The Nation - News from Feb. 15, 1988

Black, Latino, American Indian and Asian students occupying a University of Massachusetts building in Amherst for the third day said a church had pledged money and restaurants had donated hot meals. “We haven’t even had to leave the building to buy food,” said Rio Gabriel, 21, a junior from Toronto. The estimated 125 demonstrators are holding the New Africa Hall, an Afro-American studies building, to protest an attack on two black students allegedly beaten by whites as well as other recent incidents at the school. Protesters allowed reporters into a small room on the ground floor of the hall to ask them questions. The building showed no signs of occupation, such as banners and pickets, and there were no police officers outside. Protesters said they would occupy the building until Chancellor Joseph D. Duffey met demands, including the suspension of five white students accused of the Feb. 7 beatings.