By Mason Soto and Daniel.
The Industrial Workers of the World South Sound General Education Union, or the GEU, held a rally on Red Square last Wednesday, May 8, in a call to re-open the pool and fund the arts department at Evergreen.
Union members went to the Board of Trustees Meeting, which was moved from its regular on-campus location to the Lord Mansion. On Twitter, the GEU accused the board of meeting “off campus to avoid our rally and to instill more Austerity.”
The union delivered a list of demands to the board, including a $1 million cut from the administration and halving of the president’s salary, the re-opening of the pool as a worker-ran cooperative, the re-opening of Photoland facilities, the costume shop, and the experimental theater, and re-hiring of staff and faculty who were let go because of budget cuts.
The letter ends by stating that, “If meaningingful action is not taken to meet these demands within the next fourteen days, further action will be taken.”
The GEU tweeted that, “Despite the top administrators holding their austerity session within a palace, and us crashing their bougee [sic] party, we are still rallying on campus at 12:30 pm!”
“Cuts to higher education are often part & parcel with cuts to P-12. It’s time to roll back austerity at every level!” said Evergreen’s student branch of the Washington Education Association on twitter. On the same day, sixty-thousand teachers across Oregon walked out to protest underfunding.
The union posted fliers advertising the rally on Red Square, asking supporters to wear red at the event. The rally opened with a land acknowledgment from Native Pathways student Levi Harter, and proceeded with a reading of the demand letter and speeches from community members.
Political economy professor Peter Bohmer gave a speech about how Evergreen budget cuts represent economic austerity, as they have closed the pool and theater but left police budget untouched. Bohmer called the budget cuts and enrollment decline, “a vicious spiral downwards.“
Later, the rally interrupted the Spring Crafts Fair held at the same time in the CAB, marching in with chants about supporting the arts.
“All of a sudden they started a little parade coming in with their megaphone yelling, passing out flyers. It was kind of inspiring, but also distressing.” said Robin Chapman, an Evergreen sophomore.
The GEU began organizing last fall, and has held a number of rallies on Red Square. This is the second demand letter they have delivered to the administration, after the first last fall listed demands to hire a political economy professor and halt the hiring of new police officers. In February, the GEU claimed that Evergreen had complied with their demands, and held a victory social.
