Photo courtesy of Minnie Madden ’26
Morning 3/4: SVE announces that they will spend the weekend focusing on demands and resting. SVE calls for respective clubs and organizations to continue with activism on campus.
Morning 3/4: It was a quiet morning in Fanning. They are taking it easy after a long week. Occupiers spent some time reading notes and letters of support that were delivered last night. Students have been resetting, gaming, and catching up on classwork.
3/4 2:36 p.m: SVE provides an update to students. They communicated how some Fanning Hall occupiers left last night, whilst others remain and continue to occupy the building. They stress that real action will be made towards meeting demands and are still as passionate about the movement as ever. SVE also recommend a fun way to show support: attending the CC Amaltheia frisbee tournament on Freeman Green, showing their support to SVE with a new uniform.
3/4 4:30 p.m: Public display of demands occurred in New London Hall on the first floor. SVE members along with protestors put up large demands along the entrance of the campus at the Conn College sign.
3/4 5:10 p.m: Sticking demands on the Conn College sign are delayed as it is too windy and the paint is chipping. SVE are now going to get more supplies and water sealant from Home Depot so that banners can be displayed.
3/4 Evening: After a day of school work, Fanning occupiers had a group meeting over a dinner of Indian food. The group then watched Catching Fire to relax.
3/5 afternoon: Fanning occupiers spent the morning working hard on class work. Some occupiers took a Zoom call with 2016 occupiers and many took a break from school work for a couple of hours in the afternoon to play board games.
3/5 3:00 p.m: Alumni from the 2016 take-over Zoom with students about their experiences in Fanning 2016 and offer their suggestions for moving forwards.
3/5 15:45 p.m: SVE puts out communication to all in the Occupy group thanking everyone for the efforts of their last week. They explain how over the past 5 days they have called for a boycott of classes but realize that cannot continue. SVE has sent a message to faculty requesting they resume classes on Monday. They have also asked that they remain flexible with attendance and provide virtual and/or asynchronous options for the people who have been heavily involved in the movement – both with organizing and participating in protest since many are exhausted. They urge students not to boycott but to take time to care for themselves and to process the last week.
3/5 9:02 p.m: The Office of Communications puts out an update from senior administration stating it has been a week since SVE started a sit-in (not a lock-in) and protest for change at Conn. The administration explains how in the last week they have been working with SVE leadership and making sure to check in on the safety and well being of all students. They assert that a dialogue has been occurring with the Staff Council and that Deans Arcelus, Smith and Egan have been meeting with SVE to collaborate on long term change. Further, the email states the Board of Trustees continues to engage and meet to review the information they have received on what is currently happening on campus.
I read about and watched the student testimonies organized by SVE. Frankly, I didn’t hear anything that convinced me that the college’s policies are “dehumanizing”, “oppressive”, or “abusive” (words favored by the protesters).
Just because you feel “oppressed” and “abused” does not mean that those word accurately describe your condition. Hey protesters, try this: Tell the people who cook food for you every day that you feel oppressed. Tell the people who clean your bathrooms that you feel oppressed. Walk to downtown New London and tell the people working for minimum wage, the construction workers suffering from arthritis, the immigrant taxi drivers, the public-school teachers, or the single parent living on food stamps that you feel oppressed. Head to a domestic shelter and tell them that you feel “abused” because you’re a minority living in America and attending one of most expensive colleges in the country. Or hop on a plane and head to the border—I’m sure the migrants there would love to hear about your oppression.
It is irrelevant that your movement consists of people of various races, creeds, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, disabilities, and socioeconomic statuses. The people who disagree with you are also a diverse group, though many are too scared to speak up for fear of being labeled a “racist”, a “white supremacist,” an “oppressor,” “abusive”, or a person who is “complicit in their own oppression.” These are the names that people get called when they even question your movement.
DIEI and SVE have no real plan for improving the lives of the people for which they claim to advocate. Their most specific demand regarding improving the lives of students is this one: “Establish greater and distinct resources for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, undocumented, international, first-gen, Disabled, and low-income students.”
But if you’re calling for “distinct” resources, wouldn’t that require a little specificity? What resources would make a difference, and HOW exactly would they make a difference? Are there currently no resources for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, undocumented, international, first-gen, Disabled, and low-income students? If there are resources, how are they coming up short? Should we simple create more resources, or should we focus on improving the resources that currently exist? Did SVE or DIEI think about these questions before SVE began occupying Fanning? If there was detailed forethought, I have yet to see evidence of it.
Since this movement is wholeheartedly against accepting any money from institutions deemed insufficiently antiracist, I guess we’re going to need to start cutting programs to make room for all the new “distinct resources” you’re envisioning. What exactly should we cut?
The work of SVE and DIEI will be counterproductive as long as their strategy involves calling as many things as possible “racist”, “abusive”, “oppressive”, and “dehumanizing”. This is because using such extreme language makes it utterly impossible to identify and prioritize key problems and their potential solutions.
Their work will be counterproductive as long as they are creating unnecessary obstacles for fundraising while simultaneously asking that their favored programs receive more funding.
And their work will be counterproductive as long as they are not specific regarding how their plans will help people.
All in all, SVE and DIEI are hurting the people they claim to be helping.
