As April is quickly approaching, WSN is closing out March with a recap of the top five stories from the month:

1. IEC’s 36-Hour Sit-In at the Kimmel Center

March 25-26 – The Incarceration to Education Coalition remained in the Kimmel Center for 36 hours in an effort to #unboxnyu by demanding the university to remove criminal and disciplinary questions from its Common Application. At 11:07 p.m. on March 26, the IEC accepted the university’s response to their demands on the conditions that their meeting with the Common App’s CEO, Paul Mott on Tuesday, March 29 will be recorded, and that Senior Vice President of Student Affairs Mark Wais will advocate for them to have a meeting with President Hamilton before the end of the spring semester.

2. Raising NYU Student Workers’ Wages to $15 per hour

March 25 – As part of NYU’s affordability initiatives, President Andrew Hamilton announced that the Budget Office will be increasing student wages over the next three years to $15 per hour.

3. Announcing the class of 2016’s Commencement Speaker

March 22 – Darren Walker, President of Ford Foundation, a global human welfare organization, will be this year’s Commencement Speaker. The ceremony is scheduled for May 18 at Yankee Stadium.

4. Renaming Hayden Hall as Lipton Hall

March 21 – Hayden Hall will be renamed Lipton Hall in June after Martin Lipton, a generous contributor and alumnus of NYU’s Law School, as well as Chairman of NYU’s Board of Trustees.

5. Hamilton’s First Town Hall Meeting

March 9 – NYU President Andrew Hamilton discussed concerns regarding university affordability and the NYU Global Network at his first town hall meeting, “Afternoon Tea with Andrew Hamilton.” Hamilton discussed his initiatives to lower the planned increase in undergraduate program costs, and listened to a student panel from NYU Global Network as they outlined their concerns for academic stability in NYU’s global programs.

A version of this article appeared in the March 28 print edition. Email Greta Chevance at [email protected].