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On Wednesday we reported that thirteen campuses had cancelled contracts with clothing maker Russell Athletic in response to labor abuses at the company. As of today, that number has risen to nineteen.
When we passed on word that the University of Minnesota had dropped RA, we were under the impression that the action had been taken by Minnesota’s flagship Twin Cities campus alone. As it turns out, the entire U of M system — Twin Cities, Duluth, Morris, Crookston, and Rochester — have disaffiliated, and shortly after Minnesota acted, Harvard followed suit.
Finally, on Friday, NYU became the nineteenth campus to drop RA.
NYU’s decision, in the works since early February, would seem to represent a missed opportunity for the activist group Take Back NYU. Had they called for a break with RA as part of their sit-in demands last week, they would have linked their action to a student-led campus movement that is gaining momentum across the United States, and — as it turns out — have been able to point to Friday’s decision as a victory of sorts.
March 19 Update: The total now stands at 21 campuses, and you can find an update on recent organizing here.
May 1 Update: FIFTY-SEVEN campuses. Wow!
I haven’t yet fully unpacked the politics around Obama’s nomination of Chas Freeman to chair the National Intelligence Council, but though his views on Israel and the Middle East are getting the most attention, my eye was drawn to this email he wrote three years ago on the Chinese government’s handling of Tiananmen Square :
I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be. Such folk, whether they represent a veterans’ “Bonus Army” or a “student uprising” on behalf of “the goddess of democracy” should expect to be displaced with despatch from the ground they occupy. I cannot conceive of any American government behaving with the ill-conceived restraint that the Zhao Ziyang administration did in China, allowing students to occupy zones that are the equivalent of the Washington National Mall and Times Square, combined. while shutting down much of the Chinese government’s normal operations. I thus share the hope of the majority in China that no Chinese government will repeat the mistakes of Zhao Ziyang’s dilatory tactics of appeasement in dealing with domestic protesters in China.
The Chinese government reported the death toll of their suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests at 241. Amnesty International estimated that one thousand protesters were killed, and other observers believe that the true number may have been several times that.
I’ve come across three pieces of writing about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the last couple of weeks, and they’re all worth passing along.
First, an article from the New York Times about the devastating effect that the current economic downturn is having on HBCUs. Second, a personal reminiscence from an HBCU alum. And finally, a response to that reminiscence. The third piece, a short post by Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic, produced a comment thread that’s well worth reading for its own sake.
Obama’s proposed budget is full of big victories for students.
As the New York Times reports, the budget would guarantee full funding of Pell Grants, and index the grants to inflation. It would raise the maximum grant by more than $600 for this year, and by another $200 in 2010.
And it would save $4 billion a year by eliminating the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which provides subsidies to banks that offer student loans at discounted rates. It would replace those subsidies with an expansion of the government’s direct lending program.
Carmen Berkeley, president of the United States Student Association, says the budget “answers the call for change millions of young people made in the 2008 election … and would change the face of financial aid in America.”
The budget was released as a 134-page outline on Thursday, and it will be delivered to Congress in its final form in April.
In my post on what Take Back NYU’s critics got wrong, I noted that amnesty for students who participate in sit-ins protects such students “from excessive and arbitrary retribution,” and argued that such protection ” is particularly important at a private university, where protesters’ due process rights are are often limited.”
Tonight Faculty Democracy, a group of NYU professors, is arguing that the administration’s handling of the TBNYU aftermath is demonstrating just such a disrespect for due process:
As NYU faculty, we call on the Administration to reinstate those students who have been summarily suspended for their recent protest at Kimmel, pending proper hearings by NYU’s disciplinary board. If there is disciplinary action, it should follow—not precede—fair hearings, in which both sides are represented and the faculty consulted.
Wednesday night update: NYU Local is reporting that all of the TBNYU suspensions will be lifted on Friday. We’ll keep an eye out for confirmation.
Thursday morning update: The NYU administration is apparently offering to end suspensions of TBNYU 18 on Friday, with conditions. At least one student has confirmed she will accept the offer.
Friday morning update: TBNYU says all the protesters will be back in class on Monday.
studentactivism.net 
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