A small group of students and alumni marched across the University of Colorado’s Norlin Quad on Monday morning, plopping down in the Old Main building where they planned to sit until CU agrees to divest from fossil fuels.

About seven students associated with the group Fossil Free CU hoisted banners reading “Fossil fuel executives are selling our future for profit. Whose side are you on?” and “Regent Gallegos, stand with students for climate justice.”

They sang climate-related protest songs and circled up inside the oldest building on campus to share their personal reasons for committing to the protest against companies involving oil, gas and coal.

P.D. Gantert, who graduated from CU in December, said he has been working on fossil-fuel divestment for years with the university.

“There is an attitude from the administration that we, as students, didn’t know what we were talking about,” he said. “The climate crisis is real. It will deeply impact my life and people across the world.”

In 2015, the regents voted 7-2 to reaffirm the university’s current investment practices, claiming neutrality.

Students have met with administrators and regents in the past, showing up at Board of Regents meetings to voice their concerns. Fossil Free CU claims they have been largely ignored.

“The Board of Regents voted in 2015 to continue CU’s current investment strategy,” CU spokesman Ken McConnellogue said in an email. “It has no plans to revisit the issue.”

The group particularly hopes to target Regent Glen Gallegos, the board’s vice chair and a Republican from Grand Junction, who they say could swing the regents in their favor.

Gallegos declined to comment for this article.

“Climate justice needs to begin now,” sophomore Lior Gross said. “Our university can’t take that away by ignoring us.”

Matt Dempsey, speaking on behalf of the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s website Divestment Facts, said fossil-fuel divestment doesn’t have enough support in Colorado.

“You have a number of officials in the state who are opposed, and they understand the oil and gas industry is a major part of Colorado’s community,” he said.

Additional students are expected to gather at 4 p.m. today outside Old Main for a rally. Fossil Free CU organizers said they are prepared to “escalate their action” if the university doesn’t hear them out.

Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-473-1106, hernandeze@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/ehernandez