A rotating group of around 40 or 50 students at Reed College have been camped out in an administration building for nine days, demanding the the college divest from Wells Fargo. And the college is, largely, supporting the effort.

"It's our job to disrupt oppressive systems," Tiffany Chang, a sophomore, said Tuesday.

Chang is one of the students who has been occupying the president's office. She's been there, along with other members of a group called Reedies Against Racism, for over a week. The students have actually pitched tents in the offices and hallways of Eliot Hall.

Chang says she is still attending class during the protest. It's more of a revolving occupation -- students take breaks to get food or go to class and other students take over.

What is at issue, for Chang and the other students, is Reed's investment in Wells Fargo, which they say funds racism in the form of things like oil pipelines and immigration detention centers.

Reedies Against Racism has seen several victories as a result of protests in the last year. A required Humanities course will be reviewed early because of their action and the campus has been officially designated a sanctuary, among other things.

Now the group wants to address the college's impact on the wider world.

"Isn't it hypocritical to be a legal sanctuary and still be invested in a bank that supports immigration detention centers?" Chang asked.

Reedies Against Racism has presented a contract, asking the school to divest from Wells Fargo, to the college's president, John Kroger.

Kroger has not signed the contract but has told the students that the Reed College Board of Trustees will look into the issue at their next meeting, in November.

Reedies Against Racism is asking that the change is made immediately.

"We believe there is a moral imperative," Chang said, to change it now. The students say that the Wells Fargo situation represents an emergency and that the school should be able to make the decision to divest unilaterally, without the board's consent.

Addison Bates, a former sophomore, currently on leave from Reed, said that students plan to stay in the office until the contract is signed. And, at least on the surface, the Reed administration appears to be ready to allow that to happen.

In a letter sent out to Reed "students, staff, and faculty" on Tuesday, Kroger wrote, "I have no objection to the current, peaceful sit-in outside my office."

"The meeting area outside my office is a place of symbolic power," he continued, "and thus a reasonable place to express one's political views."

"We are not going to quash this," Reed spokesperson Kevin Myers said on Tuesday.

Myers had mostly positive things to say about Reedies Against Racism.

"They've been incredibly effective," he said, praising the progress they've made in such a short time. "They've really raised the stakes."

There is one issue, however. On Thursday, roughly 20 students entered the treasurer's office, which is down the hall from the president's office.

What happened is disputed by students and staff. The protesters say they were participating a peaceful protest and at the most a passionate exchange. Administrators say students harassed a staff member working in the office.

"Protests," Kroger wrote in his letter, "are not an excuse to treat other human beings poorly. Protesters should conduct themselves with dignity and not resort to harassment."

Students involved in the incident were sent a no-contact order on Tuesday, barring them from contacting staff involved, from going into administrative offices unless on "legitimate business" and prohibiting them from entering "any and all staff offices, unless [they] have received prior consent."

The order is attributed to Mike Brody, Vice-President for Student Services and Brice Smith, Dean of Students.

In the "Consequences for Violation" section of the order, on the bottom of the list which begins with "Referral to the Judicial Board," is "Referral to law enforcement."

For Reed, a community that prides itself on handling issues in-house, using what they call the "Honor Principle" and the above-mention Judicial Board, which works to provide what Myers calls "restorative justice," resorting to police is almost unheard of.

On Facebook, Reedies Against Racism wrote of the order, "The college would rather leverage police intervention and disrupt the ability for students to walk freely through Eliot Hall then admit that Wells Fargo is an unethical bank..."

Students who were issued the order, however, can still camp out in the president's office.

"Nothing in this document is intended to prohibit students from expressing dissent by occupying hallways or the reception area of the president's office," reads the order, "as along as such occupation adheres to all relevant fire codes and safety regulations, and does not present a risk to any Reed community members or campus visitors."

That means the tents and students in the hall could be there for at least another month.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker