Students barricaded inside a building at the University of the District of Columbia say they may give some members of the school's board of trustees until March 31 to resign. Leaders of the protest, which began Wednesday, had said the students wouldn't leave the building unless the 11 mayoral appointees to the 15-member board submitted letters of resignation immediately. However they softened that demand on Monday. ``That gives everybody six months to determine whether or not there are some members we want to reinstate or some we want to replace,'' protest leader Mark Thompson said. The protesters are demanding extensive changes in the way the 12,000-student university is run and improvements in several athletic and academic programs. They say the board has allowed the quality of the school to decline and put the accreditation of some of its departments in jeopardy. The students and the board have reached agreement on nearly all of the students' other demands. But negotiations remain stalemated on the issue of resignations, with most of the board refusing to quit. ``It would not appear to be in the best interests of the university for them to quit,'' UDC spokesman John Britton said. ``We've made progress, and honestly, the dialogue has become a bit more candid and a bit more cordial, but we're still discussing and neither side has really bent any,'' Thompson said. Thompson said about 500 students remained in the building Monday, down from the 1,000 he said participated in the demonstrations this weekend. Trustees have estimated the number of students involved from 150 to 300. Thompson said protesters were successful in persuading most students to stay away from classes Monday, despite administrators having officially opened the university for the first time since demonstrations began. ``As far as we are concerned, school is still closed,'' Thompson said. All buildings except an administration building occupied by the students were reopened. But instructors were seen conducting classes with fewer than 10 students each. Two trustees have agreed to resign for personal reasons, Britton said, but the protests had not forced the actions. A third trustee has agreed to quit because of illness, Thompson said. Trustee Nira Long has agreed to step down as board chairwoman but has refused to leave the board.
