Purdue President Martin Jischke said he would consider the students' call for the school to adopt a monitoring program aimed at stopping the use of what activists call sweatshop labor to make Boilermaker apparel. He also urged the 15 students to end their hunger strike, which some started on Nov. 17.

About 40 supporters rallied on campus while four hunger strikers met with Jischke and other administrators.

Mark Franciose, a student who took part in the meeting, said he spent two hours Tuesday night at a hospital taking in intravenous fluids after not eating solid food for 19 days.

'There's thousands of apparel workers who go to sleep hungry every night, and there's no fanfare about it,' Franciose said. 'When students do it, people take notice.'

The students want Purdue to follow the Designated Suppliers Program, which requires companies making school-branded apparel to adhere to standards that include allowing workers to unionize and to negotiate for higher wages.

Jischke said in a statement that it wanted to understand all sides of the issue before reaching a decision in the next few days.

'The students who have engaged in a hunger strike have demonstrated their deep commitment to human rights, but I urge them to discontinue this tactic in the interests of their own health,' he said. 'We can address this matter most effectively by reasonable discussion among people who are both informed and committed to finding solutions.'