this victory is huge:
Last year if you'd told Levin he'd be making this reform, he'd have spat in your face. the UOC's win demonstrates that the Yale Administration can be beaten, that we can the move mountain out of our way, or tunnel straight through it if it refuses to move, to borrow some Scott Marksian metaphors. This is a huge victory not only for folks on financial aid, but for student organizing and for every undergraduate at that school, -- even the pretentious fascists.
Second, what's amazing is the ways in which the UOC was able to hold Levin to an accountable timetable. This even to the point where Levin actually announces the changes two years to the day after all four unions walked out on march 3, 2003 staying on strike for a week, forging powerful new connections with the community and with undergrads and creating a pivotal moment in the history of the university. How's that for symbolism?
We (meaning alumnae/i) need to keep watching what happens - Excomm penalties are clearly unnaceptable, and we need to do our part to ensure that the administration doesn't shirk away from reforming student contributions, but everyone should be congratulating those UOC folks tonight.
Couple things:
ReplyDeleteIf you'd have told Levin this last year, he wouldn't have spat, he would have sputtered out some half-baked, "uh-hh-hh...", and then scurried out of the room, because this was nowhere on his radar screen at all. Your construction of him there seems to me to be whatever the opposite of hagiographic is. Yes, the uoc deserves congratulations for holding his feet to the fire in that respect, but to say that there haven't been groups calling for financial aid reform in the past disrespects them -- (pec and cultural houses come to mind, admittedly never anywhere as successfully)........ but still.
Also, while this is a huge victory for financial aid, I disagree that this is a huge victory for student undergraduates. I think the national press is totally disconnected from what is happening internally on campus. Personally I think the UOC's actions were really bad for organizing; and I fear that it's starting to evidence itself here.And explain to me why excom penalties are "clearly unacceptable" ? I mean, obviously I understand why that would be bad, but why unacceptable?
I'm aware that other folks were demanding financial aid reform because i was in some of the groups that did so, like USAY. But none if us- USAY, the PEC, CBS, the cultural houses, had anywhere near the kind of success the UOC has had in making this something recieving national media and forcing the administration to make concessions. I intend no disrespect for any of the numerous organizations who've advocated for financial aid reform over the past four years since Princeton replaced all loans with grants, but with the exception of the pittances the administration extended in Fall 2001, none of us really won anything. CBS, for instance had all these awesome demands, like millions of dollars for the cultural houses, and absolutely no idea how to put any kind of pressure on the administration or build any kind of student movement to secure real gains, which was a shame.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a victory for student organizing because it's a concrete victory for student organizing in a way that shows that the administration can bow to student pressure if hit with enough stregnth and breadth. This not so much because of the national media coverage as because of the specifics of how and when Levin folded. He could have waited until spring break or the summer; he didn't because he had to defray all the bad publicity created by all the sit-in headlines and attempt to salvage some regular decision application stats.
I'd be interested in why you think the UOC's actions were bad for organizing. You're closer than i am, but i'm still inclined to disagree with you.
Excomm penalties are unnaceptable because students shouldn't be penalized for acting when levin repeatedly failed to do so, for reminding him to do something he shoudl have done at least four years ago.
As for the rebecca-ward 1 thing, aside from the Josh angle being ridiculous (i am totally sure at least one of the candidates not named Ben Healey or Michael Montano dated half the ward 1 committee four years ago, and look where that got him,) i fail to see how that has anything to do with the financial aid victory. Hightened publicity? Yalepublicans were bashing us in the YDN long before Rebecca was even in the UOC... At any rate, god forbid the UOC should organize lots of people. The Ward 1 Committe stuff has always been problematic, and i'm not really very worried about this article, but again, i'm nowhere near New Haven, and you are, so i'm sure you know lots of things i don't.