Occupy Harvard

Last updated

Occupy Harvard logo OC - CU - PY.png
Occupy Harvard logo
Occupy Harvard tents and banner on Harvard Yard in November 2012 Occupyharvardtents.jpg
Occupy Harvard tents and banner on Harvard Yard in November 2012

Occupy Harvard was a student demonstration at Harvard University identifying itself with the global Occupy Movement. It sought to create a forum for discussing economic inequality at Harvard, in the United States, and throughout the world. It criticized Harvard's influence on global economic policy and its involvement with the American financial sector. It also supported wage campaigns by Harvard workers and a divestment demand initiated by Hotel Workers Rising.

Contents

Facing resistance from administration and police, the group established an encampment in Harvard Yard after a march on November 9, 2011. Immediately after this march, the gates to Harvard Yard were locked and only people with Harvard identity cards were allowed through. Although the encampment gained many faculty supporters, it was not popular among Harvard undergraduates. The security checkpoints were not removed until after the group packed up its tents in December 2011. Occupy Harvard continued to organize into 2012, with a focus on the university's library system.

The demonstration raised issues of privilege and economic inequality, particularly as they relate to students and administration at one of the world's wealthiest and best-known universities. [1] Supporters described Occupy Harvard as a "fight for Harvard's soul", questioning whether the university would "continue to prioritize money above social justice". [2] Opponents called the demonstrators over-privileged and under-informed attention seekers. [3]

Background

Harvard University is one of the most exclusive universities in the world, with an admission rate of 5.9%. [4] Harvard is famous for its wealthy graduates but also for its generous financial aid programs. [5] Its financial endowment of over $30 billion, on which it does not pay taxes, is the largest in the world. [6] It is one of the world's richest non-profits, competing only with the Catholic Church (and perhaps the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). [7]

Many Harvard graduates work in the financial sector based on Wall Street; many others hold prominent positions in the world of business. Prominent faculty such as former president Larry Summers—who become director of the National Economic Council under Obama—have played major roles in shaping United States economic policy. This status has led critics to connect Harvard closely with America's domestic and international economic policies. [8] Harvard's investments have also come under scrutiny (as they did during divestment campaigns targeting apartheid in South Africa), with particular criticism leveled at holdings in HEI Hotels & Resorts. [9]

Nighttime at the Occupy Boston media tent 2011 OccupyBoston 6232448715 Oct10.jpg
Nighttime at the Occupy Boston media tent

Harvard has been the site of workers' campaigns, notably the long-term Harvard Living Wage Campaign which peaked in 2001. This movement—which established an open 100-tent shantytown in Harvard Yard—won concessions from Harvard including the formation of a jobs committee and a moratorium on outsourcing. [10] [11] In general, student activism at Harvard is limited to official channels. Although many Harvard students are involved in community service or public policy, these avenues for change have been criticized (in the words of a queer student activist at Harvard) as "technocratic," and oriented towards "research solutions, policy solutions, economic solutions, bureaucratic solutions to all problems rather than any type of social movement". Another student said, "It’s uncomfortable to acknowledge one’s own privilege and position—it can feel like a personal attack." [12]

Occupy Wall Street (itself inspired by the Arab Spring) began on September 17, 2011, sparking a wave of public encampments that came to be known as the Occupy Movement. Students at Harvard began organizing in response to that movement, and began to collaborate with the Occupy Boston encampment established on September 30, 2011. [13] Harvard workers, many of them members of Local 615 (SEIU) and Local 26 (UNITE HERE!), also joined with Occupy Boston and helped to plan Occupy Harvard. [14] The Harvard Crimson generally opposed the Occupy actions, and defended police officers who arrested Harvard students at Occupy Boston. [7] [15]

Ec 10 walkout

On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, about 70 students walked out of Economics 10 ("Ec 10"), Harvard's introductory economics class taught by N. Gregory Mankiw, former economic advisor to George W. Bush and then-current advisor to Mitt Romney. [16] [17] Demonstrators expressed support for Occupy Wall Street and published an open letter to Mankiw: [18]

Harvard graduates play major roles in the financial institutions and in shaping public policy around the world. If Harvard fails to equip its students with a broad and critical understanding of economics, their actions are likely to harm the global financial system. The last five years of economic turmoil have been proof enough of this. We are walking out today to join a Boston-wide march protesting the corporatization of higher education as part of the global Occupy movement. Since the biased nature of Economics 10 contributes to and symbolizes the increasing economic inequality in America, we are walking out of your class today both to protest your inadequate discussion of basic economic theory and to lend our support to a movement that is changing American discourse on economic injustice.

