Some of the students occupying McGill University’s James Administration Building are beginning to leave after nearly 24-hours of protest.

The students, who had been stationed on the main floor, agreed to leave the building just before 12 p.m.

About 25 students remain on the building’s sixth floor.

The sit-in started Tuesday afternoon, when a group of students gathered outside the sixth floor office of McGill Deputy Provost Morton Mendelson and hunkered down in protest.

They want the university to ratify a referendum held last fall regarding the place of two student groups on campus, CKUT radio and QPIRG, the Quebec Public Interest Research Group.

The university wants a second vote to be held because it found the wording of that referendum question confusing, according to McGill spokesperson Douglas Sweet.

Students inside the building said university security prevented them from using the bathroom and they had to set up a make-shift latrine.

Fourth-year student Sami Fink was among a group of students gathered outside the administration building Wednesday morning, chanting support for the sit-in.

She said she is upset with the tact the university is taking.

“Other administrations have been known to send pizza and support student democracy, but McGill is taking a hard-line stance and not allowing it and not allowing direct action of any sort on campus,” she said.

Sweet said Wednesday morning it was too early to say if the school would call in the police to clear out the building.

Classes and other campus life will continue as planned, he said.