Standing Up by Sitting Down

At 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Nov. 10, 1998, around 60 students walked quietly into the president's office in Thompson Hall. Dressed in black and carrying books and grocery bags full of food, the students announced that they intended to stay until President Joan Leitzel agreed to take steps to increase diversity on campus.

Organized by the Black Student Union (BSU), the sit-in was designed to draw attention to the university's failure to make significant progress in bringing more minority students and faculty members to UNH. The previous week, the organization had published a list of demands in The New Hampshire under the heading "Broken Promises." Noting that former President Dale Nitzschke had pledged four years earlier to "make diversity a priority" at UNH, the students said they wanted a formal commitment from President Leitzel to fulfill that promise.

At 3 p.m., Leitzel and a number of other UNH officials met with three leaders of the sit-in, who presented a list of a dozen demands. Four hours later, the sit-in ended, with the student leaders saying they were satisfied that the administration was serious about working for greater diversity. "They were willing to meet us halfway," said BSU President Malik Aziz.

A few days later, President Leitzel issued specific diversity goals. These included increasing the black student population to 300 by 2004, increasing the number of black faculty members to 10 by 2003, creating an enrollment management team to recruit minority students and hiring a full-time counselor with experience in dealing with African American issues.

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