The letter criticized Mankiw's class specifically for presenting a conservative perspective as absolute truth, and for excluding academic data and primary sources (relying heavily, instead on Mankiw's own textbook). [19] Students cited, for example, Mankiw's claim that economics dictated a zero-sum relationship between economic efficiency and economic equality. [20] The walkout immediately produced heated debate about Harvard and Ec 10, in particular the question of whether the class really separates "descriptive" from "normative" claims. [21] [22] An Occupy organizer who supported the walkout said that the class promotes a "strongly conservative neoliberal ideology"; the secretary for the Harvard Republican Club said that "the class is about pure economic efficiency. Ideology comes into play when we determine how to balance efficiency with social equity." [23]

Mankiw said that his course was a "relatively apolitical" introduction to economics, that he was planning to teach a lecture on inequality, a topic that might interest the protestors, and that he could "understand their desire to think about alternative ways to structure society". [17] [23] [24]

Encampment

Marchers displaying Harvard identity cards attempt to enter Thayer gate as police begin to close it Thayer gate - funnel.png
Marchers displaying Harvard identity cards attempt to enter Thayer gate as police begin to close it

On November 9, 2011, hundreds of demonstrators (estimates range between 300 and 500; not all of them Harvard students) met at Harvard Law School and marched toward Harvard Yard. [7] After allowing through some students with identity cards, Harvard Police closed the gates on all of the protestors. Some reported police roughness and minor injuries. [9] Those who entered the Yard set up tents that had been stored previously in nearby dormitories, establishing a camp near the Yard's John Harvard statue. [25]

The next morning (November 10), the group issued an official statement which included specific criticisms of Harvard management: [26]

We see injustice in the 180:1 ratio between the compensation of Harvard’s highest-paid employee—the head of internal investments at Harvard Management Company—and the lowest-paid employee, an entry-level custodial worker. We see injustice in Harvard’s adoption of corporate efficiency measures such as job outsourcing. We see injustice in African land grabs that displace local farmers and devastate the environment. We see injustice in Harvard’s investment in private equity firms such as HEI Hotels and Resorts, which profits off the backbreaking labor of a non-union immigrant workforce. We see injustice in Harvard’s lack of financial transparency and its prevention of student and community voice in these investments.

The group also announced that it would make policies through a regular General Assembly.

Gates of Harvard Yard

Police outside and inside the closed gate Thayer gate 08.png
Police outside and inside the closed gate

While the tents were standing, Harvard administrators kept the gates locked—during this time, no one was allowed into Harvard Yard without appropriate identification. A November 14 statement attributed this decision to "health and safety issues that have arisen elsewhere". [25] Those who held Occupy Harvard responsible for the locked gate maintained that it was necessary to prevent the mayhem (rape, assault, drugs, and more) that occurred at other Occupy encampments. [27] With the gates closed and attendance restricted to Harvard students, the Occupy Harvard encampment may have been one of the most orderly and polite in the nation. According to reporter John Stephen Dwyer:

The shutting of Harvard’s gates has determined the character of the protest and the criticism made against it. Whereas Occupy Boston has attracted all kinds of wild characters, the atmosphere at Occupy Harvard is calm and polite. The occupiers are almost invariably well-groomed and articulate. The donation jar took in $130 one day, most of it in $20 bills, and it didn’t disappear when no one had their eye on it.
It is, to use a word popular in Dewey Square, "bougy" (fancy, bourgeois). Many holders of Harvard IDs have a decent shot of joining the 1% if they weren’t already born into it. The occupiers in the Yard say this privilege – earned through hard work in many cases, inherited in others – gives them more obligation to try to fix the system rather than less. [28]

Professor John Womack (Harvard class of 1959) lectures Occupy Harvard at a December 7, 2011 teach-in, urging the audience to learn more about the 99% they wish to engage and assist Womack @ teach in.png
Professor John Womack (Harvard class of 1959) lectures Occupy Harvard at a December 7, 2011 teach-in, urging the audience to learn more about the 99% they wish to engage and assist
"Subsidize my daycare" sign Occupydaycare4.jpg
"Subsidize my daycare" sign

Supporters of the demonstration criticized the gate closure, saying that the administration was reinforcing its elitist image and "shutting down" the university by preventing free flow of people and dialogue. [29] [30] Faculty supporters published open letters to Harvard President Drew Faust asking her to reopen the gates. [28] One group of professors connected to Romance Language programs at Harvard wrote:

We sympathize with your difficult position, but all of us agree that locking the gates is contrary to the principle of open inquiry for which the university stands. Historically, Harvard has never locked its gates (at least, not in recent memory), and we believe that security issues can be addressed differently. We do not share the perception that the Occupy movement constitutes a threat to Harvard. To the contrary, we are in sympathy with protests against increasing inequality in the United States and believe that Harvard should welcome discussions of the issue. [31]

Law professor Duncan Kennedy said that "the massive security presence, albeit friendly enough, had a Homeland Security feel to it." [32] Francis Xavier Clooney, a Jesuit priest at Harvard Divinity School, described the demonstration as a "Vigil" and called the security "unduly strict, disproportionate, unnecessary". [28] To the irritation of students opposed to the demonstration, some professors held classes outside the gates to protest their closure. [2] Many students, tourists, and local businesses complained about the gates, which were locked for a month and a half. [29] [33] Relatives of students and members of the press were also excluded. [7]

