Media Contact: Benjamin Van Dyne, 703-932-9431, bv3e@virginia.edu
On Saturday, April 15, 2006, at 7:00pm, seventeen University of Virginia students were
arrested on the fourth day of a nonviolent sit-in to protest the University+óGé¼Gäós wage policy. The students, members of the Living Wage Campaign, were arrested by University police and transported to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. Prior to their arrest, the students met with University President John T. Casteen III and Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Leonard Sandridge several times in order to get the University to raise its lowest pay grade to a +óGé¼+ôliving wage+óGé¼-¥ of $10.72/hour. A living wage, according to organizers of the Living Wage Campaign, is a regionally-indexed minimum wage that allows workers to afford basic necessities such as rent, food, and health care.
The county magistrate will remain closed until Monday morning, and campaign members fear that the students will remain in police custody through the Easter holiday. The sit-in began Wednesday morning, when the group of seventeen students entered Madison Hall, the University+óGé¼Gäós central administration building, and refused to leave until a solution was reached to ensure a living wage for all UVA employees. A student petition in favor of the living wage has gathered over 2,000 signatures, and numerous UVA faculty have expressed public support for the campaign. Wende Marshall, a UVA anthropology professor, was arrested Wednesday evening for trespassing in an attempt to bring food and other supplies to the students. Marshall was arraigned later that evening.
Because of the students+óGé¼Gäó arrest, no compromise has been reached. More protesters remain camped outside Madison Hall, in support of the arrested students, and demanding a compromise with the administration over the living wage issue. For more information on the campaign and additional photos, see www.uvalivingwage.net.