BALTIMORE — Wednesday demonstrators told Johns Hopkins University to respect Baltimore.
WATCH: Demonstrators call on Johns Hopkins University to respect Baltimore
Different advocacy groups came together in front of the institution with a list of demands.
They want the university to abolish its police department, bargain with unions, stop working on the Data Science Artificial Intelligence institute, and pay more city taxes.
The city's 14 largest nonprofit institutions recently doubled its contributions to the city to $48 million over five years but that's not enough for some people.
"I think that Hopkins should be paying more money toward city resources," said Christianne Marguerite, Director of Communications with Progressive Maryland.
She explained where those resources are needed.
"We're dealing with litter on our alleyways especially hazardous waste and needles and currently Dpw doesn't have the bandwidth and resources to clean up that type of hazardous waste."
A Johns Hopkins spokesperson sent WMAR 2 News a statement saying,
"Johns Hopkins is proud of our relationship with Baltimore, including the recent agreement that will double the annual voluntary contribution that we make to support city services in addition to the more than $19 million Hopkins pays in taxes every year."
Demonstrators stood along Wyman Park Drive near signs that have been there for months protesting against Hopkins' DSAI institute.
The university will build two four-story buildings on its Homewood campus.
Hopkins says the institute will aid students in understanding and applying AI systems across multiple fields.
But neighbors like Andrea Judson say it'll destroy the area's greenery.
"I think it's crap. I haven't liked how they have gone about pushing it down our throats. They're going to kill over 100 trees in order to do this," she said.
A Johns Hopkins spokesperson has said it will plants hundreds of new trees adding that the university has held 14 community meetings over the past two years, and has worked hard to respond to the community in the shaping of the project.
Kayla Brachmann with the With Us For Us Coalition told WMAR 2 News that running the center itself will drain the city's utilities.
"I look at my water bill, I look at my electricity bill and I go what is this, this is too much," Brachmann said, "Having a center that is going to take so much energy to run, so many resources that should be used to provide for our communities, that's just not sustainable."
The building is expected to be completed by 2029.
