Emory students stage peaceful protest outside president’s office
UPDATE Thursday: This morning, Emory spokesman David C. Payne said, “The sit-in ended around 8 p.m last evening when the students left the building. There are no planned meetings between the students and Dr. Wagner at this time although he has offered to meet with a small group of three to four representatives if they so choose.”
About two dozen Emory students protesting the treatment of subcontracted employees on the DeKalb campus are sitting outside the president’s office in an effort to confront him over what they deem the university’s indifference to the workers’ plight.
(Here is some history on the issue from the Emory Wheel and here is a piece by two students explaining their stand. And here is a response to a student about the allegations of worker mistreatment by the food service company from Emory President James Wagner.)
“These workers are not protected by the code of conduct of Emory…by an ethically engaged university. They have no avenue of redress,” said Laura Emiko Soltis, one of the students lining the hallway outside President Wagner’s office at this moment. “Emory is one of the largest employers in Atlanta and this is something that Emory needs to take seriously.”
“A group of 25-30 people are sitting in the fourth floor corridor of the University’s administration building outside his office, but is not true that they have taken over his office,” confirmed Emory spokesman David C. Payne. ” The group includes off campus visitors as well. He is out of the office today and we do not expect him back. The university’s business is continuing without interruption. We are trying to set up a meeting with a select number of student representatives for tomorrow.”
But student organizer Soltis says, “We are going to stay as long as it takes; he has been avoiding us for a year and a half.”
If President Wagner doesn’t show up today, the students plan to occupy the building overnight. But what if Emory refuses to allow them to continue their protest and orders them to leave?
“Each student is going to decide whether they are willing to be arrested,” says Soltis, adding that at least three students are willing to face arrest. (Emory is going to get back to me on what it will do about the students spending the night outside Wagner’s office in the administration building. Will post as soon as Emory responds.)
“We are on our computers. We are singing songs,” Soltis said. “We are waiting for the president to tell us if he is on the side of the workers and students and an ethically engaged university.”
Emory farms out some of its services, including food service, to private contractors, creating what the students consider a two-tier system of worker rights and status on the campus. The contractual employees do not enjoy the benefits or protections afforded Emory direct employees, they say.
The students want Emory to end its multi-million dollar dining services contract and adopt standards to ensure fair treatment of subcontracted workers on campus.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
143 comments Add your comment
voiceofreason
April 20th, 2011
9:57 pm
I applaud the concern of Emory students who have a concept of the dignity of labor. The excoriation of the working people is a constant refrain of so called republicans (small r). True Republicans (capital R if you missed it…) are classic liberals who respect labor and the workers – cf. Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. Do a bit of reading if you can tear yourself away from faux news.
Julian
April 20th, 2011
9:59 pm
Let’s not talk about lazy and arrogant students. These are some of the few students willing to actively protest the unfair treatment of Sodexo employees. And no, the workers cannot simply find jobs elsewhere. It’s not that easy nowadays to secure a job, and you are pretty much at the whim of the employer once you have a job. I think it is safe to say that quitting is not an option for most of the Sodexo employees. Emory spends millions of dollars to get their buildings LEED certified and to maintain a reputation as an environmentally sustainable university. But what is the value of social sustainability?
Davan S. Mani
April 20th, 2011
10:03 pm
These protestors have worked a day in their life more than these comment folks. They work in the classroom, outside of schools, and in activism which is work if you do it right and they do. Just because you have children doesn’t mean you are a parent . If you are a parent, you would be respectful of these kids at all times who care about someone others than themselves. Your comments show no proof with have no proof.
love2teach
April 20th, 2011
10:15 pm
The bottom line, from a business major: what are YOU personally willing to pay for out of your own pocket? There is NO free ride and even JESUS preached that there would be poor always. I understand the compassion, but how much are these individual students willing to pay PERSONALLY?
