Tufts Students Seize Campus Building

MEDFORD--25 Tufts students barricaded themselves inside a key campus administrative building yesterday, vowing to stay until the university's president strengthens a non-discrimination policy.

As of early this morning, 16 protestors were occupying Bendetson Hall, which is in the center of campus, despite threats of arrest from police.

The students came prepared with enough food and water to last through the week. They entered the building around 9 a.m., according to witnesses, and gave Tufts staffers a type-written note explaining the reasons for the sit-in. They also gave displaced staff members a batch of home-made cookies.

Their letter demands that university president John DiBiaggio clarify and strengthen the school's nondiscrimination policy.

The takeover is the latest episode in a yearlong debate over whether a bisexual student was unfairly denied a leadership role in the Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF).

In April, Tufts junior Julie Catalano filed a charge of discrimination against the TCF in Tufts' student court. Catalano, who is bisexual, had applied for a leadership position in the TCF but was denied. The TCF countered that Catalano's rejection was only based on her belief that homosexuality is not unacceptable, not on her sexual identity itself.

On Oct. 16, the Tufts Community Union Judiciary interpreted the university's nondiscrimination policy as permitting discrimination based on belief. In response, critics formed a new group, Tufts Students Against Discrimination (TSAD), which organized yesterday's takeover.

TSAD demands that DiBaggio make a clear statement in support of the nondiscrimination rule and that Tufts ban discrimination based on belief.

DiBaggio was off campus all day, university officials said. He flew in to Boston around 9 p.m. but refused to comment on the situation upon his arrival.

Other administrators were not available for comment.

Early yesterday morning, students entered Bendetson and informed the building's staff that there would be a sit-in, with noise and distractions, and that the workers might want to leave to avoid distraction, said Vanessa A. Dillen, a student supporter outside the building.

According to, a student inside the building, the students who originally entered Bendetson Hall gave staff a typewritten letter stating their purpose and intentions, along with a fresh batch of home-baked cookies.

Geoffrey S. Downs, a student inside the building, said building staffers were surprised by the demonstrators--and that there was "some antagonism."

"[But] some of the people in the administration building have been giving us thumbs up, saying, 'Keep making noise, guys,'" he added.

The protesters originally planned to have some students rotate in and out while others would stay inside for the duration.

"There was a core group that was originally supposed to stay in there," Dillen said. "Other students would sign up for shifts day by day, depending on their personal schedules."

But police officers locked the building's doors in mid-afternoon and barred other students from entering.

The students brought enough supplies to last at least a week, including food and water, sleeping bags and thermal wear.

"People are prepared to stay in there with no power, no heat and no food. We have everything we need," Dillen said. "They are willing to stay there until the administration gives us what we want."

Over the course of yesterday afternoon, the students inside Bendetson met with administrators at least three times in the building's conference room.

Around noon, the students met with Dean of Students Bruce Reitman and representatives from the school's department of public safety to discuss the technical aspects of being in the building, such as bathroom locations and rules of conduct.

At 3 p.m., the students met again with Reitman to discuss the students' demands, as well as the possibility of forcible removals and arrests.

An hour later, the police locked the doors to the building. Originally, the officers tried to limit the flow of people going in and out by allowing only two students at a time to enter or leave the building.

Shortly afterward, police cut off all student access to the building. No students from outside were allowed to enter, and students inside who left would not be allowed to return. Only one student representative, Adam Carlis, was allowed to continue entering and exiting the building.

Some students who had been hoping to go inside were surprised when access to the building was cut off.

"I was in there all day," said Tufts student Emily Good, who had left the building with the intention of returning right before the doors were locked. "I left an hour ago for a bit and they sealed it off."

By 9 p.m. last night, many students' energy was beginning to wane. The rap music that had been directed out though the building's main windows had been silenced, and the students inside tried to rest.

Outside, about 40 participants and onlookers lit candles and settled in to await an announcement of what action administrators and police would take.

Dave B. Monaghan circled through the group signing up supporters for one-hour solidarity shifts that would last through the evening. "We are splitting up the responsibility, to make sure that their are always people outside offering emotional support."

Outside the building, a spray-painted banner hung tied between two trees. "We get our policy, you get Bendetson," it read.