The Northwestern chapter of the Prison Moratorium Project held its inaugural protest Friday at Norris University Center.

About 15 people gathered at 2 p.m. to protest the ties of NU’s food service provider, Sodexho Marriott Food Services, to a prison corporation.

PMP activists point to Sodexho Marriott’s parent company, Sodexho Alliance, which they say is the largest institutional shareholder in Corrections Corporation of America.

“We’re demanding that either the school terminate its contract with Sodexho or make Sodexho divest (its shares in the prison company)” said PMP spokeswoman Catherine Learned, a Medill sophomore. “They’re making a profit off human misery.”

Sodexho Alliance intends to sell its stake in CCA, according to a statement issued by Paul Komelasky, district manager for Sodexho Marriott. He accused PMP protesters of attacking Sodexho Marriott to generate publicity and promised that students’ dollars do not fund CCA.

PMP co-founder Kate Krepel, a Medill sophomore, led the protest and presented a letter outlining the group’s demands to William Banis, vice president for student affairs.

“It accomplished my goals, which were to draw attention to the subject and also force the administration to recognize us,” Krepel said after the protest.

After addressing the crowd, Krepel led a troupe of activists on a march around Norris.

“People of Norris, you can’t ignore us,” protesters chanted.

Medill freshman Erin Verkler, who reported on the protest for a journalism class, said although protesters were adamant about their cause, not many passers-by seemed to care.

“People glanced, but not that many people stopped,” she said.

Bill Johnston, director of Norris, said he had been in contact with protest organizers to discuss their plans. He said more information and research is needed before a stand can be taken.

“I don’t know that the university has a position on private prisons,” Johnston said. “But I certainly support their right to get out there and raise the issue.”

Learned said PMP is advocating the elimination not of all prisons but just privately owned and operated prisons. Private prisons are less accountable than public prisons, she said, and PMP opposes running prisons for profit.

PMP was founded Fall Quarter by Krepel and Gwendolyn Kemper, an Education junior. Krepel said the group has no plans for a second protest, but she would not rule out the possibility.