TheTruthHurts
April 20th, 2011
10:27 pm
These are the typical Emory students…they think it ok to tax people who work there ass off and sacrifice to make THEMSELVES SUCCESSFUL and then tax them higher to give to the less fortunate…..but when asked to give some of their GPA away to those with lower GPA that are not as fortunate to have a 4.0 GPA they have all sorts of excuses…..LIBERALS ARE HYPOCRITE LOSERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOyaJ2UI7Ss&feature=player_embedded#at=182
Cam
April 20th, 2011
10:54 pm
Maureen,
I want to preface this by saying that I love your blog and I read it all the time as I really pay attention to what is going on in the public education realm – however, I’m an Emory student and I really want you to do some digging on this story to find out how it all started. These students mean well and have been at this for over a year but a lot of these kids have forgotten that their lifestyle is not necessarily the lifestyle of everyone else.
This started when students were “hanging out” with some of the food service works (which is fine) but then they realized how “terrible” those workers lives were. I’m not advocating for or against this protest but I’m merely saying that these students may be looking at this situation from the wrong perspective. I also think they may be forgetting that if President Wagner decides to end his contract with Sodexo not every single one of these people will be transferred to another campus or facility, it’s a good possibility that they may get fired.
As I said, I really think these students mean well but I’m a bit inclined to believe that they may be starting a controversy amid the workers that didn’t exist prior to this or at least did not exist to this extent. Sure everyone should be treated equally but at the end of the day they are in fact contracted. “Should” is not always reality. The perception that those first students got from “hanging out” with the workers comes from not understanding that to these people, maybe their job isn’t so bad and it certainly is not as bad as the alternative – unemployment.
Always Skeptical
April 20th, 2011
11:05 pm
It figures…Finally, even at my dear Emory, the worst business practices of corporate America have finally found a way into Cox Hall and the DUC. There was a time, not too long ago, that as a food-service worker at Emory,you were employed by the university. If your child worked hard and got in, he/she could go to school there on a courtesy scholarship. Now all of the jobs are farmed out to corporate goons who couldn’t give a rat’s a$$ about sending your kid to college. Wake up america! As long as we put little value on the working class and they work that they perform and their right to organize, we are doomed. Jim Laney was the end of an era.
Bobo Server
April 20th, 2011
11:26 pm
@ students: Don’t quit what your doing. Stay strong!
Ignorance is bliss
April 21st, 2011
12:30 am
All of you idiots saying that some people deserve to paid less than they need to live on and without that happening no one would ever be motivated, have you ever stopped to think this position through? First, that when a working person doesn’t make enough to live on in a full time job, we all pay through higher taxes for aid to the working poor such as food stamps and WIC. Second, through higher health care costs for when the working poor have to use ERs because they have no coverage to go to a doctor when a problem arises. It is a full circle and I actually would prefer that employers pay their people enough to live on so I don’t have to make up the difference. I know that is shocking as a position because it doesn’t fit into any of your liberal or conservative pigeonholes, but it is the only rational way to think about it. Full time jobs should pay living wages or we all pay to make up the difference.
Have you heard the one about Walmart managers telling their new hires how to apply for food stamps and peachcare because their wages will be low enough to qualify? Well, it’s no joke it happens all the time. I for one am tired of subsidizing megacorp’s profits with my tax dollars when they refuse to pay the actual cost of a checkout person. When companies don’t pay, we all pay.
johndoe
April 21st, 2011
12:53 am
To the people who are belittling Emory students, you are ignorant.
Student Neophyte
April 21st, 2011
1:00 am
why can’t everyone just make $100k a year and have a living wage?
Marc
April 21st, 2011
1:07 am
I went to Emory for 2 years and dropped out. Why? It was extremely boring and what they taught had NO basis in real life. Today I own my own company and am making WAY more than I ever would have with a degree from that school. Most American kids don’t go there anymore; look at the graduating classes. It’s all asians anymore. Why? Their governments pay their tuitions in return, they must return home to work; otherwise their families get sent to prison in China.
Jones
April 21st, 2011
1:12 am
Reading this string of comments has been interesting, to say the least.