Dean King’s new job:
https://www.umass.edu/news/article/king-difulvio-appointed-sphhs-leadership-roles
He is fine. It took him a week to get it. He probably had it lined up.
Time to go to class.
He basically lit a fire at the school right before walking away to a new high-paying job.
He started the fire, but timed it perfectly to avoided needing to deal with the fire’s heat. What a noble man.
His idea of activism is to provoke impressionable minds to protest without having to back them up.
What a stooge
@Honette Verite:
I am not sure if this is your real name or if you are referring to the French version of “honest truth”, but just in case you are, I am sure you checked with Former Dean Kind and /or UMass about the timeline of his appointment?
Or are just trying to smear his reputation?
“In dubio pro Reo” is one of the most significant rules in law, “if in doubt, decide in favour of the accused”.
So, as long as there is no proof of what you are alleging, I stand with Former Dean King.
I am still waiting for an update from the BoT, senior administration and President Bergeron about how they are planning to deal with these issues.
@she/her
https://www.umass.edu/news/article/king-difulvio-appointed-sphhs-leadership-roles
I am not as international as you, but I can read a date. Thankfully, February 28 is the same in all international systems. You can find it in the top left of the article, and down at the bottom of the announcement.
That was a Tuesday. If memory serves, the cast of the spring show demanded “resign by Wednesday night or we don’t sing”. Tuesday comes before Wednesday. Should I check with the BoT on that?
As to how BoT will “deal with the issue”, I can tell you: they are not. They will get an expensive report and it will show what everyone except for you already knows: Conn DIEI is funded the same as at all other similar colleges, DIEI secretary makes the same part time salary as all other secretaries at the College. Unity House is just fine. President is as “tough” with her subordinates as all other presidents and CEOs and well within a “margin of tolerance”. Deans are never “tenured”. And Dean King just cost the College 50 MIL in donations, the annual interest from which would have paid full tuition for 100 “underprivileged students” in perpetuity. That’s more than we have now! What a mensch.
And I don’t need to sully his reputation . Numbers speak louder than words.
Go Camels
Dean King’s resignation, contacting local media and selling students his grievances was all an act of retaliation! Wake up students, you’ve been played! She canceled the fundraiser before he resigned, but his original message to students was a blatant lie. He told students he resigned because she was going forward with the fundraiser – that was a lie.
Is there always room for improvement? Yes, of course. But this is a lot of theater.
@ International camel mom
You should check with your international camel and see if they received an email on March 1 from the office of the president. In it there is a six point action plan addressing some of the issues. You have to scroll down.
King already had an offer for his new role at UMass (applications closed months ago according to UMass) when he choose to resign. His so called resignation was not an act of courage to stand against the planned event, but was a planned departure framed to damage his boss and the College. It’s clear he likely didn’t get along with the President, he choose to “resign” and write to the Board of Trustees as a way to inflict damage on Bergeron and the College. It’s unfortunate that students and faculty have bought into this sad attempt of a disgruntled employee tarnishing his former employer.
SVE, you need to stand down!
Your entire purpose for this protest was built on quicksand. Dean King used you to get back at the college for what wasn’t a good fit for him. He knew the faculty had issues with Bergeron, so used that to his advantage. He also knows most DEI issues at a college like Conn are met with unanimous support, and most people accept the messages as truth without question. Dean King knows this.. because DEI issues deal with racism and we see injustices nationally, it was an easy sell to students and he used this to his advantage. Time to get back to class and learn how to effectively enact change diplomatically.
Exactly.
Many young people can’t fathom that any advocacy related diversity, equity, and inclusion could be actually be counterproductive.
And those who are thinking critically are peer pressured into supporting the cause, since they fear getting called “racist”, “oppressive”, or “abusive”. Talk about bullying!
I’m POSITIVE that everyone who signed that Into the Woods letter was not fully on board the canceling of the show. Could you imagine being a 20 year old and being asked to sign such a letter? Of course they’re going to sign!
The decision to cancel the show was devastating for the entire cast. I agree, they may all stand at a different places in regards to this issue, but in the end they only hurt themselves by canceling the show. Bergeron was never going to resign on someone else’s terms. They were also being encouraged by their parents. The parent facebook page is now filled with daily grievances of excuses, in an attempt to pivot from DEEI, since it’s pretty clear the students were told an untrue story.
Even the student body stands in different places; the majority do want to support classmates who feel passionate, but not all are active protesters and there seems to be less planned rallies.
There are a few issues here: one is whether or not there is proper funding for DIEI, Second is whether or not the leadership style of President Bergeron needs to be questioned and/or remedied. the third is when and what the BOT is planning on doing about the entire and broad topic.
Alums in my network are feeling very out of the loop.
This whole thing started with a bad decision and bad an inconsistent communication. As a donor I’d like to know where things stand now.
Thank you for that perfect summation. Parent comments above are not reflective of the campus client with students/fac/staff. I stand with our students, my colleagues and the Conn community. Everyone may not be protesting, but the one thing everyone on campus continues to do, is to support each other. As a donor, we thank you and rest assured, the current chaos will end with Conn being a stronger, more vital, equitable and inclusive institution.
*climate
U r brain dead
Nice spelling and care for a written word. Your scholarship is really paying off.