Twenty years ago this week, members of national and local media flocked to Amherst College to cover student protests of what participants called "injustice in the examination of fraternities," according to The Student. The Associated Press, United Press International and numerous Springfield television stations were present as several hundred students arrived outside the office of President G. Armour Craig and other areas in Converse Hall at 9 a.m. for a day-long sit-in. They began the final week before the College trustees' were scheduled to announce their decision on the fate of fraternities at the College "with a bang." Along with members of the Inter-Fraternity Council, Amherst's eight fraternities had organized the sit-in at simultaneous meetings held the night before.

Participants distributed a press release stating that the students were enraged by the administration's actions and that the "trustees [had] not made an adequate effort on this issue and [had] not fairly weighed the information that they [had] received." Students hoped that their actions would demonstrate support for the fraternity-based social system at Amherst.

The sit-in was peaceful and inoffensive, according to The Student. The passive action did not break College rules, disrupt classes, harm or threaten other people or disrupt the normal operation of the College. Instead, students wrote letters to the trustees, played trivia games and Monopoly and studied to pass the time. Students simply wanted to "make a final stand" against what they felt was a savage and unfair attack on the College's fraternities.

Other pro-fraternity protests included a hunger strike led by a group of 12 individuals that was to begin the following day, according to student sources cited in The Student. The protesters planned to drink only diluted fruit juices until a final decision was made Saturday. For many, the sit-in was motivated by concerns that student opinions on the issue had not been given sufficient weight. Others simply considered it to be "a last-ditch effort."

Chi Psi member Sarah Stauderman told The Student, "This will let them know the students' concern about the issue. They can't ignore us."

-Lauren Schmale