Andrew Golis

the Harvard Social Forum (the umbrella for something like 40 progressive and radical groups on campus, from the Dems to SASSI WOOF to HPAG) is asking all of its affiliates to consider signing a letter with a set of demands. They want feedback, etc. Those of you who read this blog often will know what I think of this kind of strategy, but for now I will simply post the demands and comment on them later. For you consideration:

WE DEMAND:
1. That the University take immediate steps to implement democracy and accountability.
– Transparency in all decisions of the Administration, Ad Board, and Corporation
– A student-faculty body to consider new guidelines for governance
– Ultimately, student, faculty, and worker participation in reviewing all policies

2. That Harvard immediately divest from corporations shown to be systematically violating human rights and implement a code of conduct
– Divestment from PetroChina and Unocal, and ultimately all companies supporting genocide, terror, and unjust war
– Refraining from research or recruitment for these companies
– Investing instead in grassroots developments and in local communities

3. That Harvard live up to and expand its standards of non-discrimination for students
– That Harvard keep ROTC and all military recruiters off our campus
– That Harvard include gender identity and expression as a form of discrimination
– That Harvard double representation of lower-income students by next year
– That Harvard move immediately to establish a Women’s Center on campus.

4. That Harvard pursue equality with regard to its faculty and its education
– That Harvard establish meaningful Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality departments with all the resources they need
– That the administration dramatically increase tenure offers to women and people of color
– That the administration cease intimidating and censoring professors for their politics

5. That Harvard fully respect the rights and the dignity of all campus workers
– Living wage now for Harvard workers, whether directly employed or hired through outside firms
– Fair contracts for campus unions, with health care and childcare for all
– Immediate halt to practices of outsourcing and union busting on campus

What do you think?

This entry was posted on Monday, February 28th, 2005 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.