A few patterns I’ve noticed:
For many angry responders, these students are just “children” who don’t know what the ” real world” is. According to this line of thinking, a child is someone who isn’t jaded enough to be indifferent to glaring injustices in the world. They will wake up someday and realize that the exploitation of workers, like sunburns or or the tide, is just the way things work. You wouldn’t want to change the way things work, would you? We should probably stop looking for the cure to cancer, then, shouldn’t we? Because that’s just how “the world” is: people get cancer. It’d be dumb to try and prevent cancer because cancer is a fact of life–like labor exploitation and starvation wages. You can’t change “the way things are.” What nonsense.
But the best line of thinking that people use to justify giving people starvation wages and treating them like animals is the good ol’ “they should go quit and work somewhere else or maybe they should’ve tried harder” bit. The greatest flaw this argument is its complete dismissal of the most fundamental fact of economics: scarcity. According to this flawed logic, if everyone “tried hard,” “went to school,” and “saved their pennies,” they wouldn’t have to work at Sodexo. Everyone knows that capitalism is a meritocracy: it doles out its rewards to those who deserve it, namely those who work hard. But there’s only so many “good jobs” to go around–there can only be so many CEOs, doctors, and lawyers in the world. Consequently, everyone else will have to work the “not good” jobs. Indeed, most people will. And the world’s most vital work is also its least appreciated and most degraded work–food service, for example. Everyone can’t have the cushy upper management job that somehow entitles you to scoff at or demean everyone else for not being as “good” as you are. People have to do this work. It’s literally the most important job there is: feeding people. And yet you somehow treat them like the dirt under your shoes. Furthermore, competition in capitalism forces companies to “cut costs.” Companies in highly competitive industries like food service have to outdo one another, which drives them to cut back on the quality of their products and the wages of their workers: which is why we get E. Coli from eating hamburgers at restarants that pay their workers minimum wage. Ol’ Tim Bob can’t stay in business when Joe Billy pays his workers a dollar less. Sodexo workers might be able to choose for another employer, but those other employers likely use many of the same deplorable practices as Sodexo. And if 25% of college graduates aged 18-24 are unemployed right now (thanks to the whizzes in Wall Street), imagine how much more difficult it is for someone without a high school diploma to somehow successfully acquire a job with better pay and a better work environment.
One of you had the audacity to say that “maybe they shouldn’t have a family and kids.” Are you saying poor people shouldn’t breed? That’s so thoughtful of you.
According to one of you, Jesus himself said that there’d always be poor people. So, you’re using the guy who said the greatest commandment was to love one another to justify the acceptance of poverty? You’re right: he did say that, but he also said that it’s the responsibility of everyone to take care of the poor. Look it up in Deuteronomy. You’re forgetting that Jesus was a vagrant: he wandered around from place to place begging for money. What a scumbag, huh? I bet he was an Emory undergrad–spoiled brat.
The lowlives who condescend to and demean these students for standing up for the principles Emory University purportedly stands for should be ashamed. Don’t YOU have anything better to do than foist your twisted, misanthropic views of the world onto the internet? Isn’t there more to college education than sitting around and reading economics (which many of you recommended) and learning to accept the pervasive inequity in our society?
BehindEnemyLines
April 21st, 2011
2:39 am
Step one toward a better America: Raise the voting age
CW
April 21st, 2011
4:38 am
The primary objective of the students is to get Emory to establish a code of conduct for contractors. Emory has made human rights a core principle of the institution. The contractor, Sodexo, an international company with headquarters in Paris, also provides food service for Morehouse, Ga Tech, and others. Morehouse food servers went on strike a few months ago over their treatment. The President of the University of Washington is threatening to fire Sodexo over the treatment of its foodservers. Two human rights organizations have isued reports very critical of Sodexo’s treatment of its staff. Emory is now being challenged to harmonize its actions with its rhetoric supporting fundamental human rights.
catlady
April 21st, 2011
7:10 am
Well, I guess my take on this is different from many others. I applaud the students! Not about their “cause,” about which I know little, but about the idea that they have decided NOT to be just sheep. Too many young people nowadays just blindly accept what they are told (like their parents do, BTW) rather than thinking for themselves and acting when they think there is injustice.
