Several graduating University of Chicago students are staging a sit-in at the South Side campus Thursday afternoon to protest budget cuts and layoffs.
Students, some wearing their graduation caps and gowns, began assembling outside Rosenwood Hall at 1101-11 E. 58th St. to protest job and salary cuts for low-wage workers, including students, according to the Southside Solidarity Network.
“In the past several years the University has spent $1.5 billion to remodel the campus and rise in the rankings — enough to pay for the proposed cuts dozens of times over — while vital services like student counseling, and sexual assault prevention and survivor support are already severely underfunded,” according to the statement.
“I’m sitting in because I needed my work-study job for groceries and rent,” senior Julianna Estall said.
Earlier Thursday, nine trauma center protestors were arrested after they barricaded themselves inside an administration building vestibule and disabled the elevators.
The Trauma Center Coalition protest lasted about two hours, until police and fire officials arrived to restore access to the building.
