Washington, D.C. police arrested three University of Wisconsin students who serve or have been elected to serve in student government positions during a protest against rising student debt outside a prominent student loan lender.

Associated Students of Madison Chair Allie Gardner, Student Services Finance Committee Rep. Tia Nowack and newly-elected Maxwell Love were arrested outside of Sallie Mae’s offices in the city’s Northwest section.

The protest, part of the nationwide United States Student Association’s lobby day, was part of a multi-month process where students attempted to have a meeting with the Sallie Mae CEO. Student Council recently voted down a proposal for ASM to fund a USSA membership for UW.

SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart said Gardner went to the conference on funds from the United Council of UW Students, which is partly funded by student funds. The travel costs of the conference for ASM Chief of Staff David Gardner, Rep. Libby Wick-Bander, Nowack and Love were paid for in the ASM internal budget, which is funded by student segregated fees, she added.

Love told The Badger Herald the doors of the offices were locked when they arrived outside the Sallie Mae offices on Monday , prompting students to sit outside on the sidewalk for an hour.

According to Nowack, when the students continued to be refused for a meeting with Sallie Mae, they sat outside on the sidewalk. While security guards told them to move, police officers later arrested them for trespassing and misdemeanors.

Nowack added the protest was nonviolent and the police were respectful, with no formal charges filed. All three were released after being processed and held for about six hours.

“We protested because the student loan mark reached $1 trillion,” Love said. “It’s more than credit card debt … so we decided to take the action which ultimately ended up in arrests for misdemeanors.”

Nowack added there were about 200 students involved in total in the protest, with about 50 students from 14 different states participating in the sit-down at Sallie Mae. Police ultimately arrested 36 people.

According to Love, the students were sitting on the sidewalk, although police said they were on private property.

“I think the day was really successful,” Nowack said. “It’s really important that our representatives are hearing from us, and they refuse to meet with us. That’s a real shame.”

Nowack said a total of four students came with ASM for the lobby convention, with more students coming with United Council.

The day of meetings and events was part of a joint action and lobby day, Nowack added, as part of a culmination of learning about the legislation and training on lobbying.

Other events during the day included meeting with Rep. Tammy Baldwin and Sen. Ron Johnson to lobby for a senate bill which could help reduce student loan debt. Love said Johnson cancelled on the meeting. He added he believed the cancellation indicated Johnson’s office did not want to hear from students.

The meeting with Baldwin was meant to take place after the protest at Sallie Mae, Love added.

The average student loan debt is about $25,000, with student loan debt at UW over that amount, Nowack said. She added she believes this shows Wisconsin students are being hit harder than other institutions throughout the nation, making it more important for students to get involved.