That is one of the ways it seems like to me this age group and their somewhat-younger-than-me parents differ from my generation: They blindly accept what Fox News or some other TV channel/personality tells them and are led, blind as bats, to the slaughter.
I am reminded of an old Doonesbury cartoon where the students in the class are blinding writing down whatever the professor says so he starts making absolutely crazy statements. They continue writing it down, and one student says to another, “Isn’t he great! I didn’t know half this stuff before!”
So, whatever their “cause,” at least these students are engaging.
Consider this
April 21st, 2011
8:30 am
From the Emory Wheel:
Sodexo provides a “living wage” for its employees and revisits the living wage annually, Mitchell said.
This year, the wage was set at $10.50, which is nearly 45 percent more than the federal minimum wage at $7.25.
“The least anyone can be paid working for Sodexo at Emory is $10.50,” Mitchell said. “Depending on your skill set, you will be paid more.”
By the way, Emory provides free transportation to many Marta stops in the form of the Cliff Ride.
Lowcountry Dawg
April 21st, 2011
8:52 am
You can fix stupid! Stupid = Liberalism
Lowcountry Dawg
April 21st, 2011
8:54 am
Well…stupid me! You CAN’T fix stupid! Stupid=Liberalism
Philosopher
April 21st, 2011
9:08 am
@Emory alum: I agree. And I am glad to see someone who cares about someone else’s plight other than their own. I am so, so tired of the rantings of hard -ass, penny-pinching wallet worshipers. I don’t even care if the students are wasting their time..it’s THEIR time…I’m not paying for it and neither are any of the rest on here. Emory has a history of terrorizing anyone who attempts to improve the working conditions and if you even whisper the word “union”, they go after you BIG time. There is always the OTHER side to any issue…what is great about America is that we are free to unveil that other side and fight for it if we choose…even if the other guy is bigger or louder or meaner. Running off to look for another job is not only impractical (anybody paying attention to the job market/unemployment these days?) but running away simply puts another person in that place to suffer the same injustice…it takes character and courage to stay and try to make make things better.
A Conservative Voice
April 21st, 2011
9:22 am
All of you who are saying…..”It’s not so easy finding another job in this economy” obviously haven’t been reading the news about all the illegals here in Georgia. Tell you what you freakin’ Emory Liberals, get rid of all the illegals first and then we’ll talk; however, I think the employment situation would be so much improved, you’d be ashamed to open your liberal mouths.
DW
April 21st, 2011
9:36 am
I want to know when the Research Techs are going to unionize.
A liberal with a mortgage and children
April 21st, 2011
9:39 am
This liberal proudly raised the kids to be generous, to care for those less blessed, and to worship something other than the almighty dollar. And we are doing quite well, thank you! We liberals are deperately needed to add balance to the mean-spirited, selfish, hard-hearted other side.
Jonathan e
April 21st, 2011
9:51 am
These group of idiot students should be expelled. They are subcontractors, get it? Its unfortunate that colleges don’t offer real world 101. if they don’t like their wages or how they are treated, then they are free to go elsewhere. Employment-at-will, what an amazing thing.
Pluto
April 21st, 2011
9:58 am
Workers of the World Unite! Why are these altruistic idealists even bothering with college and an expensive one at that. Just go down to the Union or community organizing recruiting center and sign up.
A liberal with a mortgage and children
April 21st, 2011
10:34 am
And you can thank all these idiotic, stupid, altruistic liberals for 8 hour work days, weekends, bathroom breaks, paid overtime, holidays, child labor protection laws, etc, etc…
Pluto
April 21st, 2011
10:51 am
And market dynamics had absolutely nothing to do with improved working conditions; it was command and control government regulations only.
