Outside of the Social Science Building, 20 student protesters with duct tape over their mouths held a silent protest advocating the idea of “love over hate.”

“We are all in different communities in the College Democrats,” freshman theater major Sophie Segal, women’s caucus of the College Democrats, and organizer of the protest stated after. “We just wanted to promote peace and love. The protest was not directly about the election, just spreading peace and love. We are very adamant about it having nothing to do with the election, it was all nonpartisan.”

One student walked by and yelled, “Right on” as another three students joined the silent protest, all within five minutes.

Sitting cross-legged by the path leading to what students know as ‘the spaceship building,’ the students held signs saying “LOVE” and “Love Trumps Hate.” One sign said “Still Fighting like a Girl! For love, unity, equality & peace,” held by the organizer herself.

The major factor of the protest, according to Jonathan Marr, a freshman biology and political science major and member of the College Democrats, is the peacefulness and silence. Most students had duct tape over their mouths with “LOVE” written on it.

“Not all the protesters are College Democrats,” said Natasha Roberts, sophomore communication major and communication director of the College Democrats. “Most are from the outside.”

Friends of friends inviting people through word of mouth and Facebook messages lead to the turnout, according to Roberts. Starting at 11 a.m., students saw and joined to be peaceful, with one exception.

“You always have the people who want to disturb,” Marr said. “A student said it won’t work, it won’t make a change, but again, silence speaks louder than noise. The biggest message is that there is more love than there is hate.”

Andrew Fraieli is the managing editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email him at [email protected].