For Student Power

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'Student Unionism and Sustaining Student Power'

04/17/2007 - 3:00am

Student/Labor Action Teach-In banner
I have to admit, I was at first skeptical of the entire notion of 'student unionism.' First, I didn't really see the similarities between fighting for student power and workers campaigning for a union. Looking at today's labor landscape, joining a union has little to do with gaining real decision-making power in the workplace. Second, my educational politics had matured in an environment where the goal was creating the national government in microcosm on campus. At student government meetings we'd argue about "precedents," the precepts of "good governance," "separation of powers," whether or not we should reinstate a judiciary branch, etc., etc. (That is, when we weren't arguing over itemized funding for the equestrian club or greek-sponsored beer pong tournaments.)

There of course is a twofold allure to the traditional form of student ...

Student Power: A Brief Primer, Part 1

04/14/2007 - 3:00am

What is student power?

Student power is, concretely, the extent of decision-making power and sovereignty afforded to each student, and the student body as a whole. This power may be in the greater political and economic sphere, but primarily the power is in relation to the institutions and structures of the campus in which the student resides.

In terms of campaigning for student power, or being a student power organizer, there is a crucial difference separating that from all other student campaigns and organizers; that is what is being demanded of the University.

When you’re campaigning for student power, be it student trustee members, a recognized student union, or reshaping the disciplinary system, you are making structural demands. This differs from policy demands that are usually made by activists. An example ...

Michigan Students Take Over Admin Building

04/03/2007 - 3:00am

Student-placed sign on the front office during the sit-in

Some of the students in the President's office

Photos courtesy the activists' blog.

In the latest confrontation between students and administration over apparel policies at the University of Michigan, a group of students from SOLE (Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality) staged a sit in inside the President's office today.

The University has had a Code of Conduct for those who manufacture U of M branded clothing since it was won by students in 1999. Designed to keep sweatshop labor out of the chain of manufacture, even administrators acknowledge that it never gets enfo...

DC Social Forum - This Saturday!

02/26/2007 - 4:00am

The folks who are behind the larger U.S. Social Forum being held this summer are sponsoring a local social forum for DC-area activists and organizers. It's going down this Saturday, March 3, starting at 9:00 AM at the Catholic University of America (Brookland-CUA Metro stop). Registration is sliding scale, $5 - 50, with all the money going toward travel scholarships for people who want to get to the U.S. Social Forum but can't afford to.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE: PDF (tentative)
CAMPUS MAP: GIF

In addition, there are a few events of particular interest to students:

DC BLOC is holding two sessions, "Building a Youth Movemen...

OU SDS Shows Us All How It's Done

02/13/2007 - 6:20pm

The SDS shows it's about more than anti-war organizing -- this is student power in it's truest sense. Josh Russell's blog has all the details:

The Ohio University campus has been rocked this year by a decidedly anti-democratic, unaccountable administration, pushing unpopular policies without any student input whatsoever. “Free Speech Zones” on campus attempt to shut out discourse and protest. Arbitrary fees around popular student parties and holidays, the sudden cuts of Athens Varsity Sports teams, and indulgent pay bonuses for Administrators have left students feeling alienated and without control of their college. Ohio University is being run like a corporation rather than an educational institution.

SDS has risen ...

Gallaudet Officials Give an Inch

02/07/2007 - 3:43pm

One of the demands the student and faculty protesters issued last year during the protracted battle over the university President was that students would not be punished for protesting. Today it was announced that the Administration was accepting that. ...Sorta.

Interim President Davila said on his official vlog:

Amnesty is not being announced for everyone. I don’t speak in public about individuals who are going through the judicial system. Each individual is dealt with on a case-by-case basis because those are the requirements of our judicial system. The process is highly confidential, but I want to tell you now that no student who was arrested will receive additional punishment in any way or form. We feel that they have already had an experience that they will always remember and that’s enough. We don’t think anything else is necessary.

Of course, it means those (un?)lucky ...

News Roundup: 2/5/07

02/05/2007 - 11:21am

Free Speech, Zone-Free
Students at Ohio University are taking a stand against those silly "Free Speech" zones. Such zones used to be the exclusive domain of pro-Bush rallies, but are now found increasingly on college campuses. OU's chapter of SDS is taking the lead and challenging such a ridiculous policy head on:

"Springtime will be a new beginning, an era where decisions are not made by the few, but by the many," declared Graduate Student Senate President Dom Barbato. He was making a seasonal comparison to reform at OU as he stood on the monument before a crowd of about 125 gathered there despite the cold and snow. "Students, faculty and staff will be given the opportunity to truly shape the policies of this institution we all love." [Full article here]

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Victory for Teachers and Students in Copenha...

Greek Students Rock!

02/01/2007 - 1:00pm

Not the "beer pong" kind, the "from Greece" kind.

More than 6,000 students protested in Athens today as part of a long-running campaign against proposed changes to the national University system. The campaign, which has included traditional tactics of sit-ins and protests, but also the more confrontational (and wildly successful) campus takeovers, has been going on since this past summer, when the governing party recommended the changes. Now, a bit of background:

Greece's Constitution (may or may not be the one that Eisenhower told the Greek Ambassador to "fuck") guarantees free, public education in Read more >

Students Made the Difference at DC Protest

01/29/2007 - 12:00pm

Saturday's massive peace rally and march brought folks from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and ideologies together to send a message that our troops must be brought home. The warring flavors of Marxists came together (if only to hawk their newspapers on the same corner), and despite each of the half-dozen sects having different angles on how best to "destroy the bourgeois order," when it came time to march, and chant, and flip off the Capitol building, they did so hand in hand. I saw a kid with a DLC button (no kidding, I had no idea they made such things) carrying a large banner with an SDSer.

If that doesn't give you the warm fuzzies for a future non-sectarian (less sectarian?) left, I don't know what would.

At a rally where most of the speakers were little more than warmed-over leftovers from the last intractible guerrilla war we were caught in (with a wonderfully...

High School Students Demand Institutional Voice, Legislators Pat Students on Head

01/26/2007 - 12:51am

From the Frederick News-Post:

As the student representative on the Frederick County Board of Education, Neera Nathan attends meetings and offers input on critical issues affecting the school system.

However, when it comes time to make key decisions, Neera, 17, offers neither a yea or nay vote.

Students representatives to the board are not allowed to vote, a practice Neera hopes to change.

"A student has a different realm of experience than a regular board member," she said. "And they have different specialty they can bring to the board. What a regular board member do...