Occupy protesters gather outside Student Union

Occupy protesters took their efforts to UCF on Tuesday, but this time the turnout was more modest compared to other occupy events.

The student-run assembly, which stemmed from much larger movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Orlando, aimed to raise awareness of how corporate greed and political corruption affect the general population.

Students were encouraged to take the stage and express their grievances with the government. Many of the speakers were members of the Student Labor Action Project, the organization that coordinated the event.

Participants chanted back and forth to one another with mantras like, "The students united will never be defeated," and "We are not anti-capitalist; we are anti-greed."

Some shared stories of middle-class oppression while other students who had never given a public speech prior to the event took the stage to convey their thoughts on the state of the nation.

"We are all part of the same struggle," one speaker said.

There were around 30-40 students gathered around the mainstage at any given time throughout the day, considerably less than SLAP organizers had hoped for.

In contrast, the Occupy UCF Facebook event had 65 confirmed guests as well as 248 members in the official Facebook group.

"I think with small numbers like this it's probably difficult to make real headway on topics, but oftentimes things like this lead to bigger efforts later on," said Michael Arthur, department head of acquisitions and collections for the UCF Library, as he watched the assembly from afar.

Chris Hicks, national coordinator for SLAP, attributed the low attendance to the nature of America's educational institutions.

"When you have student loans hanging over your head and you're just trying to get by, coming to a rally or occupation can be a big burden for someone," Hicks said. "We've had students say that they agree with what we're doing and they're going to come out later when they're done with classes, but for them missing a class could be the difference between graduating on time and not."

Despite the low attendance, the assembly attracted the attention of local media such as Channel 13 News and WFTV Channel 9.

UCF College Republicans, who regularly table outside of the Student Union on Wednesdays, decided to stage what they referred to as a "passive counter-protest" to the Occupy UCF assembly directly across from the protest area. Members decorated the tent with slogans such as "occupy a job" and "become the 1 percent."

"I do not agree with their overall message," said Zach Pecci, College Republican and sophomore public administration major. "Actually, there is no overall message; it's very unclear and very unorganized."

College Republican Andrew Monk said that he doesn't support what the Occupy UCF movement stands for as participants advocate the redistribution of wealth in the United States.

"The wealthy got into the position they are in because they happened to inherit money or through hard work and risk-taking," Monk said. "That's just how the American system works."

Occupy UCF participant Tyler Wright said that the College Republicans have incorrectly interpreted the goal of the movement.

"They don't understand that most of us do have jobs," Wright said in reference to the College Republicans' "occupy a job" sign. "And for those of us that don't, we would take it if they had one for us."

Bystanders and students entering the Student Union stopped to ask occupiers about what they were trying to accomplish.

"A lot of people are unaware of this movement, what it means and what is happening in our country," said Alexa Nelen, Occupy UCF participant and senior history major. "With the society how it is right now, it's really difficult to rise up because the resources are so limited, especially in Florida. The movement is about speaking out about all of these things."

"I think some of it is a little extreme, but other than that, they've got a point," said Rielly Donnell, protest bystander and freshman information technology major. "The 99 percent should be spoken for."

David Fernandez, UCF student and coordinator for Working America, said one of the main goals of the Occupy UCF assembly was to encourage students to get involved in Occupy Orlando, particularly the large-scale protest that is to occur downtown on Nov. 5.

Fernandez said that he hopes the Occupy UCF movement can continue to grow and spur further student interest.

"I want to keep it going on as long as we can," Wright said in agreement with Fernandez' statement. "As long as Occupy Wall Street is going on and as long as [the Occupy movement] is going on, I want to keep Occupy UCF going on."