Student Activism

Ferguson Alternative Spring Break For College Students

March 11, 2015 Jon Swaine, www.theguardian.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Ferguson, police brutality, Racial Justice, Student Activism

College students are being urged to scrap plans for beer bongs on sunny beaches, in favour of a serious-minded spring break in Ferguson, the Missouri town that was roiled by protests and unrest following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old. Six months after the death of Michael Brown, activist leaders in the St Louis suburb are looking to sign up 250 young people for a grittier week of “community service and civic engagement” including registering new voters, running food banks and cleaning up streets. “Maybe there were some people who had planned to go down to Miami or Acapulco, and now see that there is something bigger,” said Patricia Bynes, a Democratic committeewoman for the town and a co-founder of the Ferguson alternative spring break programme.

In Amsterdam, A Revolt Against The Neoliberal University

March 10, 2015 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Resist! Higher Education, Neo-Liberalism, Netherlands, Student Activism

For three weeks now, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) has been shaken by a wave of student protests against the neoliberalization of higher education and the lack of democratic accountability in internal decision-making. Last week, UvA staff joined the rebellion, declaring their solidarity with the students and threatening further actions if their demands are not met. With the university’s main administrative building — the Maagdenhuis — now occupied by students, the governing council has been forced into an awkward position: will it honor the demands of the academic community for greater democratization, or will it continue to obey the neoliberal logic of bureaucratic financialization? While the struggle at UvA has been mostly local and national in character, the implications of the issues raised by its students and staff reach far beyond the borders of the Netherlands.

The U.S. Divestment Movement Takes Nonviolent Direct Action

March 7, 2015 Miles Goodrich & Allyson Gross, www.harvardheatweek.org Resist! Divestment, Environment, Student Activism

When we think of student movements in history, they’re often characterized by these big moments that catapult campaigns to victory. From the 6-day student strike and occupation of Columbia University against the Vietnam War in April of 1968, to the shantytowns and sit-ins of the South African divestment movement in the late 1980s, the significance of nonviolent direct action lies in its ability to demonstrate student power and halt business as usual with a vision for a better future. Nonviolent direct action demonstrates activists’ commitment and willingness to make personal sacrifices, and shines a light on how far the opposition is willing to go to quell peaceful student protesters. By taking over their administrative building, Harvard students sent the message that if their officials wouldn’t take action for a living wage, they would. Flash point moments alone, however, are not capable of changing the status quo.

Students Occupy Clegg’s Office While At Prime Minister’s Questions

March 5, 2015 Mikey Smith, www.mirror.co.uk Resist! Law, Parliament, Student Activism, Student Loans, United Kingdom (UK)

Police broke up a student protest occupying Nick Clegg's constituency office today. Around 15 student activists from the Free University of Sheffield group piled into theLib Dem leader's office in Sheffield Hallam, wearing Nick Clegg masks. The protesters demanded the scrapping of university tuition fees, unfurling banners both inside and outside the office. One banner read "Nick Clegg betrayed us, we want revenge." Police were made aware of the protest shortly after 11.30am and arrived shortly after to break up the protest, but they say no arrests were made. According to Sheffield student newspaper Forge Press , one protester said: "This is retribution for Nick Clegg’s student betrayal. We want to inspire students to act on their ideals."

Police Arrest 6 UC Santa Cruz Students; Highway 1 Reopens

March 4, 2015 Amy Larson, www.ksbw.com Resist! California, Student Activism

A dozen protesters unsuccessfully attempted to block Santa Cruz County Jail entrances after police arrested six UC Santa Cruz students who blocked Highway 1 at the Highway 17 interchange. Highway 1 southbound was blocked for four hours Tuesday and fully reopened at 2:30 p.m. The entire incident began before 9:30 a.m., when a U-Haul van dropped off supplies needed to create an elaborate human blockade that law enforcement would not be able to quickly dislodge, investigators said. The U-Haul driver quickly left the scene. Six students blocked Highway 1 southbound where the fishhook merges with Highway 17 by using their bodies, trash cans filled with cement, chains, and pipes. Students smiled while they arms were wrapped with chains and connected to the cement trash cans.

Day 2: Hundreds Of Students Protest Against PARCC Exam

March 4, 2015 Robert Browman, Nicole Perez and Jon Swedien, www.abqjournal.com Resist! Education, Student Activism, Testing, Youth

Hundreds of students in Albuquerque walked out of school for the second day in a row to protest a controversial new test. About 200 students protesting the PARCC exam walked westbound on Arenal from Rio Grande High School towards Coors Boulevard. The group planned to walk northbound on Coors to meet up with students from West Mesa High School. Rio Grande students said that students from Atrisco Heritage Academy and South Valley Academy were also marching in the group. Albuquerque Public Schools board member Steven Michael Quezada spoke to student protesters after they arrived at West Mesa. Quezada told students he shares their frustration over the PARCC exam, but leaving school was neither safe nor smart. “I basically told them that they had the right to protest. But I can’t condone you leaving campus or storming a school,” Quezada said. Quezada also told students if someone was injured on a trek to another school “that’s the news story and it’s not about your fight.”

Four Reasons Young Americans Should Burn Student Loan Papers

March 3, 2015 Paul Buchheit, www.commondreams.org Resist! Debt, Student Activism, Student Loans

Fifty years ago students burned their draft cards to protest an immoral war against the people of Vietnam. Today it's a different kind of war, immoral in another way, waged against young Americans of approximately the same age, and threatening them in a manner that endangers not their lives but their livelihoods. There are at least four good reasons why America's young adults— and their parents—should take up the fight against financial firms who are holding high-interest student loans that total more than the nation's credit card debt, and more than the total income of the poorer half of America. Fifteen former students of for-profit Corinthian Colleges recently announced a debt strike against the company and its predatory loan practices.