A liberal with a mortgage and children
April 21st, 2011
11:09 am
It certainly was not the result of kindly, benevolent, generous, wealthy employers (being facetious, here). Humans are just a commodity to these folks…It was in response to the outcry of the people to the only people willing to change the staus quo. It’s a pity that command and control government is often the only resort against tyrrany…but at least we in America have that.
Pluto
April 21st, 2011
11:19 am
Gee and all this time I thought command and control government was tyranny. I am free to seek employment elsewhere or start my own business if I am not being treated to my liking and I have exercised this option in the past. Nobody was holding a gun to my head.
Just Wondering
April 21st, 2011
11:43 am
I think that all of us were once wide-eyed idealist right out of college who thought we could change the world, I was a social worker right out of college working with the most needy and lowest rungs of society, so I feel compassion for anyone who wants to better themselves. However, I found that you can only help those who are willing to help themselves. I just have a couple of questions for the students and anyone else who thinks that organizing and unionizing will help these people.
1. Do you really know who you are ‘working for’ and who is supporting your protest activities? From the article, this is only 25 students (out of a student population of approximately 12,000) protesting and ’some outside people’. No mention of actual Sodexho workers.
Have you checked with the Sodexho workers as to whether they want a union and have been advised of what they would have to pay in union dues? Who are the outside people? Union organizers? Who benefits the most from organizing these food service workers? The workers? No chance, ….the union leaders and bosses and the political machinery that all those unions support are the real benefactors.
In one of my previous jobs, I was forced to belong to a union for 12 years. Although we were in a right to work state, GA, and supposedly could resign from the union, the national contract with the union required the company to still take out the $55/mo union dues from our paychecks. Even if we didn’t want to be represented by the union, we had to pay…. talk about ‘taxation without representation’.
Then when the unions called a strike and forced the company into bankruptcy, did any of us get even one cent of the $8000+ in union dues I had paid in over the last 12 years? Nope, not one dime to help support me and my family. Instead we watched as our union ‘played hardball’ with our jobs and livlihood making demands that the company couldn’t and wouldn’t meet. The union representatives continued to draw a paycheck from the union and were later hired by the union to organize unionization drives at other companies.
Then let’s talk about worker intimidation. Before the strike, several union activists were ’sabotaging’ equipment costing millions of dollars and actually putting lives in danger. Once the strike was called, if a worker decided that they needed to cross the picket lines to continue to put food on their table and take care of their family, they were threatened and intimidated with harm. Replacement workers and anyone deciding to go back to work were called ’scabs’ and worst. These were the same people who had been your co-workers just days before.
Our company eventually folded and instead of the almost $1200/mo I was to get from the company retirement plan, I now receive $147/mo from what was left in the retirement fund once the assets were sold off. If you think the unions actually care about the workers other than as pawns and lemmings they can lead off a cliff, you are sadly mistaken. The union representatives and bosses didn’t suffer and the company leaders had their golden parachutes, only the workers were left to scramble to find new jobs.
2. I am not so callous as to believe the students are not interested in bettering the lives of the food service workers and care about their fellow man, Why don’t they enlist some of their peers in the business school to develop a business plan to start their own food service company?
If they can show everyone that they can run a competitive company with better wages, better worker treatment, etc. I am confident that Emory would be happy to sign a contract with them to provide food service for the university. In fact I am sure that they would pay a premium to have an employee owned and operated company doing business on the campus. They could even structure the company where the ‘executives’ are paid no more than 5X the lowest paid worker and show the world how insane it is for certain executives to be paid thousands of times what their employees are paid.
Instead of telling someone else how they should run their company, show them that workers will be motivated to do better if they are treated fairly and with respect. There are companies out there that are doing right by their employees, right by their stockholders and right by the community and environment. Go emulate them. I just hope once you find that you have to meet all the payroll taxes, health insurance, government regulations, etc. that when you look in the mirror you end up looking just like Sodexho.