Tents

The tents themselves served what organizers called a "symbolic" role, since members of Occupy Harvard continued attending school and work during the encampment. [1] Some students criticized participants for not being present with the tents. [29] (Many students themselves felt conflicted about competing obligations to the demonstration and to their academic work.) [12] The tents were reportedly purchased with funds from the Student Labor Action Coalition, and the Service Employees International Union. [33] The occupation consisted of 30 tents and a core group of 100 activists at Harvard. [28]

Message

Members of Occupy Harvard used the encampment as a platform to create discussion about the university and its role in the world. Many criticized Harvard's role in the global economy (and crisis therein): "Year after year, Harvard supplies traders and analysts and financial advisers who go on to run the economy into the ground", said one participating graduate student. [2] Occupiers also criticized finances within the university. Said one doctoral student studying slavery, "I am grateful for what the school has given me, but the lack of transparency about where all that lovely money comes from is something I do not feel comfortable with." [29]

Information tent remaining in Harvard Yard at the start of January 2012 Old Yard, Harvard University, Cambridge MA.jpg
Information tent remaining in Harvard Yard at the start of January 2012

A constant theme, connected to the broader Occupy slogan of "people over profits", was the desire for Harvard to prioritize educating the populace above money. One post-doc said that Occupy Harvard's "goal is to reaffirm Harvard as a marketplace of ideas where all viewpoints are discussed and analyzed without regard to the amount of money supporting the different ideas". [28] When journalist Chris Hedges addressed the group (outside the gates, so that others could attend), he stressed the symbolic importance of Occupy Harvard to a larger struggle against plutocracy. [34]

Departure

On Monday, December 12, 2011, Occupy Harvard chose to strike its Harvard Yard camp, citing winter weather and a desire for the Yard's gates to reopen. [35] Harvard Yard was reopened—during daytime hours—on December 22, 2011. [36] [37]

The group maintained its information tent, a single weather-proof dome, until administrators ordered the structure removed on Friday, January 13, 2012. [38] A "crafts working group" created miniature tents out of paper to display on the site. [39]

Positions

Finance recruiting

Occupy Harvard denounced finance industry, which it described as bad for the economy and a source of inequality. Campus opposition to corporate recruiting has increased, with some describing it as similar to military recruiting. Recent declines in recruitment rates for the finance sector have been attributed partly to the growing sense that these jobs are undesirable and unethical. [19] [40]

On Monday, November 28, 2011, Occupy Harvard conducted a "Rally to Defend Freedom of Speech" in Harvard Yard. The group expressed solidarity with UC Berkeley and UC Davis, where students had recently come into conflict with police. About 25 of the demonstrators proceeded from the Yard to a Goldman Sachs recruiting session, behind held at Harvard's "On-Campus Interview Facility". They stood outside and chanted "Goldman Sachs, you can't hide / We can see your greedy side!" Students who attempted to enter were denied access to the building by Harvard Police and Office of Career Services officials, even after showing identity cards. [19] [41]

Goldman Sachs canceled recruiting events scheduled for December 8, 2011, reportedly in response to the demonstration. [19] [40] The Crimson criticized the demonstrators for singling out Goldman Sachs and for attempting to create animosity towards their peers bound for jobs in finance. [42] [43]

Janitors

The group supported Harvard janitors in their campaign better wages, citing the discrepancy between pay for janitors and pay for Harvard's administrators. [44] The janitors, unionized with SEIU Local 615, credited the Occupy group helping them to win a stronger five-year contract. [45] The Crimson approved the new contract but criticized Occupy Harvard for "attempting to link local and global issues", writing that "discussing the custodians' contract in the context of the global Occupy movement seems misguided". [46]

Newt Gingrich

Video of Occupiers "mic checking" Newt Gingrich as he begins to speak

On November 18, Occupy Harvard and Occupy Boston disrupted a speech by Newt Gingrich (then a presidential candidate) at Harvard Kennedy School. [47] [48] Gingrich was presenting his film A City Upon A Hill: The Spirit of American Exceptionalism, sponsored by Citizens United Productions, made famous by the Supreme Court's 2009 Citizens United ruling. [49] Soon after Gingrich began to speak, demonstrators in the audience said "Thank you for standing up for corporations. They have rights too!" and "We are the 99 percent!" before being removed by security. Gingrich responded "I think we are 100 percent. We are all Americans." [50] Gingrich suggested later in his speech that janitors should not be members of unions, and that their jobs should be given to children living in poverty. [51]

Hotel workers

The group also joined with the Hotel Workers Rising campaign, pressuring Harvard to divest its holdings in HEI Hotels & Resorts. [47] In December 2011, Harvard agreed to review its holdings in HEI [52] —in March 2012, it agreed to divest. [53]

