On a cold and rainy night this past Friday evening, members of the Board of Trustees, scurrying from dinner to a gala in Bailey Hall, were met with an unlikely greeting: peaceful, yet pronounced, student protest.

A self-described “coalition of students of color” staged the protest to shine light on what they consider to be a lack of administrative support for the needs of various minority communities on campus. Among these concerns were minimal financial resources for Asian and Asian-American students, neglect of student input in the decision to reassign Ujamaa Residential Housing Director Ken Glover and insufficient staffing at the Office of Minority Educational Affairs.

[Editor’s Note: This column is the second installment of a two part series, the first half of which appeared in yesterday’s Sun.]

If you didn’t see the homecoming parade, you’re not the only one. The crowd was anemic for reasons ranging from weather to unawareness. The procession, on the other hand, was as hearty as they come. In tow were 25 student groups displaying, for Cornell, unusual vigor and costume coordination.

Yesterday at noon, about three dozen Cornell workers and students gathered in front of Day Hall carrying signs that read “Cornell workers deserve a fair contract” and cheered as passing buses and cars honked in agreement.

“What do we want? Fair contract! When do we want it? Now!” yelled participants in the rally. “When working families are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

4/20 was more than just a day of munchie-filled happiness for some students. Yesterday, the Cornell Libertarians held a protest on Ho Plaza titled End Drug Prohibition in honor of the annual pro-marijuana holiday. The protest, calling for marijuana legalization, was attended by the members of the club with a few onlookers outside the Straight yesterday afternoon. Members of the Libertarians wore signs that read “Let Freedom Blaze”, “Free People Free Choices” and “End the Drug War.”

President of Cornell Libertarians Michael Cretz ’11 explained the group’s goal was to bring these issues relating to individual liberty to the attention of Cornell students.

Kathmandu, NEPAL — Saturday, 6 a.m., somewhere on the East-West Highway: A bus driver hits and kills an old Nepali woman. Her death, though accidental, causes her entire village to create a massive roadblock out of overturned bags of onions and sheer willpower, effectively shutting down all transport between Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Saturday, 7 a.m., back in Kathmandu: I lift (read: oversee the lifting of) my embarrassingly large suitcase onto the bus hauling me, my research assistant/cruise director and a few other Cornell Nepal Study Program students to Pokhara. Completely oblivious to the morning’s events, I fall asleep, looking forward to a smooth, traffic-free month away from Nepal’s capital.

On March 2, 2009 at a forum to discuss the Asian and Asian American Center (A3C), President Skorton, in response to a question about the future of program houses and safe spaces suggested that “program houses have to show enough interest to justify those expenses.” Skorton’s statement that students “should vote with their feet” is a popular argument used to hold students solely accountable for the future of their resources in a manner that absolves the University of its responsibility to preserve those resources. An issue as complex as program houses cannot be addressed with a dismissive attitude.

“In contrast, NYU’s administration has sent the message that organized protest and passion for a moral cause will be met with force and expulsion. In effect, they are telling us, the college students of America, to avoid the next Kent State massacre and stick to Facebook. This publication disagrees.”

— “Loud and Clear,” Editorial, The Sun, Feb. 23

Are protests always justifiable?

Two weeks ago, 1,300 black flags graced the Arts Quad to commemorate the recent deaths in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, standing alongside several dozen signs featuring statements about the recent deaths. This week, in response, the Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee and Cornell Hillel sponsored a separate display featuring signs regarding Israel’s right to defend itself and Hamas’ affiliations with terrorism.