Consider this
April 21st, 2011
11:55 am
To Liberal with a mortgage, I’d encourage you to read the Emory president’s response letter in the link above (in the article). It seems to me the university has an understanding of the issues and is hardly engaged in tyranny. From the letter, it is clear that there are other, national players involved in the debate. Having said that, it doesn’t bother me that the students want to protest on behalf of a union as this is, of course, their right to do so.
A liberal with a mortgage and children
April 21st, 2011
11:56 am
Maybe on Pluto life has such cushy choices for all. But here in America, most of us don’t have such sweet options. And it takes large numbers of workers to get life’s dirty jobs done. Safety regulations and worker’s rights (command and control government, if that is how you must think of it) are only tyrrany to those who must be forced to treat the worker bees humanely.
Pluto
April 21st, 2011
1:22 pm
I think I get it now; you’re one of those AuntieAmerican Americans that believes that the wheels of capitalism are greased by the blood of the workers or something like that. Well it’s a good thing that you hold a mortgage and have a family now we just have to work on growing up. Happy Resurrection.
Coco
April 21st, 2011
1:28 pm
They mean that these ordinary sub-contract workers are not covered by the pie-in-the-sky Emory “code of conduct” and other results of the liberal thinking that has taken over the place. These employees are out in the REAL WORLD, which of course most of the students will continue to think is a TV show, until which time they are launched out into it. Being talked down to in a meeting is going to be the least of their concerns after a few years, I’ll bet.
J.C.
April 21st, 2011
3:45 pm
Actually, Emory reimburses this contractor to pay its employeesthe Emory minimum wage, which is over $10/hr. This is more than the workers coud get at other contractor clients.
It’s not about pay. It’s about unionizing the contractor workers. And it’s about wanting the University to pay more money for benefits and increase its payroll. That would increase costs for all.
Clearly, these students need more schoolwork to do.
OTOH
April 22nd, 2011
3:08 am
Let us all praise the empathy of the students as they demand someone else pay for what they want! Someday they will find out that Evil Sodexo is paying their workers more than their local competitors. Then what sit ins at Piccadilly?
I remember Dooley’s Den and the Blue Buffant. Good times.
Advocate
April 22nd, 2011
9:58 am
Sodexho is a contractor for Atlanta Public Schools as acquired by Supt Beverly Hall as she outsourced the APS cafeteria staff and the meals have been horrible since they have been in the system. They only care about the cheap bottom line at the expense of the health of the students.
APS is the only district in the state with this horrible outsourced vendor called Sodexho and I hope they leave with her as soon as it can happen. Who serves “pizza with collard greens”?The Emory students are on to something believe me that company has issues. Do a google search and see for yourself.
Dr NO
April 22nd, 2011
1:46 pm
student
April 20th, 2011
5:09 pm
Living wage…lol. You need more indcotrination at the First Church of Ebenezer.
Judy Butler
April 22nd, 2011
5:31 pm
President Wagner of Emory University gave a great inaugraul address upon accepting the Emory presidency in which he spoke of the divisiveness and isolation that plagues the larger world community – his speech was an articulation of what he saw as the role of the privileged higher academic community in the fight against such divisiveness, specifically between the haves and the have nots “To whom much has been given, of them much will be required. The link between privilege and obligation is inescapable and strong – Let me repeat. The true purpose of higher education is to lead us out of our self-
centered universe to a place where we can perceive the world from others’ perspectives
and have a positive effect on the community. ”
The president was speaking during a time when Emory Univeresity’ s past relationship to slavery and their contracting of companies and tradespeople that used slaves was an issue in the press, and his inaugural speech tries to address what responsibilities Emory had because of the past associations that they contracted that benefited from the oppression of others. He expressed regret for Emory University’ s role in the exploitation of slaves, and yet he resists a very current, local and immediate opportunity to not repeat the same mistake. President Wagner’ s response to this current claim that Emory financially benefits from contracting with shady partners like Sudexo is to frame the conflict lawsuit between big labor versus Sudexo, but the International Human Rights Watch and other international human rights organizations have raised issues specifically with regard to Sudexo and the president does not address their concerns – nor even reference them. Some academic. He parrots the party line with regard to Sudexo – and the party is Sudexo – saying that there is no reason to NOT continue to contract with Sudexo – like they deserve to be considered innocent until proven guilty – this is not a courtroom, this is about a contract and its attendant working conditions – and it is an opportunity for Emory to make a stand as a consumer against divisiveness and close the gap between the have-nots who serve their meals– not only does Wagner ignore the opportunity, he defends Sudexos right to the benefit of the doubt – hardly an attempt to lead the way on safe and fair working conditions. There is no justification for continuing to give this company the benefit of the doubt or Emorys contract if internationally recognized human rights groups have given good reason to question Sudexos business and labor practices.
