trent students take over admin building monday morning

By Anonymous (not verified) , 27 February, 2001
Author
marco

same old same old if you count all the berkley and amherst takeovers for the past 30 years,

but might be good current events for the newswire.

OCCUPATION AT TRENT UNIVERSITY (english)

by Matthew Beatty 6:05pm Mon Feb 26 '01

TrentAction@GeekUnity.com

Students have taken over the Vice President's office at Trent

University in Peterborough, Ontario.

Just as the Trent University community was about to begin its first Monday back from a

week break, a group of students in a well designed and carried out action took over the

Vice Presidential office suite of Trent University. Eight students have locked

themselves into the office and are refusing to leave until their demands have been met.

In an early morning meeting with the students, President Bonnie Patterson stated that

the demands were not negotiable and that she was not willing to address them. She

immediately followed this meeting by stating to local media that the students were "not

ready to sit down" and discuss the issues. Patterson has become well known for this

sort of double-speak.

Tension has been mounting between the administration and much of the student body

and faculty of Trent over proposed college closings, an increased corporate presence

on campus, and the complete lack of transparency and democracy in the decision

making processes at the university. While police did show up, no attempt to remove

the protestors was made.

As neo-liberal agendas and decision making processes make there way into the

progressive environments of universities, students are being forced to take direct

action to get their voices heard. For its students, Trent University has become a

microcosm for the greater battle against corporate domination and the erosion of

democracy that is taking place throughout the world.

For more information please go to http://www.geekunity.com/trentaction/index.html

www.geekunity.com/trentaction/index.html