Protests go on outside Campus Copy

Armed with a megaphone and signs reading honk! if you support safe business, a group of protesters descended on Campus Copy Center late Friday morning. Though the protest began as a small group of about 20 students in front of W.E.B. DuBois College House, it attracted additional supporters as it marched to Campus Copy's main location at 3907 Walnut Street, swelling to well over 50. The group, composed mainly of students, demanded an apology from the business for the alleged beating of Gregory Seaton, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Education. Seaton created a storm of campus controversy last week when he began circulating an e-mail that claimed he was first denied service at Campus Copy and then beaten by four of the store's employees. Though Seaton maintained in his e-mail that the incident was racially motivated -- an allegation that Campus Copy vehemently denies -- protesters have not focused on the race issue. Instead, protests have centered around questions of customer service and business safety. College sophomore Lark Grier said that she came out to the protest in support of Seaton, but that race had little to do with her motivation. "I just think it's important to support people who have gone through these things," she said. "It's not about race, it's about justice." And protest leaders emphasized that Seaton was alleging assault -- not that he was an African American. "Fact. One unarmed man was beaten by four men inside of Campus Copy," College junior Christine Nangle said, addressing the crowd with a megaphone. "We're not telling you [Campus Copy] you're terrible people. We just want you to admit something wrong happened." And College freshman Reggie Butler told the protesters that they should use this opportunity to send businesses a message that customers need to be treated with respect. "The sad thing is that this kind of thing happens all the time," Butler said. "We need to send out a message to businesses that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated." Campus Copy continued to deny any wrongdoing in the incident, and owner Stan Shapiro said that he does not intend to apologize. "To apologize would be to say that I was in the wrong," Shapiro said. Campus Copy representatives allege that Seaton demanded service and then incited violence himself, prompting employees to come from behind the counter to subdue him. Shapiro went on to say that he feels the student protesters are too swift in their judgment of the store, but that most Penn students are being fair and waiting until the ongoing investigation by University Police is concluded. "I'm saddened by the fact that we are being prejudged and prejudged wrongly," Shapiro said. But he went on to say that he thinks that "the greater majority of the Penn student body and the Penn community will strongly support Campus Copy Center because we have a history in this community." Both Seaton and Campus Copy are employing legal counsel. UMOJA Political Action and Research Committee Coordinator Kimberly Noble called the ongoing protests the beginning of the Penn community coming together to work for a better society. "This is the start of students, and faculty, and staff members coming together to force social change," the College sophomore said. Furthermore, Graduate School of Education Professor Walter Palmer, an area resident, said he was encouraged by the protest. "The truth of the matter is that there is not a social movement in the hands of young people," Palmer said. Noble promised that the protests would continue from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the issue is resolved. Next week, Noble said that there will be a protest in front of College Hall because "the president of this University and the provost need to know what we have to say." Shapiro said that he expects that the protest will have an effect on his business, although he would not speculate as to what extent. "Any protest would affect any business," Shapiro said. "How much or how little, it's hard to say."