More police officers were present at Sullivan Hall on April 16 than the protest a week earlier. MARCUS MCCARTHY | TTN

Students for Monteiro, the student coalition supporting the reinstatement of African American studies professor Anthony Monteiro, marched around Main Campus and held a rally with other community protesters Wednesday, April 16.

In anticipation of the protest, Temple police officers were outside Anderson and Gladfelter halls and security guards were checking identification at the doors instead of inside.  The protesters did not march to these buildings.

More police officers were present at Sullivan Hall on April 16 than the protest a week earlier.

“We just want people to feel safe,” Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said. “We don’t know what [the protesters] are going to do. It’s just a precaution.”

Temple police officers were also posted at the entrance to Sullivan Hall and crowd control barriers were again in place on Beasley’s Walk by the time the protesters arrived an hour later.

Monteiro’s students and community members from his class “Philosophy and Black Liberation,” taught on Saturdays at the Church of the Advocate, attended the rally and joined in the march.

The protesters set up speakers outside Sullivan Hall and about 20 people spoke, including Glen Ford, executive editor at the Black Agenda Report, a Black Left site that Monteiro has contributed to before.

Monteiro, a non-tenure track associate African American studies professor, was notified in February that his contract would not be renewed for the next academic year. Students for Monteiro claimed the decision was a “retaliatory firing” in response to his activism and calls for the firing of College of Liberal Arts Dean Teresa Soufas, student representation on the Board of Trustees and better relations between Temple and the surrounding community.

The rally ended with a 15 minute speech from Monteiro. The protesters then went to meet and discuss their future plans.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.