Press Conference!

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
PRESS CONFERENCE ON HUNGER STRIKE AT VASSAR COLLEGE
DATE: Friday, May 15, 2009
TIME: 4:00 P.M.
LOCATION: ALANA Center, Community Room
Vassar College
Behind Main Bldg.

Friday, May 15, 2009—Top administrators at Vassar College met with students on hunger strike to continue negotiations, regarding the students’ list of demands, which were presented to President Catharine Bond Hill last Friday.

The hunger strike comes at the tail end of weeks of campus rallies and talks with President Hill, concerning the elimination of summer break positions for campus workers and the continued attack on job security at the College. Students from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A.) de Vassar and the May Day Working Group have organized these efforts in solidarity and collaboration with campus workers who, in light of the administration’s proposed economic strategy, will hold a press conference responding to the outcome of today’s negotiations and the status of activism around this issue.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chris Beach at 718.644.5277, chbeach@vassar.edu
Mikey Velarde at 915.491.3395, mivelarde@vassar.edu

In Poughkeepsie Journal!

There is an article about our protest in today's Poughkeepsie Journal! 

Check it out here.

faculty support!

This email was sent to Cappy this morning -- thank you Andrew Bush!

Dear Cappy,

I understand that a group of students is currently participating in a hunger strike in protest against administrative decisions affecting job security at Vassar. I write in support.I have been concentrating my own attention to job security only on questions pertaining to the faculty. The students do well to broaden the concern to include the job security of all College employees. I urge you to meet with them. I also support the students' position, as I understand it, that job security--that is, consideration of the material welfare of our own community--is among the very highest priorities of the College. I would much prefer to see the College pursue its new financial goals by cutting salaries for the best-paid amongst us, myself included, than to undermine the job security of employees with more modest incomes.My thanks for your attention and my best wishes, Andy

Andrew BushChair, HISP

What Does NYU Mean For Vassar?

What does NYU mean for Vassar?

We hope that NYU's move towards a symbolic and useful demonstration of caring for the school, or at least it's image, that Vassar administration will seriously consider pay cuts as we have demanded.

Hunger Strike Follows Rally at Vassar College

We, a broad coalition of Vassar students and student organizations, planned a rally for Tuesday, May 12. The administration believed that May Day was it, and we were done. They were wrong. On Friday, May 8th, we went to President Catherine Bond Hill's office and had a chat. Some choice comments from President Hill included that summer cuts would "look like peanuts" come next fall. And that despite there not being any money in the Vassar coffers to maintain the staff that maintain the school, Catherine Bond Hill could get a raise from the Board of Trustees, if she wanted to. She also commented that the college should not be "the middle man" between faculty and students wanting staff to have jobs.
We don't believe that the school is the "middleman;" the school has a responsibility to the community it houses. We gave President Hill our list of demands, and left, telling her to read them carefully, and get back to us.
On Sunday, May 10, we put on our Sunday best to picket outside of a Mother's Day Brunch. We wanted the alumna/e and parents attending to know that mothers also work in our kitchens, clean our dorms, and maintain the campus. We handed out Mother's Day cards that we thought were especially informative. Security drove by many times, but could find nothing wrong at all with what we were doing.
We then marched to the roundabout at the corner where our school meets the Town of Poughkeepsie. We stood silently holding our signs (Cappy Needs a Paycut/Job Security for Campus Workers) for 45 minutes, then marched through the dining hall to announce yet another rally.

Today we had that rally, and it was well attended as we walked through campus, and let the administration know that we were back. We also marched alongside the college, blocking traffic on College View, which drew the Poughkeepsie Police in remarkable force. Vassar Security also made an appearance, urging protestors to return to campus and keep their unrest out of the public eye. But Vassar College is not an island, and Poughkeepsie residents are being hit hard by Vassar's decision to reduce employment. We will not keep our anger politely reigned in. President Hill cannot ruin lives without anyone knowing.

Unfortunately, President Hill was not in town, and we are sorry to hear that there was an illness in the family. But we'll be waiting for her return. We told Chris Roellke, Dean of Studies, to tell her that we would be waiting, and that 5 of us would be hunger striking until she meets with us, and negotiations begin. The hunger strike has been going on since noon, and the strikers, along with several supporters, are camped outside of the President's office. We will remain here until President Hill addresses our demands.

High Noon

Rally Today:

May 12.

12pm.

Main Circle.

Vassar College.

Come Show Your Support.

The List of Demands

On Friday, May 8, 2009, at approx. 5 p.m., students representing M.E.Ch.A. de Vassar and the May Day Working group hand delivered this very modest list of demands to President Catharine Bond Hill.

LIST OF DEMANDS 1. Respect, dignity and peace on campus for all workers: The college was founded on principles of social justice. We must remain committed to these principles so that they are not undermined by power and privilege. Marginalized groups should have an equal voice and vote in the decision making process so that the power to make decisions does not come exclusively from the privileged few.

2. Summer Employment We demand summer employment as expected by campus workers in order to at least meet their basic living needs for as long as the institution exists.

3. Job Security Vassar College is indebted to the Poughkeepsie and Mid-Hudson communities. We demand that Vassar recognizes this responsibility by continuing to provide stable employment with decent wages to community residents and we demand a freeze on staff firings and layoffs.

4. A New Economic Strategy: In times of future economic crises, Vassar’s first commitment should be to those in the most precarious economic situation, not to those at the top of the economic ladder. The economic strategy should include that those who are in the top 20% of the Vassar pay bracket have their wages adjusted accordingly before any job cuts are made.

5. Social Justice Committee: We demand the creation of a social justice committee comprised of permanent autonomous positions at the staff, student, faculty, Poughkeepsie community, and administrative levels. The individuals who will occupy these positions will have a demonstrated commitment to social justice. Populations at each respective level will elect these positions. This committee will oversee and revise existing policy and develop new policy as needed that maintains the college’s commitment to social justice. All extant committees dealing with related subject matter will be subsumed under the Social Justice Committee. One of the concrete objectives of this committee is overseeing the implementation and management of a monthly town hall meeting where all members of the Vassar Community will make decisions collectively, and be informed of the state of The School.

6. Financial Transparency: We demand financial transparency. Students, staff, and faculty are perfectly able to, and will, partake in financial decision-making. We will be informed. All economic literature will be distributed electronically to our emails. We also demand that all meetings of all committees be open to the public.

7. No punitive repercussions for anyone who engages in this struggle for justice.

Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán (MEChA) de Vassar College

May Day Working Group 

Student Activist Union-Students for a Democratic Society (SAU-SDS) 

The Catalyst 

Vassar Association of Class Activists (VACA) 

Women of Color Alliance (WOCA)

Horizontal Working Group