Temple University’s Stadium Stompers are asking students to walk out of class and protest the new plans for a stadium, stop and frisk laws and minimum wage.
With Temple University’s plans of a $100 million stadium becoming more concrete, student and community members are anticipated to take a stand.
The protest is scheduled to begin Thursday at 2 p.m. at Temple’s Bell Tower. The Facebook event claims a little over 300 students plan to participate and another 390 students are interested in attending.
Following several speakers and chants at the Bell Tower the plan is to move to Broad Street at Cecil B. Moore around 3 to 3:30 p.m. and shut down the intersection.
Phil Gregory from the Stadium Stompers has plans to give a speech during the protest and help inform students about how the stadium will impact the community around Temple.
“If we can just get more people talking and thinking and actually being knowledgeable about these issues, they’ll become more active,” Gregory said.
The Stadium Stompers already have a list of organizations that have endorsed their plan including 15 Now, Students Without Borders, and Temple Black Student Union. Other groups from Penn and Drexel University have also shown their support.
Samir Butt, a Temple student said, “I think a lot of students on campus want a tuition-free, stop and frisk, livable wage and not a stadium.”
Temple University’s Campus Safety has been working with Philadelphia Police to ensure everyone stays safe during the demonstrations.
“It’s always a balance between, we want to ensure everyone has their first amendment right heard,” Charles Leone, Director of Campus Safety said, “but we also want to make sure everyone is safe.”
Other protests are also taking place in Philadelphia on Thursday, including Fight for 15 Pa. The Stadium Stompers hope to end their protest with them at City Hall.
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