The Occupy Eugene movement got a change of scenery as they left their previous encampment in Alton Baker Park for the confines of University campus. Chants, impassioned speeches, and home-made signs were commonplace as the group of protesters took issue with everything from the global economic system to University policy. After setting up tents and building a small encampment, the protestors finally settled on moving to the Riverfront Research Park across Franklin Blvd.
University sociology professor Chuck Hunt speaks of the social and economic inequality he has seen in America as the first of myriad impromptu speakers as Occupy Eugene members moved their base to the Memorial Quad from Alton Baker Park on Thursday afternoon. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Occupy Eugene protester Jesse Storment holds out his message of peace among the hundreds of citizens who flooded the Memorial Quad on University campus on Thursday afternoon. Chants for taxing the rich and reducing corporate personhood rang out as the movement set down roots on University campus. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Several of the Occupy Eugene protesters, including Alex Lamoreax and his three month old kitten, Magnet, brought their pets along with them in hopes of setting up a permanent encampment in the Memorial Quad. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Josh McWhorter spots Falcon Fincher as he cinches up Occupy Eugene members’ belongings to the back of his truck in Alton Baker Park on Thursday as the group made a mass exodus towards University campus. The Occupy Eugene movement’s transition was motivated by their desire to expose the inequality within the global education system according to organizers and marked the first occupation of an American university campus. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
University student Sam Chapman rallies the crowd to being their occupation of Oregon campus in protest of University and federal loan policies. Hundreds took note as protesters and passerbys impeeded the flow of foot traffic along East 13th Ave. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Occupy Eugene protestors voiced their opinion through a series of impromptu speeches, chants, and homemade signage in the Memorial Quad on Oct. 27, 2011. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Seated several yards behind the rally group, University senior John Prevas meditated on the words being spoken in the Memorial Quad on Thursday afternoon, as hundreds from the Occupy Eugene movement made their case against federal and University inequality. “For the first time in a long time there’s a real social movement on campus,” Prevas said.
Occupy Eugene protesters Kris Meek (left) and Nate Humpry (right) set up their tents with fellow protestors in hopes of creating a permanent occupation of University campus on Thursday afternoon. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Department of Public Saftey patrol officers Chris Phillips (left) and Andrew Johnson (right) observe the development of the Occupy Eugene rally from the other side of East 13th Ave. on University campus on Oct. 27, 2011. Both Phillips and Johnson as well as the rest of DPS were only on hand to make sure the protests didn’t escalate as they waited for the University’s official stance on the issue before taking further action. (Aaron Marineau/Oregon Daily Emerald)