Harvard libraries

In early 2012, Harvard announced imminent sweeping changes to its library system. These changes would have led to layoffs, as well as cuts in other library resources. [54] [55] Library workers, members of the Harvard Union of Clerical & Technical Workers (HUCTW), reacted in January with protests, with occupiers distributing petitions in support. [56] Protestors asked leaders HUCTW, historically not an aggressive union, to back the endangered workers. [56]

In February, three members of Occupy Harvard published a statement in The Crimson describing an ongoing forum, held in Lamont Library, to discuss the course of these changes. [57] (This editorial parodied the official statement of President Drew Faust on the library reorganization. [58] ):

As the Harvard community confronts this transition, the New Harvard Library Working Group of Occupy Harvard has acted autonomously to open a persistent community space for critical thought, engaged learning, and insistent action in the Lamont Library Café. In doing so, we strive to fulfill the promise of this library space as an open and participatory forum for learning. […]

We think of the proposed Harvard library transition as a manifestation of the University's accession to neoliberal imperatives. Occupy, whether at Harvard or Wall Street, challenges and refuses the devastating willingness of our broken society to view humans as expendable resources and systems as ultimately beholden to profit. A future cannot be imagined in the absence of its past, present, or future constituents. A library needs the workers who are its lifeblood, its circulatory system, just as a functioning democratic society needs the voices of the 99 percent. Systems built with profit imperatives can only serve to further perpetuate the patterns of destruction and unequal power structures that we denounce. The proposed library transition not only fails to address these systemic problems, it replicates them.

We insist on an alternative vision, one that cherishes the human communities and collaborative processes that make intellectual and civic engagement—on campuses and in public parks—not only possible but also fruitful. In Lamont Library, we are creating a community of knowledge sharing that is open, horizontal, and free from the destructive impulses that too often guide our university and that seem to be shaping the library transition.

Students in Lamont Library are asked to remove a sign they have attached to the wall (still from an Occupy Harvard video) No signs in the library.png
Students in Lamont Library are asked to remove a sign they have attached to the wall (still from an Occupy Harvard video)

The group announced intentions to hold Think Tanks and other meetings in the library from Sunday February 12 through Friday February 17. [59] A major theme of the protests, was again the relationship of money to values. Topics included privatization and the larger economic ideology of neoliberalism, which occupiers said interfered with freedom and openness of education and libraries. [60]

Administrators sought to remove Occupy Harvard from the library, threatening to revoke library access for participating students. Participants, instructed to take down signs because they violated an unwritten library policy, argued that the signs were protected by written library policy defending free speech. [61] Police removed the protestors' signs, but did not ban anyone from the library. Harvard students quoted in the Crimson said that they were not bothered by the group and in some cases did not notice its presence. [61] [62]

The group held a rally outside of Lamont on Friday September 17, 2012, announcing support for library workers, holding signs, and chanting (e.g., "Hey, Harvard, you can't hide / We can see your greedy side!") [63] Occupiers inside the library left the same day, as planned. [62] Demonstrations around Harvard's libraries and library workers continued through Commencement 2012. [64]

Reception

Noam Chomsky speaking to Occupy Harvard in February Noam Chomsky 5.JPG
Noam Chomsky speaking to Occupy Harvard in February
Message of support displayed at Harvard's William James Hall Occupyoutside.jpg
Message of support displayed at Harvard's William James Hall

Occupy Harvard received praise [65] and criticism [66] [67] in The Harvard Crimson . The Crimson itself opposed the encampment and published numerous editorials urging the group to move out of Harvard Yard. [7] [46] [68] Contentious issues included the possible hypocrisy of privileged Harvard students, wastefulness of the tents, and, most of all, inconvenience created by the locked gates. [69] The Crimson also cited the possibility of anarchist violence. [68] An editorial published by Harvard graduate Alexandra Petri (class of 2010) in the Washington Post argued that the protestors were motivated not by an authentic desire for justice but instead by need to alleviate their own feelings of elitism and guilt—urging them to "go to class" and learn something while at Harvard. [3]

The demonstrations raised questions for Harvard students about their own role in the nation's economic elite—the so-called "1%". [70] Even participants struggled with the question of how Harvard students could authentically express solidarity with the downtrodden of the world. [71] Students deliberated over the effects of Harvard's comprehensive financial aid policies. [72] Neal Gabler wrote in the New York Times that Harvard students were "superachivers", even considering the effects of financial aid. They were "likely to be wealthy, well-appointed young people groomed and professionalized at an early age precisely so they would impress admissions officers". [73] One Harvard graduate who had already joined Occupy Boston told the Boston Globe that attending Harvard did not ensure membership in the 1%, saying: "I’m the first person in my family to go to college, and I worked hard to go to Harvard, but I feel that the way the country is now, the American dream isn’t possible.’" [1] Some students in a dormitory near the encampment responded directly, chanting "We are the one percent" and yelling insults. [69] [74]

