Zulaikha Hasan, a Boston University College of General Studies sophomore, said that the amount of student debt in America motivated her to rally on Wednesday with Occupy Boston’s Higher Education for the 99% March.
Hasan and about 100 other people met outside of the Federal Reserve Bank to listen to the plans and precautions for the demonstration in honor of Occupy Boston’s National Day of Action.
By 2012, the amount of student debt will hit $1 trillion, which is about 70 percent of the total federal deficit, according to the Occupy Boston website.
“I personally believe the Occupy movement is about three things,” Hasan said. “Taking away the corporate greed, decreasing the amount of control corporations have over policies and improving the status of student debt in America.”
She said that compared to Canada and other countries, going to college in America is much more expensive.
The protesters walked through the Financial District, by the Fiduciary Trust Company, People’s United Bank, Bank of America, Liberty Mutual and Fidelity.
The demonstrators stopped in front of Bank of America and shouted out phrases in unison, such as “Whose street? Our street!” and “How do we fix the deficit percent? End the war, tax the rich!”
Many employees in the Financial District watched the protesters before going inside their respective buildings, and some workers came out from their offices to watch the protest.
Protesters handed out flyers during the march to inform passers-by of their purpose.
“This march is going from the banks to the State Legislature – from those who profit from student loans to those whose continuing cuts lead public colleges to raise fees, resulting in increased student borrowing and debt,” according to one of the flyers.
Many signs at the march said, “Bail out the students, not the bankers!” and “Student loan debt is crushing us!”
“I am marching to spread awareness about our broken system,” said Christin Kehoe, a senior at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Kehoe said that the government should go back to its core values.
“It is not longer accountable to the people, but rather all corporations in general,” she said.
Kehoe held a sign as she marched that said, “Truth is not a commodity. #Free Your Mind. #Occupy.”
The BU Occupies Boston Facebook group promoted the National Day of Action as well.
Many BU students used the promotional photo for the National Day of Action as their profile pictures on Facebook.
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