“Rape is not a privilege!”

Those were just a few of the chants recited by the 30 or so protesters during the protest of fall commencement speaker George Will on Wednesday afternoon.

The march started at the Union at 2 p.m. and lasted about 30 minutes. Protesters went up Grand River Avenue, along Auditorium Road and through the Student Services Building and Main Library.

Will has come under fire for his June 6 Washington Post column, in which he called victimhood “a coveted status.”

“We’re not giving up on having our voices heard,” social relations and policy senior Emily Kollaritsch said. “It’s not about politics, it’s about rape.”

Kollaritsch, the organizer, led the protesters inside the Hannah Administration building and up the stairs to the fourth floor, where President Lou Anna K. Simon’s office is located.

Simon was attending a funeral and was not in her office.

“This is about Michigan State inviting him to our campus, George Will can have his opinion,” Kollaritsch said. “He creates an unsafe environment for survivors.”

Kollaritsch and nine others sat on the floor of Simon’s office for two hours with “IX,” referring to Title IX, written on red tape over their mouths.

Mechanical engineering junior Chase Gunderud was one of the 10 who sat on the floor in Simon’s office for two hours.

“It was really awkward,” Gunderud said. “Some of us were crying.”

The protesters were asked by police to leave the office at 5 p.m. but sat outside in the hallway for another hour. 

It wasn’t until 6:14 p.m. that the last protester boarded the elevator and went home.

The displeasure from the students has not gone unnoticed by the higher ups at MSU.

“There’s a lot of steps that we’ve been taking and we’ll continue to take” MSU spokesman Kent Cassella said. “The past two years we’ve seen a lot of work being done by various offices to help us get better at the issue of sexual assault.”

Cassella said a task force meeting will be held after the winter break.

“There’s more work to do,” Cassella said. “(George Will) has to defend his own remarks. That’s not why we bought him here.”

Another protest is scheduled for the graduation ceremony Saturday outside of the Breslin Center at 8 a.m. 

@thesnews students now chanting on the steps of the Hannah Administration Building pic.twitter.com/ZeAu9QR5SK

— Troy Jefferson (@troy_jefferson) December 10, 2014

@thesnews protestors outside the office of the president on the 4th floor of Hannah pic.twitter.com/ytNicNRvuU

— Troy Jefferson (@troy_jefferson) December 10, 2014