A sit-in at Iowa State President Martin Jischke’s office Monday afternoon ended when three members of The September 29th Movement were arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

The arrests came as no surprise to Movement members Meron Wondwosen, senior in French and political science, Allan Nosworthy, graduate student in English, and Milton McGriff, also a grad student in English.

They said they intended to wait in Jischke’s office until the president assured them they would get a meeting with him. Doug Houghton of the Department of Public Safety told the students they would be taken into custody when the office closed at 5 p.m. They promised not to resist arrest.

Wondwosen admitted she was nervous about her impending arrest but remained strong in her beliefs, questioning whether Jischke supports issues regarding minority students.

“[There is] so much you have to go through to set a date to talk about education opportunities for students of color,” Wondwosen said.

Jischke only once emerged from his office, at abou 4:45, when he left for another meeting. On his way to the door, the president was confronted by Nosworthy.

“We’re reaching out to you, and we’re receiving nothing,” Nosworthy said.

Then, as Jischke descended the steps in the Beardshear rotunda, Nosworthy shouted after him, “You’re walking away from me. That’s the second time.”

As the 5 p.m. deadline arrived, Houghton again asked them to leave. Then, as Movement spokesman Brian Johnson watched, DPS Capt. Rob Bowers bound the three students’ hands with string ties, and the group left the premises peacefully.

DPS officers took The Movement members to the Armory, where they were cited for criminal trespass and released. Under the Code of Iowa, criminal trespass is a simple misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $100 fine.

Loras Jaeger, director of DPS, said the incident was handled very professionally.

He said he has known the three students for years. “They are very strong in their convictions,” he said.

The group had gathered in Jischke’s office in response to a meeting Monday at 1:30 p.m. with Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill. Movement members said the meeting did not go as they had hoped.

According to Johnson, a March 12 meeting between Jischke, Ames NAACP President George Jackson, ISU professor Gary Tartakov and others produced a commitment from Jischke to meet with The Movement on three conditions: that The Movement would formulate an agenda, that The Movement would discuss other diversity issues besides Catt Hall, and that The Movement would first meet with Hill.

Jackson agreed with Johnson’s statement.

“President Jischke told us that he would meet with the members of The September 29th Movement once they had met with Thomas Hill and discussed an agenda,” he said.

Jischke also said a meeting was planned.

“What I said is that if Dr. Hill were to recommend a meeting, I would quite likely follow Dr. Hill’s recommendation,” he said.

An April 3 letter from Hill verified the plans for a meeting on April 6; however, McGriff said The Movement objected to the last sentence of Hill’s letter.

That sentence reads: “After this [April 6] meeting, I will gather pertinent facts and present the findings to President Jischke, who will at that time determine whether or not further meetings or actions are needed.”

McGriff said this sentence implied that Jischke’s statements made at the March 12 meeting would not be guaranteed.

“That last sentence is not a commitment. It’s a ‘we’ll see.’ The letter still opens the promise of that meeting, but it’s not a definite,” he said. “It’s an argument of a man who is trying to avoid a meeting.”

McGriff said a confirmation of Jischke’s promise was not given at Monday’s meeting with Hill.

“Dr. Hill said today in the meeting that he could not say we had a commitment to a meeting [with Jischke],” McGriff said.

But Tartakov, professor of art and design, disagreed with The Movement’s interpretation of Hill’s letter.

“It doesn’t pull back on the promises that were made. The commitment is still there,” he said. “What [The Movement] didn’t get from Hill was a reaffirmation, but they also didn’t get a disavowal.”

Jackson also said he believed the administration was still considering for a meeting.

“I talked to Dr. Jischke this morning [Monday], and he reaffirmed the fact that he would meet with them on a recommendation from his vice president,” Jackson said. “I am definitely sure of the fact that Dr. Jischke committed himself to meeting with those students once they met with Thomas Hill and established an agenda.”

Describing Monday’s conference as a time when “pertinent things got discussed,” Jackson appeared confident Jischke would meet.

“I’m hoping that now that those students have done what was asked of them, Dr. Jischke will grant them a meeting,” he said.

Jischke was cautious about how soon a meeting could happen.

“It’s going to take some time for Dr. Hill to get back to me to establish the agenda and the guidelines,” he said.