Student activists decided yesterday not to host a conference this weekend after receiving… Student activists decided yesterday not to host a conference this weekend after receiving alleged pressure from a University official.

“The University made it clear that they didn’t advocate what we’re doing, and from what I understand, they more or less wanted us to cancel the event. And I agree with them,” Jordan Romanus, manager of Students for a Democratic Society, said.

SDS, which also lost its adviser yesterday, seeks to “provide a bridge between students and the larger community in which they live, in a way that fosters activism and mutual aid across the traditional borders, such as gender, sexuality, color or class,” according to the Student Organization Resource Center website. The group holds anti-war film screenings, brings speakers — like anti-war activist Mark Rudd — and teaches basics of nonviolent activism.

Romanus said he talked to two University administrators, one of them being Pitt Director of Student Life Kenyon Bonner and another whose name he said he couldn’t recall.

Bonner said Pitt student Eric Langberg e-mailed both Student Affairs and SORC around 11 a.m. yesterday. Langberg wrote an article for PittBriefly raising concerns that the conference, also dubbed the Pittsburgh Freedom School, would teach interactions with police through protester-police role-playing.

Bonner said he was investigating whether the group was using University facilities appropriately.

He e-mailed the executive board of SDS, and Romanus called Bonner to discuss the event. Bonner said that he spoke to Romanus, but did not pressure anyone to cancel the event.

That afternoon, Romanus canceled the room requests that the group had placed for the conference.

History professor Tony Novosel stepped down as the group’s adviser yesterday, leaving its existence in limbo. He said one of his friends e-mailed him a link to a PittBriefly article with a recording of an interview with SDS members and other people planning the event.

“When I heard the PittBriefly interview, I couldn’t really be involved as an academic adviser,” said Novosel, who would not say which parts of the interview made him uncomfortable. “I respect their right to exist. If they find another adviser, all the power to them,” he said.

Novosel, who described himself as “sort of the go-to guy” for groups seeking advisers, also advises the Panther Equestrian Club and Hooligans Soccer Club. He said he “basically signed off on SDS some time in the fall.”

Bonner said the group is still recognized by SORC even though it doesn’t have an adviser, but he plans to meet with the leaders of the student organization to discuss the group’s future. The group needs an adviser to continue.

Students don’t need an adviser’s approval to reserve space in the Union. When they have events, they are permitted to invite non-Pitt students, like SDS did.

Alex Lotorto, a 23-year-old who is affiliated with the national SDS but not Pitt’s student organization, said that people from out of town are still coming for a conference. He said the SDS members are considering alternative spaces, but they might meet outside. Lotorto said they might hold discussions in Schenley Plaza.

Amber James, a student at Roberts-Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y., was scheduled to hold a caucus on feminism during the Pittsburgh Freedom School. She said she received a call from Lotorto last night saying the Pitt SDS was no longer sponsoring the event.

She and another student left Rochester around 6 p.m. yesterday.

“I’m pretty excited to go down there anyway,” James said. “No matter what happens — if we only have a few workshops, it’s still worth it, because this is the biggest thing I’ve ever organized. I’m going to enjoy it just to see people.”

Bonner said as long as students don’t violate the student code of conduct, they can sign non-residents into their residence halls. But he advised students to use discretion when housing guests.

The SDS Northeast Regional Conference scheduled to host speakers from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America and Thomas Murton Center, as well as Mel Packer, the Pennsylvania Green Party candidate U.S. Senate, in the Cathedral of Learning, David Lawrence Hall and the William Pitt Union.