Since Boston Police drove protestors out of Dewey Square on Dec. 10, Boston University Occupies Boston members have been struggling to regain the numbers they had last semester.
“I feel as though the movement has lost a little bit of steam because it’s lost a little bit of its sex appeal,” said Jonathan Senin, a College Arts and Sciences senior. “It was cool to protest.”
Since their expulsion from the encampment, Occupy Boston members have received less media attention and leaders have struggled to decide how to move forward.
“I think [the occupation at Dewey Square] was a means to an end, it was a manifestation,” said CAS senior Michael Pitter said. “It was just a physical act to bring attention to a certain sentiment.”
In spite of dwindling numbers at their general assemblies, BU Occupies Boston members said the movement is very much alive.
“If you look at our Facebook group, there are like 500 people in the group, but then at the meetings, there’d be like 30 to 40 people,” Pitter said. “Once people hear about what’s going on in the future with the Occupy movement in general, then they’ll sort of be like, ‘Okay, let’s get back into it.’”
Pitter, however, could not provide details about the upcoming BU Occupies Boston or general Occupy Boston events at this time.
While Pitter noted the encampment need to happen, he said he knew it wouldn’t last forever. Even without Dewey Square, the purpose of the Occupy movement is to affect legislation. However, students’ opinions on how to affect legislation vary.
BU Occupies Boston joined Northeastern University Occupy Boston at the Occupy Boston Student Summit Sunday, calling for tuition transparency at colleges and universities. Meanwhile, Pitter participated in a Students Against T Cuts march and rally.
Brandon Wood, junior in CAS and founder of the BU Occupies Boston group said he has very specific goals in mind for governmental reform as a result of Occupy, such as stricter campaign finance legislature, and he hopes to continue planning Occupy marches and rallies.
“I’m a philosophy major, so I like to think of very big, abstract problems . . . and find solutions [for them],” he said.
Wood also said he thinks the different goals that different members bring to the group add to the movement’s strength.
“Overall, people have their own reasons for joining, but they’re keeping their eyes and ears open,” he said. “It creates open-mindedness and diversity [in the group] that I want to see in the entire world.”
While Pitter does not wish to speak on behalf of the BU community, he said he doubts students have stopped caring abut the cause.
“I can see how people would lose interest because nowadays people want to see quick results. This is something that won’t yield quick results,” he said. “Because it won’t, inevitably you’ll have people who will fall off the bandwagon.”
Despite its fading popularity, Pitter said participation could increase once students understand the political impact they can have.
“I’m going to assume that there will be people who want to get involved in what’s coming up in the future,” he said, “especially if it’s something that we can foresee as being a big step to change in legislation.”
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