Students gathered on the greenspace today for a sit-in to protest president-elect Donald Trump's "hateful rhetoric" and to promote campus unity.
Chanelle Leonard, sophomore in public administration, organized the demonstration.
"We're not exactly protesting that Trump is president now," Leonard said. "We're not going to let his hateful rhetoric or any of the hatefulness reign on campus or in the U.S. or across the world."
Leonard handed out safety pins, a symbol made popular during Brexit, to protesters to show "unity."
They chanted "love trumps hate," "black lives matter" and "no racism, no hate" while offering each other messages of support.
"Me being black, gay and a woman, it's kind of scary," Leonard said. "At the same time, I really do have faith we'll be able to move past this and unite because of this. I believe that sometimes things have to fall completely apart for them to be put back together."
The University is supportive of students' right to protest, President Jay Gogue said in a statement.
"Freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble are embedded in our Constitution, and Auburn supports those rights," Gogue said. "The recent election has generated strong opinions and emotions, and we encourage the campus community to use this opportunity to foster constructive dialogue toward solving some of our nation's most critical challenges. Voicing concern is good, but combining it with action plans to strengthen our communities is even better. In the process, we must be vigilant in respecting others' opinions and understanding our differences in backgrounds, perspectives and experiences."
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