University Student Pays $110 Fine All In Pennies To Protest University’s Use Of Funds

One University of North Carolina student just did what many people have only dreamed of doing: He paid a $110 parking ticket all in pennies.

Stephen Coyle paid his two university parking tickets with 11,000 in pennies to protest the school’s use of the parking funds, and it took university employees almost four hours to count it all out.

Now the penny protest has morphed into a larger movement headed by Stephen called “Let Them Count.”

Coyle’s protest first started to take shape when he learned North Carolina mandates 80 percent of the money be remitted for public elementary, middle, and high schools. That leaves the remaining 20 percent to pay for parking enforcement.

Coyle said he was upset that the university wasn’t using any of the money to repair its rundown buildings.

Local student "Stephen Coyle" at UNCC is QUICKLY becoming a legend for this… #LetThemCounthttp://t.co/xejxmqaLPD

— HITS 96.1 (@HITS961) July 10, 2015

This is the same university that has drawn media attention for the vandalized confederate statue called “Silent Sam” that some students say should be taken down.

This time, Coyle and some of his fellow students are protesting the use of their parking fees. Coyle passed out leaflets around campus, telling other students where their money was going and said he’d like to see the policy change.

“I understand why the citations were there, so that wasn’t the issue. We have a beautiful campus, but there’s some severely neglected buildings. Lecture halls have missing seats, ceiling tiles are missing, some of that money can be reinvested into the buildings.”

Coyle said he had to visit three banks to get all 11,000 pennies to pay his fine.

When he told university parking enforcement he’d be paying his fine all in pennies, they were not pleased. The supervisor initially wanted to refuse Coyle’s payment but was eventually forced to accept it as pennies are legal currency.

Stephen is using his “Let Them Count” protest to raise money for university supplies. He’s started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for science study manuals.

The university remains unamused and issued this very teacher-like statement.

“Regarding the student who paid his traffic fines in pennies, our understanding is that he paid in pennies to symbolize his dissatisfaction with a North Carolina constitutional mandate. That mandate requires that most of the money from such fines be remitted to the Office of State Budget Management to support public schools, rather than used on campus. The University appreciates the student’s interest and initiative in learning more about the functioning of government.”

[Facebook Photo: Let Them Count Campaign]