Students protest at Seton Hall University over diversity funding
SOUTH ORANGE, New Jersey (WABC) -- Dozens of protesters at Seton Hall University are in the midst of a sit-in over what some students say is discrimination on campus, a lack of diversity and a lack of inclusion.
The protesters are rallying around campus and marching through the school's libraries and cafes.
"I feel like I haven't had my voice heard. I feel like I haven't been valued as a student," said one of the protesters.
They say they are mistreated because they are students of color.
"This has built up over a long period of time," said student protester Chris Duran. "A lot of us have been here for four years. We have dealt with seeing racist incidents on campus go completely unaddressed. No accountability whatsoever. We have seen institutional problems with the university regarding its curriculum."
They are on day two of a three-day sit-in at the administration building of Seton Hall's South Orange campus, demanding better treatment for minority students and adequate funding for courses on diversity.
The sit-in also calls for changes to the school's system for handling complaints about discrimination.
Most of the students who organized this are seniors so they say even if things do change it wouldn't benefit them. They say this is much bigger than them.
In a statement a university spokesperson said: "We are dedicated to promoting inclusion and diversity among our student body, faculty and staff. During the past six months, senior university administrators have been working with a committee, which includes students, to enhance inclusion, diversity programming and dialogue on campus."
"They give us watered down conclusions and things like that and there's no tangible actions taken based on the demands we have set," said student protester Taylor Newkirk.
Student demonstrators say they'll sit-in as long as they have to, to get what they want. "We have not been approached so anyone who is stating that is lying," said Newkirk.
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