On Friday, anti-war protesters from the Year Five Coalition met on campus to march a $200 reimbursement to the Student Activities Center.
The payment was for campus property damage that occurred during a spring break protest.
Over spring break, protesters left red handprints on UNM signs, sidewalks and streets near the Public Policy building on Sigma Chi Road.
Before delivering the payment, members of the coalition read a statement at the regents' office and the office of the president.
"The beet juice and cornstarch placed on UNM's sign by unknown citizens that day represents the blood that UNM places on all of our hands as a result of UNM's complicity with war profiteering," member Jeanne Pahls said. "We wish the bloody stain that UNM brings to our community was as easy to wash off as the beet juice and cornstarch mixture that was put on UNM's signs."
Andrew Marcum, the student who applied for the permit to allow the protest, said the handprint stains were not sanctioned by the group.
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"I had no idea that this had taken place, so I was very surprised to receive the e-mail saying that I had been fined," Marcum said. "We didn't come to vandalize or make a scene; we came to be heard."
Pahls said it is unfair for the University to send the bill to Marcum.
"It feels like UNM is just retaliating against Andrew, blaming him for something he wasn't responsible for," Pahls said.
Debbie Morris, director of the Student Activities Center, said UNM was not targeting Marcum.
"We were simply asking for reimbursement for the damages and the cost of cleanup," Morris said. "It wasn't a fine, and there is nothing on record against Andrew Marcum."
She said he received the notification because he filed for the permit.
"Our hope was that the people responsible would come forward and take responsibility," Morris said.
Pahls said the group raised the money to reimburse UNM though donations from the community.
Marcum said he wants the protest and its statement to be better-received next time.
"UNM seemed to care more about the $200 than the message," he said.
