This isn't the average protester-president square-off.
Chipper classical music punctuated the background of UF President Bernie Machen's office Monday as students sat on floral-print couches and waited to urge him to support socially responsible investing.
UF's Responsible Endowment Coalition organized a three-day "study-in" in Tigert Hall 226 - Machen's office - starting at 10:30 a.m. to discuss UF's investments with Machen on his way to meetings, lunch or the bathroom. The study-in is scheduled to end on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Student protesters, notably members of Students for a Democratic Society, have been pushing for responsible and transparent investing of UF's funds for nearly a year.
During the spring Student Government elections, more than 80 percent of students voted in favor of a committee to advise the Board of Trustees, UF's governing body, on socially responsible investing of UF's $1 billion-plus endowments.
UF's current strategy leaves investment decisions up to UF's Investment Corporation, an organization exempt from open public-record requirements.
Skeet Surrency, the study-in's organizer, said the first day outside the president's office was successful because four students talked with Machen on four different occasions.
When Machen slipped out of his office for lunch, Surrency said he walked with him from Tigert Hall to University Avenue. Others approached him at Burrito Bros.
Machen wrote in an e-mail later on Monday that the students outside his office were cooperative and provided minimal disruption.
"I have no problem with them being here as long as that continues," Machen wrote.
Kara Sprague, a UF nursing junior, joined her friends at Machen's office around 2 p.m. She cracked open her copy of "The Fire This Time: Young Activists and The New Feminism," and explained that the group hasn't received the response it needs.
Microbiology junior Kevin Hachey quietly studied for a Wednesday biology exam, while a seated police officer looked on. Hachey said he wasn't disappointed with the modest turnout of book-toting protesters.
"Our point isn't to flood the office," Hachey said. "We just want to remind Bernie that we're here."
