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Six students arrested in sweatshop protest |
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Sunday, 13 April 2008 |
 University Police keep protesters behind caution tape as students are arrested from B.B. Dougherty Administrative Building Friday. Photo by Derek DeSha
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by JILLIAN SWORDS
News Reporter
University Police arrested six students with the United Students Against Sweatshops Friday evening, ending the group’s 50-plus hour sit-in in the basement of the B.B. Dougherty administration building.
After deliberating for almost two hours behind closed doors with other members of the administration, Vice Chancellor for Student Development Cindy A. Wallace said in a statement to the group prior to
arrests that the administration felt it had been patient in allowing the students “the allocation of ASU
police officers and other resources in a manner we can no longer allow.”
The students were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing when they refused to
vacate the building. Roughly 25 other students were participating in the sit-in but left when directed by
police.
The students followed the officers that were leading the handcuffed protestors to the vans, chanting:
“J-U-S, J-U-S-T-I-C-E. What, we want, is justice in our factories.”
The students were later released on $300 bail.
“We all had designated roles,” senior political science major Matthew H. Cronheim said. “We decided a
while ago who was going to go and who was going to stay [to be arrested].”
 Senior interdisciplinary major Billy E. Shweig is arrested and led away by authorities after police requested the protesters leave. Photo by Holt Menzies
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USAS was protesting the university administration’s lack of support for the Designated Supplier’s
Program (DSP), a program with the international non-profit Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) that
USAS members say would ensure all paraphernalia sold in the University Bookstore is manufactured
under fair working conditions.
Chancellor Kenneth Peacock was out of town for the majority of last week and unavailable to speak
with the group.
Senior interdisciplinary studies major Kelly L. Refalo was a participant of the sit-in. She explained the
WRC keeps track of which factories have problems and brings them up to code.
This can actually result in job loss for workers, however, because once a factory fails with the WRC,
brands will oftentimes stop using it.
“With the DSP, brands have to stay with the factories,” Refalo said. “This is where the legality comes
in though, because under free trade, you’re supposed to be able to go wherever you want.”
 University and Boone police hold back protesters as students are arrested and put into a van at a side door to the B.B. Dougherty Administrative Building at approximately 7 p.m. Friday. Photo by Derek DeSha
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USAS has been attempting negotiation with the administration on this matter since last semester.
Chief of Staff for the Chancellor’s Office Dr. Lorin A. Baumhover said the university reviewed the DSP
for several months and, after receiving legal counsel, declined to sign.
The DSP was awaiting approval from the U.S. Department of Justice at that time, Baumhover said.
It’s request for approval was eventually withdrawn, so it has still failed to receive the antitrust
clearance the university wants before endorsement.
“In looking at [the DSP], we concluded that we were going to stay with the current organization that we
have,” Baumhover said. “We feel that there’s enough guarantees in preservation of people’s rights,
wages, treatment practices and so forth. The [DSP] is a concept, it’s not an organization… It’s too
ill-formed for us to sign on to.”
He added that university administrators have met with USAS four times in the past year and a half,
twice with legal counsel and once with Chancellor Peacock.
“I know there’s a notion that we refuse to meet with them and that’s simply not true,” Baumhover said.
The sit-in began at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday as the Campus Anti-War Network leant support to other
USAS members in leading a rally on Sanford Mall.
Wallace warned USAS Friday evening that any further use of university building for similar activity
would make them subject to arrest.
Cronheim said the group needed to consult to plan their next step, but that USAS is going to pursue
further action until their demands are met by the administration.
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I'm of the opinion that arresting students for taking an active role in social justice issues is more damaging to our reputation than allowing visitors to see that we have an engaged student body. I don't buy the rationale that the administration was "forced" to take this step, based on a "resource" issue. This was a DECISION, and an important one about image and reputation.
Personally, I'm ashamed that our administration took this step. I'm ashamed that we care more about our image as a football power, than as a place where students can engage in learning and take active steps to put what they have learned into practice in an attempt to make the world a better place.