NEW HAVEN  — Fifteen Yale University students have been cited for trespassing following a demonstration in which they called for the university to divest from fossil fuel companies and companies that hold Puerto Rican government debt.

A Yale spokeswoman says the students were cited when they refused to leave the building housing the university’s investment offices before it closed Monday evening. The students can pay a fine or contest the citation.

A larger group of about 30 Yale students and others had participated in a sit-in at the building beginning mid-afternoon Monday.

Yale says it has looked into investment issues related to climate change and Puerto Rico’s debt. Yale’s Investments Office has asked endowment managers not to hold companies that do not acknowledge the social and financial costs of climate change.