By Kendall Smith

On a hot Wednesday afternoon outside of the Chase bank building downtown, UK senior Robert Wilhelm, a philosophy and secondary English education major, sits on the sidewalk across from his newfound sleeping quarters; a bench titled Casa de Wilhelm.

Inspired by Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Lexington is a leaderless movement comprised of a wide variety of people.

While the Occupy Lexington protest has certainly not reached the level of Occupy Wall Street in New York City, Wilhelm has been one of the few people camping overnight.

“I came down Friday night and have been here ever since,” Wilhelm said.

While some may have slightly different reasons for protesting than others, the message seems to be the same as the one that spread from Occupy Wall Street: we are the 99 percent and we want change.

“I feel strongly about intergenerational injustices like climate change, racism, classicism and the denigration of the education system in America,” Wilhelm said. “That’s why I’m studying to be a high school English teacher.”

Wilhelm, a sixth-year senior at UK, faces the same issue that worries many current college students across the country.

With a suffering economy, jobs are becoming harder and harder to come by, and for college students about to graduate, that idea is very disheartening.

“With the way things are right now, it’s better to stay in school,” Wilhelm said.

Harris Minstein, a psychology freshman, is also dissatisfied with the current job market and hopes for a significant change by the time he graduates.

“I want to be a teacher,” Minstein said. “As it sits right now, teachers are one of the lowest paying jobs in the market. I don’t want to be scared that it’s a poor decision for my happiness.”

Ever since Occupy Wall Street began to pick up steam, similar protests have been popping up all across the country as people who are unable to travel to New York City make their own efforts to show solidarity with the protestors on Wall Street.

“If I can’t be on Wall Street, I should participate where I can,” Wilhelm said. “It was a good chance to effect a positive change in the world.”

In recent days, actions by the New York Police Department have garnered a lot of negative attention, with many asserting abuse of power towards the Wall Street protestors. For Occupy Lexington, however, police have been nothing but respectful.

“They have been amazing,” Wilhelm said. “They’ve been extremely helpful and super supportive. There was an evening when an officer came and shared a story with us. They stop being a cop and start being a person who happens to be in uniform.”

For UK students, taking part in a protest in downtown Lexington while balancing schoolwork can be a difficult task.

Minstein, however, has managed to do just that.

“I get out of class at three and come down here and protest,” Minstein said. “At night when things calm down, I go home and do my homework.”

Minstein, who has been attending Occupy Lexington since Monday, plans on going back every day.

“I think it’s amazing,” Minstein said. “I’m glad it started on Wall Street. I wish I could be there, but I’ll make do with what I got.”

Nathan Owen, an integrated strategic communication junior, has also been attending the protest as much as he can despite an increase in his schoolwork.

“I’ve been real busy lately with tests, but to me, this just as important as school right now,” Owen said.

As protestors continue to more effectively organize Occupy Lexington, some have been critical of the protest and its direction.

“They’ve been trying to play us off, but they will see that we are serious,” Owen said. “This does affect you. We’re fighting for our future, this is important.”

Nash Whaley, a freshman Russian major, is protesting what he sees as an unfair system as wealth inequality in America continues to grow.

“I resent that one percent of the U.S. population controls a large portion of the country’s wealth,” Whaley said. “I’m protesting the financial institution’s influence over government.”

Whaley, who has been attending Occupy Lexington throughout the week, went down on Friday and stayed until 3 a.m. Saturday morning.

“I’m going to be in and out of here as much as I can,” Whaley said. “I have a feeling we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Protestors at Occupy Lexington plan on continuing the protest indefinitely. While the protest is currently located outside the Chase building downtown, Wilhelm said there have been talks to move to other locations as more people join.