UNC students boycott campus store following Silent Sam protests

CHAPEL HILL (WTVD) -- Activists are calling for a boycott of UNC's campus store after protests to have the Confederate statue Silent Sam removed have failed.

Students on campus are trying to hit the university where it hurts: its pockets. They've organized a campus-wide boycott asking classmates not to spend money on commercial goods that the university profits from.

"University parking lots, the bookstore, Alpine Coffee, Wendy's, the bottom of Lenoir food court - any of those chains and restaurants. We're not including the dining halls because parents and students provide those meals."

"I've done the boycotts to an extent," said UNC sophomore Bailey McInnes.

She said she's still buying her class materials from the bookstore but is on board with the cause to remove Silent Sam.

"To me it's a peaceful way to put some pressure on them and tell them that the students are here and this is what they want," she said.

Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App

Organizers say the boycott is set to end October 18.

The state's Historic Commission, the only state body with the power to remove Confederate monuments, is set to meet. And while the panel will vote on whether to relocate three Civil War-era monuments off the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, the commission said Silent Sam is not on the agenda and will not be discussed.

"We were hoping with the boycott and the attention the statue is getting now, they would push for it. So we're honestly shocked that it's not on there," said UNC student activist Michelle Brown whose group has been publicly pressuring UNC Chancellor Carol Folt and Gov. Roy Cooper to have the agenda amended to add Silent Sam.

READ MORE: UNC System declines Cooper's offer to get Silent Sam on agenda for removal