Representatives from the (un)Occupy Albuquerque protest, including former hunger striker Sebastian Pais, met with President David Schmidly on Wednesday to discuss plans for the movement’s on-campus occupation.
At the group’s general assembly meeting Wednesday Pais said he requested the resignation of the president, and said the movement should not be required to obtain a permit.
“Everybody is allowed to pass out information and express themselves on campus every day,” he said, “So we feel there is no need for a permit.”
Schmidly said he didn’t recall Pais asking for his resignation, but said that he worked with the group to provide an amicable solution.
“I thought it went very well, it was a very frank exchange,” he said. “We made it clear that we are very supportive of their freedom of speech. We asked for their cooperation to make sure that we move forward in a way that ensures their rights and the safety of students on campus.”
Pais was on a hunger strike for nearly a week trying to get Schmidly to meet with him, but Schmidly said he was out of town during that time.
Pais ended his strike Tuesday night after UNM Interim Provost Chaouki Abdallah met with protest representatives. Abdallah said he came for personal reasons and not because Schmidly asked him to.
Schmidly said he agreed with all of the requests and compromises of the movement, but said the group will not be allowed to have any permanent structures and cannot stay on campus overnight. The group will be required to reapply for a permit to occupy Yale Park from 5-10 p.m. on a weekly basis.
“As long as they have agreed to abide by the policies we have on freedom of expression and dissent … there will be no problem,” Schmidly said.
Pais said Schmidly’s use of police forces in recent weeks is the protesters’ primary concern, and he said he asked Schmidly not to use force in future. Pais said the movement is concerned about recent violence in Oklahoma and Oakland.
“The force brought to us last Tuesday was extreme,” he said.
“Bringing helicopters and riot gear to ask us to move out of there was too much, and we felt threatened and we felt that it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
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Pais said the movement will be investigating UNM’s involvement in corporate funding and how UNM’s budget is spent, and may call for the resignation of other officials in future.
“We want to bring accountability to this institution as we do any public institution,” he said.
