By Olivia Krauth–

Members of Cards United Against Sweatshops took to Grawemeyer Hall around 2 p.m. today to stage a sit-in in President James Ramsey’s office. As of 10:20 p.m., they’re still there, ready to spend the night in Grawemeyer’s rotunda.

The sit-in was the latest act of protest against the University’s contract with VF Corporation.

Members of the RSO sat in Ramsey’s office, saying they would not leave until he offers to meet with them to discuss cutting the contract or until they were arrested. According to protesters, students in Ramsey’s office were denied blankets, food, access to restrooms and prescription medication. A protester reports hearing one of the two police officers present say they would “starve (the protestors) out.”

Around 8:45 p.m., protesters in the office were locked out after going to the restroom. They joined an additional ten members of the group in the rotunda outside Ramsey’s office.

CUAS wants U of L to cut its contract with VF Corporation because it is JanSport’s parent company. The VF Corporation has previously refused to sign a safety accord for its workers in Bangladesh. According to protester Maddie Clabough, JanSport makes a lot of the clothes available in U of L’s campus bookstore.

This is a developing story. 

Photos by Rachel Essa / The Louisville Cardinal