A survey conducted by students in Statistics 104 suggested that student approval of Occupy Harvard averaged 2.85 on a scale of 1–10. [75] A petition titled "Free Harvard", which asked the occupiers to go somewhere else in order to have the Harvard Yard gates reopened, obtained 700 signatures. [25] (Occupiers complained that the university had managed to blame demonstrations for the administration's own decision to lock the gates.) [29] Other students expressed confusion or curiosity about the purpose of the encampment. [76] 70 faculty members signed letters of support for the demonstration. [25]

The group also provoked response from within. Many said it was a good first step in creating awareness about global economic issues, and creating drama and emotion around political issues (particularly as contrasted with Harvard's Institute of Politics). [12] Others said that it picked up on struggles that already had momentum—for example, HEI divestment, which was already being championed by the Student Labor Action Movement. [77] They stressed the importance but also the difficulty of raising awareness about economic injustice at a school for the wealthy and privileged. [12] Some felt that the process was dominated by graduate students, particularly in its "2.0" phase that focused on the libraries. [77] Some participants were already familiar with consensus decision-making; others were new—to its pitfalls as well as to its advantages. [76] One student criticized Occupy Harvard for being too cautious: "Occupy Harvard is so different from the activism I’ve done in Oakland. In Oakland people don’t hesitate to strike, they don’t hesitate to do radical stuff. Here we need to discuss every nuance before we act. I’ve had to adjust my style and be more patient." [47]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Mankiw</span> American economist (born 1958)

Nicholas Gregory Mankiw is an American macroeconomist who is currently the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Mankiw is best known in academia for his work on New Keynesian economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard University</span> Private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded October 28, 1636, and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Israeli social justice protests</span> Also known as J14 protests

The 2011 Israeli social justice protests, which are also referred to by various other names in the media, were a series of demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of thousands of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds opposing the continuing rise in the cost of living and the deterioration of public services such as health and education. A common rallying cry at the demonstrations was the chant; "The people demand social justice!".

<i>Occupy Boston</i> 2011 protest movement

Occupy Boston was a collective of protesters that settled on September 30, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts, on Dewey Square in the Financial District opposite the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. It is related to the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on September 17, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy movement</span> 2011–2012 protests against socioeconomic inequality

The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and economic justice and different forms of democracy. The movement has had many different scopes, since local groups often had different focuses, but its prime concerns included how large corporations and the global financial system control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and causes instability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Canada</span>

Occupy Canada was a collective of peaceful protests and demonstrations that were part of the larger Occupy Together movement which first manifested in the financial district of New York City with Occupy Wall Street, and subsequently spread to over 900 cities around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy London</span> Social justice movement in London

Occupy London was a political movement in London, England, and part of the international Occupy movement. While some media described it as an "anti-capitalist" movement, in the statement written and endorsed by consensus by the Occupy assembly in the first two days of the occupation, occupiers defined themselves as a movement working to create alternatives to an "unjust and undemocratic" system. A second statement endorsed the following day called for "real global democracy". Due to a pre-emptive injunction, the protesters were prevented from their original aim to camp outside the London Stock Exchange. A camp was set up nearby next to St Paul's Cathedral. On 18 January 2012, Mr Justice Lindblom granted an injunction against continuation of the protest but the protesters remained in place pending an appeal. The appeal was refused on 22 February, and just past midnight on 28 February, bailiffs supported by City of London Police began to remove the tents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Toronto</span> Protest group against economic inequality

Occupy Toronto was a protest and demonstration that began on October 15, 2011, in Toronto, Ontario, near Bay Street in Downtown Toronto's Financial District and moved to St. James Park. It was a part of the Occupy movement, which protested against economic inequality, corporate greed, and the influence of corporations and lobbyists on government.

Occupy Salem was a collaboration in Salem, Oregon based on the Occupy Wall Street movement which began in New York City on September 17, 2011. Occupy Salem has included peaceful protests and demonstrations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Oakland</span> Protest group against economic inequality

Occupy Oakland refers to a collaboration and series of demonstrations in Oakland, California, that started in October 2011. As part of the Occupy movement, protesters have staged occupations, most notably at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy D.C.</span>

Occupy D.C. was an occupation of public space in Washington, D.C. based at McPherson Square and connected to the Occupy movements that sprung up across the United States in Fall 2011. The group had been demonstrating in McPherson Square since October 1, 2011, and in Freedom Plaza since October 6. Despite crackdowns on other Occupy projects across the country, federal authorities claimed on November 15 that they have no plans to clear McPherson Square Park. The National Park Service decided against eviction after meeting with activists and discussing health and safety conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Melbourne</span> Social movement in Australia, part of the global Occupy movement

