

Juliette Chisam-Majid, a graduate student in chemistry, said she was at the committee meeting to voice the demands as a concerned student. She embraced the variety of the demands by saying she appreciates their intersectional nature.

“These are many groups from across the entirety of NC State, fighting for different things, but they’re all interconnected in many ways,” Chisam-Majid said. “The fight for Palestine is the same as the fight for grad students workers’ rights. It’s the same fight as it is for environmental justice. It’s the same fight as it is for reproductive justice. They’re all interconnected in many ways. So I think the hope here is to show that we have built communities. We’ve built solidarity across many different groups here. Hopefully the Board of Trustees can see that, the chancellor can see that and the University can see that, and we can make changes.”

The board went into closed session toward the end of the meeting, and some protesters stayed until it concluded nearly an hour later. As trustees exited the room, protesters asked if they had read the demands. Although many did not answer, trustee Ghazale Johnston responded that she had read them and thanked the students for distributing them. Weisiger said he had not had the chance to review them yet. 

Ennis Wells, a fourth-year studying communication and political science, said he felt like there was tension during the meeting, but he doesn’t feel as though that’s a negative sign.

“I definitely feel like there was a tension, and that’s not a bad thing, because I want them to know that the tension exists because of the demands that need to be met,” Wells said. “We’d love to get along and have a great school, but we need these demands met first. Any trustee that is sympathetic, we really want to get in touch with them. We’ll just keep trying to figure out who those sympathetic people are, and grow from here.”

Wells said the group plans to continue attending future meetings. 

“We delivered demands yesterday, and then we showed up today just to kind of let them know that we plan on continuing to show up until we get these demands met,” Wells said. “We’re not trying to set anyone off. We just want them to know that we’re also a part of the school and we also should have a say, and they should protect our students and not their investments.”

The demonstration comes just days after the Campus Community Alliance for Environmental Justice issued demands to Chancellor Randy Woodson regarding the discovery of PCBs in Poe Hall and the building’s subsequent closure. 

The next Board of Trustees meeting takes place Feb. 7, 2025.