Occupy Pitt holds first on-campus demonstration

Familiar cries of, “Out of the dorms, into the streets,” echoed down Forbes Avenue Wednesday… Familiar cries of, “Out of the dorms, into the streets,” echoed down Forbes Avenue Wednesday night.

But this time the shouts did not originate from Occupy Pittsburgh protesters.

Instead, the demonstration that began at 8 p.m. at Schenley Plaza and wound up and down Forbes and Fifth avenues stemmed from Occupy Pitt — a student group that formed in January as a more education-focused local branch of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

About 40 people showed up Wednesday night to march, some still wearing book bags, others with signs in hand. But the crowd didn’t contain only Pitt students. Occupy Pitt remains tied to the larger Occupy movement, with Occupy Pittsburgh members as well as students from neighboring Carnegie Mellon University joining in on the mid-week march.

Sophomore Julia Radomski said that Wednesday, Occupy Pitt marched against police brutality — citing arrests made at Occupy Oakland on Saturday where police used tear gas on the demonstrators.

Carnegie Mellon junior Ernesto Alfonso marched along with other protesters in stride — he carried a book bag, his feet bare.

The commuter said that he came onto campus this morning and planned to stay to join the protest.

“For every act of repression there are thousands of solidarity actions,” he said of his reasons for attending. He said he was marching to ensure that police brutality “doesn’t become the status quo.”

While the march remained peaceful — with protesters occasionally walking out into the streets, interrupting traffic — police lined Forbes Avenue. Seven police motorcycles and two police cars sat parked outside of the William Pitt Union in case anything went awry.

“This is what democracy looks like,” the crowd chanted.

Once the Occupiers reached South Craig Street, demonstrators moved in different directions as Occupy Pitt leaders announced that, “Occupy Pitt is no longer facilitating this march.”

“They’re like full-time and we’re like part-time Occupiers,” junior Ryan

Branagan said outside of the Kiva Han coffee shop as about half of the demonstrators marched onward toward Carnegie Mellon’s campus.

Branagan said that Occupy Pitt ended the march because it felt that it had completed its goal of raising awareness of the movement on campus and gaining solidarity with Occupy Pittsburgh.

“We’re taking a back seat… going back to do our homework,” he told a member of Occupy Pittsburgh.

Occupy Pitt members estimate that about 40 to 50 students have joined the group so far, and they expect it only to expand from here.

“We didn’t see a movement,” senior Karina Goulordava said about the need for Occupy Pitt on campus. At the group’s meetings, students join together to talk about tuition and student debt, among an array of other issues.

Occupy Pitt will hold its next meeting Friday at 2 p.m. on the first floor of Posvar Hall.