Occupy Melbourne was a social movement which took place from late 2011 to mid 2012 in Melbourne, Australia as part of the global Occupy movement Participants expressed grievances concerning economic inequality, social injustice, corruption in the financial sector, corporate greed and the influence of companies and lobbyists on government. Protests began on 15 October 2011 in City Square with a 6-day-long protest encampment, from which people were forcibly evicted by Victoria Police at the request of the City of Melbourne CEO on 21 October 2011. From 2 November 2011, Occupy set up camp in Treasury Gardens before being moved on from that location in December. A significantly diminished number of protesters set up camp at Father Bob's church at his invitation until his retirement in January 2012. Physical manifestations of the movement had largely dissipated by mid-2012 though it adopted a strategy of decentralisation and became influential in the creation of new community networks, affinity groups and collectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy movement in the United States</span> 2010s protest movement

The Occupy movement spread to many other cities in the United States and worldwide beginning with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City in September 2011. The movement sought to advance social and economic justice and different forms of democracy but each local group varied in specific aims. The demonstrations and encampment in New York City spread to other major and smaller cities. Some camps lasted through 2012. What follows is an alphabetical, non-chronological summary of Occupy encampments in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy St. Louis</span>

Occupy St. Louis (OccupySTL) was a postpartisan people's movement that began on October 1, 2011 as a peaceful protest against corporate greed, its influence over the economy, its corruption of government, and ensuing inequality. Although people possess differing viewpoints and diversity of views is a central tenet, commonly held themes seek an equal playing field in the economy with more equal opportunities for all people as well as accountability for corporate and financial malfeasance. Many of those in the movement argue that structural, systemic change is necessary and that incremental reform is insufficient and in any case not possible without popular countervailing power to the power of moneyed interests. Occupy St. Louis is in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. It is located at Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis near an area which includes many financial institutions such as commercial banks and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Cal</span> Protest group against economic inequality

Occupy Cal included a series of demonstrations that began on November 9, 2011, on the University of California, Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California. It was allied with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, San Francisco Bay Area Occupy groups such as Occupy Oakland, Occupy Berkeley, and Occupy San Francisco, and other public California universities. "Cal" in the name "Occupy Cal" is the nickname of the Berkeley campus and generally refers specifically to UC Berkeley.

Occupy Windsor was an Occupy movement encampment in David Croll Park, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The protest ended and all protesters evacuated the area on December 12, 2011 with promises to return to the park to reseed areas damaged by the camp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Baltimore</span> Protest

Occupy Baltimore was a collaboration that included peaceful protests and demonstrations. Occupy Baltimore began on October 4, 2011, in Baltimore, Maryland, in McKeldin Square near the Inner Harbor area of Downtown Baltimore. It is one of the many Occupy movements around the United States and worldwide, inspired by Occupy Wall Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Minneapolis</span>

Occupy Minneapolis (OccupyMN) is a grassroots collaboration that began in October 2011 with a series of demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Protesters have staged numerous occupations, most notably of the Hennepin County Government Center plaza.

Occupy Central was an occupation protest that took place in Central, Hong Kong from 15 October 2011 to 11 September 2012. The camp was set up at a plaza beneath the HSBC headquarters. On 13 August 2012, the High Court granted an injunction against the continuation of the protest, and ordered the occupants to leave by 9pm on 27 August. But protesters defied the order and remained in place until 15 days after the deadline, when court bailiffs were sent to evict the occupants. Ending on 11 September, the movement remains one of the lengthiest Occupy movements in the world.

