On Thursday, members of the Occupy Buffalo movement came to UB to speak to interested students and faculty members – right after they got evicted from Niagara Square and were arrested.
The talk was held at the Francis M. Letro Courtroom at O'Brian Hall between 12 and 2 p.m. Graduate students Adam Drury and adjunct instructor Cayden Mak, undergraduate student Logan Noonan, and social worker Linda Abrams led the talk. Students ranging from undergraduate freshmen to graduate students, as well as a number of faculty members, attended the event.
The event came right after the eviction of Occupy Buffalo protestors from Niagara Square early Thursday morning. Twelve protestors were arrested after the group's permit with the city expired and the two sides failed to come to an agreement to extend the permit, according to the group. The student supporters of the movement explained the events leading up to the arrests, the goals of the movement, and the need for students to get more actively involved in the movement.
Noonan, a graduate student of philosophy and an active supporter of the movement, called it "non-violent" and "peaceful."
"We met all the requirements and were told our agreement would be renewed," Noonan said of the attempts to renew the permit to stay at Niagara Square.
Later, the city "completely ignored previous agreements" when it took action to evict the protestors. Noonan was one of the 12 people who were arrested by police.
The conversation then turned to the goals of the Occupy movement. Linda Abrams, a social worker affiliated with the group's School of Everything workgroup, described the protest as "holding space for direct democracy, for citizens to come together." While she felt that it was necessary for people to come together throughout America, the eventual aim is to focus on local issues, such as the recent NFTA budget cuts and the increasing economic disparity in the region.
Abrams captured the movement's aims in the phrase, "Inform, Reform, Transform." This involves educating people through talks and "teach-ins," petitioning for changes to address problems of social inequality, and finally bringing about change in society according to the needs of citizens.
Adam Drury, graduate student in English, talked about New York Students Rising (NYSR), the organization responsible for the walk-out against tuition hikes last semester. The group is a "statewide network of students and campus-organizations dedicated to defending public higher education and empowering students," according to its website. The coalition, formed last summer, is interested in repealing UB 2020 and what it sees as the plan's consequent "increasing influence of private interest" and "irrational tuition raises."
The students also spoke about their desire to get students on campus more involved in the Occupy and NYSR movements. Drury said that there was an atmosphere of "inertia on campus" among students who were afraid to speak up about the issues, such as student debt, that they are facing.
Faculty members who were present encouraged their students to get involved more actively. English Professor Barbara Bono, director of the civic engagement program in the Undergraduate Academies, cited "fear" and "shame of debt" as prevalent reasons for students not speaking up. Drury said that he tried to inform his freshman class about current issues.
There are further plans to get students involved in the movement. Members of the Occupy Wall Street movement will be speaking on Feb. 13 at Harriman Hall on South Campus, and on March 5, transportation will be provided for students to go to Albany to voice their concerns to lawmakers, according to the speakers.
The overall consensus of the conversation seemed to be that the Occupy movement was not simply about going out and protesting.
"To me, the movement is very little about tents and squares," Noonan said.
Instead, the aim is to "change the conversations" that people are having.
"My goal," Abrams said, "is to eventually have an Occupy in every university, neighborhood and coffee shop."
Email: news@ubspectrum.com
