In addition to the promotion of Bell, the protesters had asked that the Law School hire 20 minority professors in the next four years, appoint a Black female professor by next year and extend a tenure offer to Visiting Professor of Law from Practice Charles J. Ogletree Jr.
"The dean expressed concern about setting specific goals," Wilkins said at a press conference after the rally. "That's a vague, ridiculous position for an administrator to take."
After the protesters moved their demonstration from Vorenberg's office to the doors of yesterday's faculty meeting at Pound Hall, Wilkins and two other BLSA representatives spoke to the professors for about a half-hour. According to Bell, who was at the meeting, the students were applauded for their arguments.
Bell said that one professor complained that the presentation by the students was not on the agenda.
The nearly 50 BLSA members began the "study-in" at the dean's office Monday afternoon and spent the night there, demanding immediate action on the 12 proposals they submitted to him.
When the dean's staff returned, they found an office largely unscathed.
While Vorenberg said that he regretted that the BLSA staged a sit-in and Byse said he was saddened "that society has developed so that law students think that this is necessary," BLSA leaders said they thought the sit-in was necessary to make the faculty act.
"The dean was somewhat disappointed that we felt that we had to sit-in to make progress," Wilkins said. "The dean will say he didn't think a sit-in was necessary, but some of the things he agreed to today he rebuffed a month ago in [another] meeting."
And Bell, who spent much of Monday night with the demonstrators, said that the sit-in worked as a protest.
"Any time you can get people to put their bottoms where their brains are, it's a success," Bell said about the protest.
Bell also said he thought the principles articulated in the BLSA demands might resurface at later faculty meetings, though the faculty might not attribute their origin to the BLSA sit-in.
"There is a substantial amount of faculty support for the proposals," Bell said. "People who have policymaking power often take action that they do not want to attribute to" student protests, he added.
Vorenberg said in the interview that the morning meeting with BLSA had made him more aware of their views on minority hiring.
"I think I have a somewhat stronger understanding of what issues are particularly important," Vorenberg said.
Wilkins said at the rally that BLSA had only started in their campaign for more minority representation, and that it was important the organization continue to work through the summer and next fall.
"The next step is to follow through on the seven demands that were agreed to by the dean," Wilkins said. "When we know where the faculty stand, we will know what to do next. We expect the faculty to act on the five proposals over the summer or early fall."
For more coverage, see tomorrow's edition.