Support Student Activism

Written by: Kevin Shaw on Apr 25, 2008 7:28 AM EDT

On April 15, thirty one Penn State students, including DFA member Tina Robinson, were arrested for sitting in at Old Main to demand that President Spanier adopt the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), which would ensure that manufacturers of Penn State branded apparel pay their workers a living wage and afford them the right to unionize. Though in his office all day, President Spanier did not engage the student protesters or the 200 supporters outside. This was the largest sit-in ever for the DSP!

University Police have now notified the students that they will be charged with defiant criminal trespass which carries a maximum sentence of 12 months in jail or a $25,000 fine.

PLEASE SIGN the online petition to Free the Penn State 31!

The sit-in was a non-violent act of civil disobedience and the participants were respectful of Old Main employees, administrators and police. In a notice informing students that refusal to leave the building would result in arrest, administrators wrote,

"Penn State commends the civility of the students who expressed their interest in urging the university to endorse the proposed Designated Suppliers Program."

A day later, the administration kicked students off of the Old Main steps for passing out fliers (Activists keep protests alive).

Tina wants you to know, "We will not be silenced"

"You can also write to President Spanier to inform him that you oppose his attempts to silence those demanding improved conditions in the factories where Penn State apparel is made. Send the following letter to Spanier at president@psu.edu or call his office at 814-865-7611.

President Spanier,

Please do not press charges or take academic disciplinary action against the thirty-one students who sat in Old Main on April 15, 2008, in support of the Designated Suppliers Program.

and, "We will not go away"

"Spanier is hoping he can wait us out, but it won't work. The university community has been demanding the DSP for two and a half years and will demand the DSP for two and a half more.

"Our goal is to get 1,000 students and community members to sign the online petition and 100 professors to sign the letter! Please help us make this happen. Please support Student Activism for worker's and human rights. Please support our right to peacefully assemble and speak our minds."

PLEASE SIGN the online petition to Free the Penn State 31!

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Location: PA