I was a contract worker at Emory for more than 10 years and I must say I am appalled, dismayed and disappointed by Emory University President Wagners response to the students who have demonstrated their concern for this issue – an unselfish, responsible, rare and brave act. This demonstration and their efforts in the name of their fellow Emory community members is not your typical resume community charity work that students compile like credits while in college. Quite the opposite, the students were threatened with arrest and Emory called in Dekalb county police and attempted to intimidate the students by threatening to have them arrested.
This effort by an Emory student group is a true act of empowerment, a sincere sharing of power across social lines that allows the students power as consumers to be brought to bear on the companies that solicit their business for the benefit of the workers who serve them and are vulnerable to reprisals – students, from their privileged position as consumers are empowered to act without the threat of losing a job. Their articulation of their concern for the people who live in their community is EXACTLY the kind of responsible concern that President Wagner described and called for in his first Inaugural address 2004:
Higher education teaches us that our own experiences and personal
“data base” are incomplete until we understand the needs, issues, and opportunities of
others. Higher education, by strengthening communication and bonds among us,
weakens the forces that pull us apart.
“To whom much has been given, of them much will be required.” The link between privilege and obligation is inescapable and strong
….all members of the Emory University community, I do believe that,
when privilege and responsibility are held together, genuine higher education is a
compelling answer to divisiveness and isolation in the world.
Let me repeat. The true purpose of higher education is to lead us out of our self-
centered universe to a place where we can perceive the world from others’ perspectives
and have a positive effect on the community. Higher education is as much about gaining
insight as it is about gaining information; as much about seeking wisdom as it is about
seeking knowledge.
I see that the President has at least the rap down for think globally – it would be even better if he would look for opportunities to act locally as well – and commend Emory students when they actually are functioning as a force for good and for the good of their community members, rather than threatening to lock them up for having the temerity to ask that the administration respond to their concerns. The real world sucks when you decide that it does – sincerely Judy Butler ps: be the change you would like to see in the world – Ghandi
northbeach Scott
April 22nd, 2011
8:25 pm
Judy, not sure I would quote Ghandi supporting your cause. That man sacrificed hundreds of thousands of his followers and delayed the emancipation of India almost 20 years because of his hubris. He was in many ways a discraceful human being and a hypocrite.
Anonymous black student
April 26th, 2011
12:59 am
Yea maybe the spoiled white rich kids, i have yet to meet a spoiled black person on this campus, so please dont put us in the same category
Emory students arrested for protest of worker treatment. Students plan vigil tonight | Get Schooled
April 26th, 2011
1:02 pm
[...] I guess Emory changed its mind about allowing students to protest the treatment of sub-contract workers on the campus. (Read this blog from last week for background.) [...]
Ole Guy
April 26th, 2011
5:39 pm
Many of us will/might remember the 60s sit-ins and demonstrations of various crecendos regarding ROTC activities on campuses across the Country; we may even remember the tragedy at Kent State. Like it or not/support it or not, this is part of the cornerstone of democracy: peaceful gatherings, freedom of speech, etc. If this demonstration was centered on topics high on political agendas, such as the Cobb County Board of Kings’ family values schtick, or some such crap shoved down the political throats of the religous right, the entire event would receive all the pc reverence hypocritically possible. But what the hay, these are just low-wage expendables, right…