The nationwide protests of Donald Trump’s election continue to inspire Oswego State students to demonstrate and vocalize their frustrations.

“No justice, no peace.”

This was one of the chants that echoed through the Marano Campus Center Friday afternoon as part of an organized sit-in run by the African Student Organization (ASO). Students of various backgrounds sat peacefully in front of the ice arena entrance, wielding posters and encouraging those passing by to join in or at least understand their message.

“We wanted people to know that people can have each other’s backs,” said Cheick Traore, a freshman who organized the sit-in for ASO. “Not just a certain group. All the marginalized groups: blacks, Latinos, LGBT. I want them to know that they will have friends, they would have people that will have their back.”

The sit-in took place a week after students marched across campus and held an open discussion voicing their concerns regarding President-elect Trump.

“This sit-in is a continuation of the walk that we had basically on the backlash ever since Trump has been president,” said senior Chelsie Campbell. “I think this is great and I think this is an amazing turnout. This shows that people from different backgrounds and different groups can come together and agree on a cause which is that everyone is equal.”

Members from Oswego State’s ASO and Black Student Union (BSU) spearheaded the protest and open-forum discussion on Nov. 9, the day after the election. Across the nation, protests occurred in Oakland, Chicago and New York City. Students like Traore inspired ASO to hold another protest.

“What’s inspiring us is [ASO’s] interns,” said Oswego State senior and ASO President Aloaye Tisor. “After the protests and after the healing circle, [the interns] felt like they didn’t want to stop the movement there. They wanted to continue it.”

During a press conference in Germany on Thursday, President Barack Obama commented on the ongoing anti-Trump protests, mentioning that protesting is “one of the great things” about democracy.

“I’ve been the subject of protests during the course of my eight years and I suspect that there’s not a president in our history that at some point hasn’t been subject to these protests,” Obama said. “So I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldn’t advise them to be silent. What I would advise…is that election matters, voting matters, organizing matters and being informed on the issues matter.”

Five hours after the protest started, nearly 5,000 tweets about one of the protest’s chants originated from the Oswego State campus.

“The overall message is that we’re not scared,” Traore said. “The Trump supporters think that we’re scared because Trump is trying to normalize all these phobias and we’re just trying to show them that we’re not scared and we won’t back down.”