During the Vietnam War, Harvard University was the site of a number of protests against both the war generally and Harvard's connections to the war specifically.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mary Carmichael and Billy Baker., "Occupy Harvard left up to students: Harvard officials decide to keep Harvard Yard locked in wake of Occupy tents", Boston Globe, November 11, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Anti-Wall Street protests take root on Harvard lawn Archived February 4, 2017, at the Wayback Machine ", AsiaOne (AFP), November 16, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Alexandra Petri, "Why Occupy Harvard", Washington Post, November 14, 2011.
  4. ↑ Blake Ellis, "Harvard, Princeton post record low acceptance rates", CNN Money, March 30, 2012.
  5. ↑ Timothy Noah, "Does Harvard's 'affirmative action for the affluent' screw the proles?", Slate, February 3, 2011.
  6. ↑ Jodi Upton and Christopher Schnaars, "Endowments fund dorms, salaries—and sometimes tuition", USA Today, September 9, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, "Crimson Front", LA Review of Books, November 13, 2011.
  8. ↑ Charles H. Ferguson, "Heist of the century: university corruption and the financial crisis", Guardian, May 21, 2012.
  9. 1 2 John Stephen Dwyer, "'Occupy Harvard begins on Harvard Yard", Blast magazine, November 10, 2011.
  10. ↑ Amy Offner, "Winning a Sit-In Archived June 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine ", Troublemakers' Union (accessed October 12, 2012).
  11. ↑ Andrew S. Holbrook, "Pitching Tents, Pitching In", Harvard Crimson, May 2, 2001.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Tara W. Merrigan and Kevin Sun, "The Dilemma of the Radical: On-Campus Activism in the Age of Occupy", February 23, 2012.
  13. ↑ Jose A. DelReal, "Students Join 'Occupy Protests", Harvard Crimson, October 7, 2011.
  14. ↑ Mercer R. Cook, "Harvard Union Members Join Occupy Boston Movement", Harvard Crimson, October 13, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Brutality? Hardly: The Boston Police were not at fault in stopping illegal protests", Harvard Crimson, October 13, 2011.
  16. ↑ Jose A. DelReal, "Students Walk Out of Ec10 in Solidarity with 'Occupy'", Harvard Crimson, 2 November 2011.
  17. 1 2 Chris Isidore, "O.W.S. stages walk-out of Harvard econ class", CNN Money, November 2, 2011.
  18. ↑ Concerned students of Economics 10, "An Open Letter to Greg Mankiw Archived January 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine ", Harvard Political Review. November 2, 2011.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Galen Moore, "Occupy Harvard nixes Goldman Sachs campus recruiting event (report)", Boston Business Journal, December 13, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Anti-Capitalism Protests Spread to US Colleges", FARS, November 21, 2011.
  21. ↑ Jeremy Patashnik, "In Defense of Ec10", Harvard Political Review, November 2, 2011.
  22. ↑ Pan Angelopoulos, "Defending the Walkout", Harvard Political Review, November 4, 2011.
  23. 1 2 Michael C. George, "Group Endorses Walk Out in Economics 10", Harvard Crimson, November 2, 2011.
  24. ↑ Greg Mankiw, "Occupy Wall Street comes to Ec 10", Greg Mankiw's Blog: Random Observations for Students of Economics, November 2, 2011.
  25. 1 2 3 4 Corinne Segal, "Harvard's gates locked due to Occupy protest", Tufts Daily, November 20, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Harvard Joins the Occupy Movement", The Nation, November 10, 2011.
  27. ↑ Avishai D. Don, "Holding Occupy Harvard Accountable", Harvard Crimson, November 30, 2011.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 John Stephen Dwyer, "Occupy Harvard continues on the locked down Yard", Blast magazine, November 24, 2011.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 Eric Moskowitz, "Occupy Harvard poised for transition", Boston Globe, December 18, 2011
  30. ↑ Jose A. DelReal, "Occupy Harvard Security Measures Cause Tension", Harvard Crimson, November 14, 2011.
  31. ↑ Janet Beizer, Gennaro Chierchia, Tom Conley, Verena Conley, David Damrosch, Amy Rose Deal, Sergio Delgado, Brad Epps, Francesco Erspamer, Luis Fernández Cifuentes, Luis Girón Negrón, Adriana Gutierrez, Sylvaine Guyot, James Huang, Alice Jardine, Jay Jasanoff, Biodun Jeyifo, Clémence Jouët-Pastré, Caroline Light, Maria Grazia Lolla, Giuliana Minghelli, Mylène Priam, José Rabasa, Sarah Richardson, Jeffrey Schnapp, Nicolau Sevcenko, Mariano Siskind, Doris Sommer, and Susan R. Suleiman, "An Open Letter to President Drew Faust concerning Occupy Harvard", Romance Sphere, 23 November 2011.
  32. ↑ Brad Johnson, "Harvard Law Professor Criticizes 'Homeland Security Feel' of 'Overreaction' to Occupy Harvard", ThinkProgress, November 12, 2011.
  33. 1 2 Katie R. Zavadski, "The morning after 'Occupy,' Harvard Yard on Lockdown", Harvard Crimson, November 14, 2011.
  34. ↑ NBBooks, "Chris Hedges at Occupy Harvard—feeding plutocracy and why the cops are scared", DailyKos, December 1, 2011.
