The crowd grew anxious as it became apparent that the chancellor would meet Tom’s demands. When Katehi’s husband stepped out of the building into the midst of the protesters, the crowd fell quiet. He walked the few yards to his wife’s car and drove it to the parking lot exit, then parked it. He then walked back to the door.
The crowd maintained an eerily absolute silence when at 6:48 p.m., Katehi, followed closely by Stoneking, marched through the students, who had cleared a path for Katehi and were sitting on the ground.
As Katehi walked slowly through the aisle, hounded by journalists and cameras, she appeared to briefly glance over the protesters, not making eye contact. Her face remained impassive as she walked, her gaze rooted to the ground.
She got into the passenger seat of the car, and her husband got into the driver’s seat. They left and drove away on Hutchison Drive, and the crowd remained silent, until Katehi’s car became just a distant haze of red taillights in the darkness.
