About 40 students who felt the Boston University administration wasn’t listening to their concerns decided the time was right for a more direct approach.
They took their protests to the Office of the President.
Though organizers e-mailed about 325 students — and asked those people to forward the notice to other campus leaders and activists — to publicize the event, only about one-eighth showed to support a variety of student causes yesterday afternoon.
As the rain fell on Marsh Plaza, students from various organizations marched to the steps of President Jon Westling’s office on Bay State Road to address a collection of grievances with the administration.
The demonstration — organized by individuals to show unity among groups in a “campus-wide day of action” — brought together members of Students Against Sweatshops, the Student Union, CAS Forum, Spectrum, Students for a Free Tibet, the Women’s Center, Food and Roofs and the Boston University Youth Alliance for Housing.
University Professors Program junior Dan Feder organized the event with Jamie Weiss and Erica Burley, both seniors in the College of Communication, seeking to unite members of various politically active student groups at BU to combine their agendas under a single voice.
“We’re all in these groups, but in a lot of ways we’re working toward the same goals,” Feder said. “This is about the organizations showing support and solidarity for each other.”
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Jasmine Smith-Gillen, who is the secretary of Spectrum, agreed the organizations could benefit from a little cooperation.
“It’s really important to network,” Smith-Gillen said. “It’s a good idea for everyone to work together. There’s strength in numbers.”
Gathered in a circle, speakers from each group spoke into the megaphone about the issues they claim the University has ignored, calling on students passing by to join their demonstration.
The group’s collective grievances included the lack of a decision following a proposed change for including sexual orientation in the nondiscrimination policy, inadequate rape crisis services and Westling’s denial of cable television in campus residences.
While marching down Commonwealth Avenue toward the president’s office, the group chanted its demands. When they reached the office steps, the protesters rallied together with chants of “Our school!”, calling for “student power,” “democracy” and “respect.”
“[The administration needs] to have a constant open dialogue with its students. That’s what we’re here for,” said CAS junior Matt D’Olimpio.
Despite repeated knocking and calls for Westling to let the group in, demands were never acknowledged by anyone from inside the office. The group responded with chants of “Open dialogue, open doors!”
After half an hour on the steps, the protesters returned to Marsh Plaza, but not before leaving their list of grievances on the door to the office as well as on one of the windows.
Organizers hoped the event would help rectify what they call “a year of frustration and dead-ends for student leaders and organizers.”
“There’s a frustration with the lack of events like this,” Feder said. “For there to be such a limited number of demonstrations on this campus is sad.”
Earlier this week, Feder invited those “united in the common vision of a BU community” to “bring out signs, banners, voice, and spirit” in support of the issues.
However, only about 40 of the roughly 325 students were inspired to mobilize.
Feder said the biggest problem is lack of involvement, but clarified the issue was not related to student apathy.
“There are a lot of students that care about the issues, but it’s hard to find time,” Feder reasoned. “BU’s a difficult school, and there’s low visibility [for demonstrations] because people are geographically spread out.”
The group decided it would return to Westling’s office next Tuesday at the same time for another attempt at a meeting with the president, promising to bring more people next time.
“I think it’s supposed to be really sunny,” Feder joked.
Protesters said the rain, which was for the most part light, played a major role in the group’s difficulty attracting support.
“With an administration like this that’s so reluctant to hear us, it’s important to keep up morale, even if it’s only 40 people on a rainy day,” Smith-Gillen said.
Despite the low turnout, some of the group said the efforts could still help.
“I think we do speak for a lot of students,” said College of Communication senior Jamie Weiss. “They think they can’t get anything done because the administration isn’t listening, but they’ll soon realize what they can accomplish.”
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