Hundreds of students at Temple
University walked out of their classrooms Oct. 21 to join a rally and
march in solidarity with Occupy Philadelphia. The students later
participated in a march to the University of Pennsylvania, forcing
U.S. House of Representatives majority leader Eric Cantor to cancel
his speech at UPenn’s elite Wharton School of Business.
The walkout was called a few days after
Occupy Philly officially began on Oct. 6. Student organizers put
forward a number of demands, including an end to tuition hikes and
budget cuts, student loan debt forgiveness, and measures to address
the youth unemployment crisis and make higher education more
accessible to communities of color.
Faculty members also came out in
support of the Occupy movement a few days before the walkout. The
statement they issued, signed by 84 professors, read in part: “Higher
education, for those able and willing to pursue it, should be a right
and not a privilege. More broadly, we share the outrage of Occupy
Wall Street at a system that provides increasingly few opportunities
for the majority—the 99 percent—while generating vast profits for
a tiny minority.” Many faculty members canceled their classes on
the day of the walkout.
The day’s actions began with a rally
at the Bell Tower at Temple, where hundreds gathered despite a heavy
police presence to hear speakers from several organizations,
including the Student Labor Action Project, the Party for Socialism
and Liberation, and the Temple University Graduate Students
Association. The crowd then marched through campus, chanting “Out
of the classrooms and into the streets!”
The march then left campus and headed
towards Occupy Philly’s camp at City Hall. Favorite chants included
“No cuts! No fees! Education should be free!” and “Get up, get
down, there’s revolution in this town!” Before arriving, the
demonstration made a detour through the Community College of
Philadelphia and received an enthusiastic welcome.
After reaching City Hall, the crowd
held a speak-out, where students shared their difficult experiences
while expressing an overwhelming desire to fight back.
The initial plan was to then march to
the University of Pennsylvania to protest a speech by Majority leader
Cantor. Cantor is one of the foremost reactionary politicians in
Washington and had called protesters participating in the Occupy
movement a “mob.”
However, after reaching the Occupy
Philly camp, demonstrators learned that Cantor had canceled his
speech after learning about the planned march and that some seats in
the audience would be open to the general public. Organizers decided
to proceed with the demonstration to celebrate their victory.
The protesters, numbering nearly 1,000,
including a large number of Temple students from the walkout, held a
rally outside of the Wharton School of Business after arriving at
UPenn. This time, most of the speakers represented the labor movement
and sent messages of solidarity from unions including UFCW, SEIU, and
AFSCME.
After the
speeches ended, hundreds began streaming inside the lobby of the
Wharton School for another speak-out, forcing security guards at the
door to withdraw. After this impromptu action, the crowd went on a
final march back to the occupation site.
The actions on Oct. 20 were a
significant success for Occupy Philadelphia. Temple University was
energized by one of the largest and most militant actions the campus
had seen in years, and a high-ranking capitalist politician was
chased out of the city. We are confident that these are just the
first in a long series of victories to come.