  35. ↑ Nathalie R. Miraval, "Occupy Harvard Protestors to Remove Tents from Harvard Yard", Harvard Crimson, December 16, 2011.
  36. ↑ " Harvard Yard, Less Occupied", Harvard Magazine, December 21, 2012.
  37. ↑ Justin C. Worland, "Harvard To Remove Daytime ID Checkpoints at Harvard Yard Gates", Harvard Crimson, December 21, 2012.
  38. ↑ Nathalie R. Miraval, "Harvard Administrators Remove Last Remnants of Occupy Harvard Camp", Harvard Crimson, January 17, 2012.
  39. ↑ "Last Remnants of Occupy Harvard Removed", Harvard Magazine, January 19, 2012.
  40. 1 2 John Lauerman and Oliver Staley, "Goldman Says Class Dismissed as 'Occupy Harvard' Mars Recruiting Sessions", Bloomberg, December 13, 2011.
  41. ↑ Amy Friedman, "Occupy Harvard Rally for Free Speech Targets Goldman Sachs Recruiting Event", Harvard Crimson, November 29, 2011.
  42. ↑ "Occupy Recruiting: Occupying Goldman and interested students is yet another bad idea." Harvard Crimson, December 1, 2011.
  43. ↑ Joe Coscarelli, "Harvard Students Defend Harvard Students' Right to Get Rich", New York Magazine, December 1, 2011.
  44. ↑ Mary Moore, "Harvard janitors plan protest, threaten strike if contract not resolved", Boston Business Journal, November 15, 2011.
  45. ↑ Jon Marcus, "Occupations are read the Riot Act by havens of free thought", Times Higher Education, December 1, 2011.
  46. 1 2 "Justice for Janitors: The new contract is excellent, now it's time for Occupy to move out", Harvard Crimson, November 22, 2011.
  47. 1 2 3 Quinn Norton, ""Occupy Harvard's an exclusive affair, but not by choice", Wired, Threat Level blog, November 30, 2011.
  48. ↑ Video: "Newt Gingrich Mic Checked" on YouTube, posted by OccupyBoston on November 18, 2011.
  49. ↑ John Stephen Dwyer. "Occupy Boston and Occupy Harvard 'mic check' Newt Gingrich". Blast magazine, November 19, 2011.
  50. ↑ David W. Kaufman, "Occupy Heckles Newt Gingrich", Harvard Crimson, November 21, 2011.
  51. ↑ Michael Allen. "Video: Newt Gingrich Says Replace Janitors With Children". Opposing Views, November 20, 2011.
  52. ↑ Mercer R. Cook, "Harvard to Review HEI Hotels & Resorts Business Practices", Harvard Crimson, December 12, 2011
  53. ↑ "HEI Reconsidered: Not reinvesting in hotel company is the right choice for Harvard", editorial in the Harvard Crimson, April 9, 2012.
  54. ↑ Justin C. Worland, "Library System Seeks to Reduce Staff", Harvard Crimson, January 23, 2012.
  55. ↑ Drew Faust, "Reflections on the Future of the Harvard Library", Office of the President, February 8, 2012.
  56. 1 2 Dan Dou, Radhika Jain, and Samuel Y. Weinstock, "University Library Workers Protest Layoffs", Harvard Crimson, January 26, 2012.
  57. ↑ Hannah L. Hofheinz, Derin Korman, and Timothy S. McGrath, "Take a Break. Think.", Harvard Crimson, February 13, 2012.
  58. ↑ Drew Faust"Reflections on the Future of Harvard Library", February 8, 2012.
  59. ↑ Occupy Harvard, "New Harvard Library Occupation", cited by Alex R. Shams, "Occupy Resurgent and Revolutionary", Harvard Crimson, February 24, 2012.
  60. ↑ "Occupy Harvard Occupies Lamont Library", The Nation, February 13, 2012.
  61. 1 2 Jane Seo. "Occupy Harvard Protestors Remain in Lamont Cafe." Harvard Crimson, February 14, 2012.
  62. 1 2 Jane Seo, "Occupiers Leave Lamont", Harvard Crimson, February 20, 2012.
  63. ↑ Mercer R. Cook, "Occupy Protests Outside Lamont", Harvard Crimson, February 17, 2012.
  64. ↑ Mercer R. Cook, "Occupy Harvard to Protest at Commencement". Harvard Crimson, May 23, 2012.
  65. ↑ David A. Weinfeld, "Goldman Sachs is the Right Target for Occupy Harvard", Harvard Crimson, December 5, 2012.
  66. ↑ Wyatt N. Troia, "Why Occupy Harvard Failed". Harvard Crimson, February 21, 2012.
  67. ↑ "Katie R. Zavadski, "A Liberal Critique", Harvard Crimson, December 14, 2011.
  68. 1 2 "Out of the Yard", Harvard Crimson, November 15, 2011.
  69. 1 2 Dylan Matthews, "Occupy Harvard gets the old college jeer: In the school of the 1 percent, griping greets the movement", Salon.com, November 11, 2011.
  70. ↑ See a discussion in the Harvard Independent about whether the Harvard student body 'belongs' to the 99% or the 1% (pg. 3). Gary Gerbrandt, "Point: 1.0 − 0.01 = 0.99", and Meghan Brooks, "Counterpoint: We Are the 1%", Harvard Independent, November 17, 2011.
  71. ↑ Harleen Gambhir, "Occupy Comes to Harvard", Harvard Political Review, November 10, 2011.
  72. ↑ Lucy O'Leary, "This Is Why We Occupy", Harvard Crimson, November 22, 2011.
  73. ↑ Neal Gabler, "One Percent Education", New York Times, January 22, 2012.
  74. ↑ Daniel Backman, "The Unintended Consequences of Occupy Harvard", Harvard Political Review, November 10, 2011.
  75. ↑ Anita J. Joseph, "Why Didn't We Occupy Harvard?: Today's Ivy League student thrives in the embrace of an institution", Harvard Crimson, February 13, 2012.
  76. 1 2 Rossen Djagalov, "Reflections on Occupy Harvard", Possible Futures, January 11, 2012.
  77. 1 2 Mercer R. Cook and Hana N. Rouse, "Did Occupy Matter?, Harvard Crimson, May 24, 2012 (Commencement 2012: Year in Review).

Occupy Harvard

Videos

Photos

News

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.