Penn Students Attempt To Confront Comcast’s David Cohen

February 27, 2015 Media Mobilizing Project, www.popularresistance.org Resist! FCC, Net Neutrality, Philadelphia, Student Activism

Today, at the opening session of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Board of Trustees Winter Full Board Meeting, more than a dozen Penn students conducted a direct action aimed at David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of the Comcast Corporation, and Chairman of the Penn Board of Trustees. Captured on video - students interrupted the meeting, dropping a banner that read #Don’tBlockMyInternet, in front of the Penn trustees in attendance. Students demanded that Comcast stop its advocacy and lobbying against Title II net neutrality at both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and in Congress; they also spoke out against Comcast’s push to merge with its biggest competitor, Time Warner Cable. They challenged David Cohen for missing the meeting, prioritizing his efforts to advance Comcast's agenda over the public interest.

Student-Led Anti-Racism March Hits Downtown Winnipeg Streets

February 27, 2015 CBC News, www.cbc.ca Resist! Canada, Racial Justice, Student Activism

Hundreds gathered at the Manitoba Legislature as part of a student-led anti-racism march Thursday morning. Nearly 900 Students from about 20 schools took part in the Students Together Against Racism Today (START) demonstration. Racism has been under the microscope across the city after a Maclean’s Magazine article dubbed Winnipeg the most racist city in Canada. The story attracted attention from all over the country. While some Winnipeggers took issue with the accusation or the way the article was written, the city was galvanized in the weeks that followed, spurring conversations between politicians and community leaders about how to combat racism in the city. Mayor Brian Bowman stood with a group of prominent figures from Winnipeg's indigenous community and addressed the issue of racism in Winnipeg in the days that followed.

Ferguson Spring Break For College Student Direct Action

February 25, 2015 Jon Swaine, www.theguardian.com Resist! Education, Ferguson, police brutality, Student Activism

Government Shuts Schools In Togo After Student Protests

February 25, 2015 AFP, www.news.yahoo.com Resist! Education, Student Activism, Togo

Togo on Tuesday temporarily shut all schools in the country, with the exception of universities, after a protest by students over repeated strikes by teachers, the government said. Students poured onto the streets of the capital, Lome, calling for the resumption of classes and urging the authorities to meet the demands of educators. The government said it had decided to impose the temporary shut-down as the demonstrations were "capable of endangering the security and lives of pupils, their teachers and the population". The closure affects all schools in both the state and private sector with immediate effect "until further notice", it added in a statement. Services in education and health in the west African nation have been hit recently by walk-outs by labour unions demanding a salary raise for about 50,000 public sector workers.

Students Lobby Against Fracking In Maryland

February 25, 2015 Grace Toohey, www.diamondbackonline.com Educate! Climate Change, Environment, Politics, Student Activism

College students across the state convened in Annapolis yesterday afternoon to fight for stricter state environmental regulations. About 45 college students — including about 25 from this university — lobbied representatives to vote in favor of a bill that would prevent any hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the state until 2023. They also showed their support for a bill that would increase the state’s use of renewable energy sources, said Maya Spaur, a member of the Student Government Association Sustainability Committee. The group was brought together primarily by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a nonprofit organization fighting global warming in this state, Washington and Virginia. “I’m really worried with Gov. [Larry] Hogan in the office,” said Spaur, a sophomore environmental science and technology and government and politics major.

The ‘Corinthian 15′ Take A Stand By Calling A Student Loan Strike

February 24, 2015 Debt Collective and Meghan Byrd, www.facebook.com Create! Debt, Education, Finance and the Economy, Student Activism

Many students graduating from universities face a mountain of student loans so large, escaping its shadow seems almost impossible. But a group of former students today is taking matters into their own hands. With the help of Rolling Jubilee, a campaign that purchases student loan debt and then forgives it, 15 graduates of Corinthian College are starting a student debt strike by refusing to pay their loans. The united former students, calling themselves the Corinthian 15, are fed up with colleges, especially for-profit colleges, that take advantage of students who are simply seeking an education. The strike is the first time a group has come together to collectively refuse to pay federal student loans.

United States Student Association Spring Tool Kits

February 24, 2015 USSA, www.usstudents.org Organize! Debt, Higher Education, Student Activism

USSA is happy to announce that Campaign Toolkits are ready for two of USSA’s big campaigns: Fund The Future and State of Emergency. These toolkits are ready-to-go manuals for running these campaigns, containing everything from sample petitions and student government resolutions to tips on how to plan rallies and meet with legislators. The Fund The Future campaign is part of USSA’s efforts to move towards FREE Higher Education in the United States, by doubling the Pell Grant and making it available to more students. The State of Emergency campaign seeks to pass federal legislation to end racial profiling and restore voting rights, while sharing best practices and campaign frameworks used by students of color organizing for racial justice on campuses across the country! Click the graphics below to get your Campaign Toolkit today!

Fossil Fuel Divestment: A Brief History

February 21, 2015 Adam Vaughan, www.theguardian.com Resist! Divestment, Education, Energy, Fossil Fuel, Student Activism

“We are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy,” said Stephen Heintz of John D Rockefeller, as he announced that the heirs to one of America’s most famous dynasties, which was built on oil, were pulling their philanthropic funds out of fossil fuels. For sheer symbolism if not financial value – only $60m (£37m) of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund was invested in fossil fuels – it was perhaps the high point of what has become known as the fossil fuel divestment movement. With its roots in US campuses, the campaign to get institutions to pull their financial investments as a way of tackling climate change has seen a total of $50bn divested so far, according to the US Fossil Free campaign.

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