March on Whitmore

As many of you may have heard, today was the first day of the general student strike at UMass. Our demands are:

1. student fee rollbacks
2. funding and accountability for diversity
3. cops out of dorms
4. and student control over student space

We had a rally at noon, holding signs, chanting, getting worked up. Then we exited the Student Union and marched all the way to Whitmore, through the doors, and up the stairs. We sat along the walls, making noise, chanting, banging sticks. Ben Stein was there with his horn. Jack was there with a drum made out of a water bubbler. The procession was so long, people were still leaving the Student Union when we were entering Whitmore. And everyone had an umbrella. A few students had made a giant effigy of Gargano holding a "$" sign and a night-stick with the word "control" on it. I hit his big ol' papier mache head on the way past... Some of the students responsible for organizing the strike wore orange armbands to direct people where to go and what to do. They walked up and down the halls between the rows of students and led chants and reported what was happening. Graduate and undergrads were all together. In fact, I sat across from my TA from my Myth, Folk, and Child Lit class.
Over the course of an hour, we got the following reports:

• Gargano is on vacation (bull!)
• We can't get him on the phone (way to turn off your phone!)
• The administration agreed to meet with leaders (but we want a public forum!)
• Police read us the picketing code, we need to leave Whitmore to avoid being arrested

Curious! I thought...weren't we going to stick around 'til we got what we wanted? hmmm.
Then, the students marched around the campus some more, shutting down the roads for a period of time.
While that was going on, however, Corey and I had retired to Earthfoods for some grub. Then home for a marathon cosleep-fest.
But, tomorrow, teach-ins for me, and a celebration party!
I wonder, however, if these polite, semi-radical acts of student solidarity will amount to anything. I honestly think we should have stayed and tested the legitimacy of the picketing code. Civil disobedience isn't something you can do and then quit for political safety. So in that way, I was actually quite frustrated with the rally.
Also, I chatted with Tyler in Earthfoods and he brought up a good point: isn't a strike defined by workers refusing to go back to work until their terms are met? Are students workers? no...we pay them... Are we going to refuse to hold classes until our terms are met? no...we are only striking for two days... So is this really a strike? Perhaps for the graduate students, but perhaps not at all.
Regardless, the intentions were good. And after all, protesting is by far my favorite campus activity...Besides, of course, hanging around the Student Union with Lissa :)