Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Student Movement

By Cecelia O’ Brien

Athens, GA – The Eastern contingent of Students for a Democratic Society’s Southern Tour visited the University of Georgia-Athens on August 21. The tour is part of an effort to build student activism in the South and to mobilize for the march on the Republican National Convention, August 27. Students were extremely receptive and we are glad to report that the University of Georgia-Athens has now started a chapter of SDS.

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By staff

Athens, GA – Student organizers from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), in anticipation of one of the largest demonstrations Florida will see in years, are eager to share their plans with students and activists who will be traveling to Tampa next week for the march on the RNC. The group of organizers was in high spirits, listening to political hip hop and swapping stories about activist experiences as they pulled in to Athens Georgia on August 20.

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By staff

Tampa, FL – Starting on August 18, members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) will kick off a major, week-long effort to build for the August 27 protest at the Republican National Convention, by visiting college campuses in the Southern region of the U.S.

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By Skye Schmelzer

Jonathan Alingu, president of SLAP-UCF/Orlando and Luis Lopez protest outside of

Newark, DE – On May 24, over 150 angry students and community organizers gathered outside of Sallie Mae’s annual shareholder meeting to show support for a small activist contingent that attended the shareholder event. Students travelled from all over the country to protest, including organizers from Florida and New Jersey. The initial demand was to hold a discussion with Sallie Mae CEO Albert Lord. The protesters slammed Sallie Mae for being one of the top profiteers from the current student loan debt crisis.

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By Alyssa Ferris

Utah students protest

Salt Lake City, UT – Students, professors and the local community protested a move to close the cosmetology program at the Taylorsville campus of Salt Lake Community College on May 16.

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By Masao Suzuki

San José, CA – A new report by the Associated Press confirms what many people already knew: the job market for young college graduates just plain sucks. Pardon my language, but to have more than half (53.6%) of people under 25 with a bachelor’s degree either out of work or doing jobs that only need a high school diploma or even less education is outrageous.

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By Jacob Flom

Milwaukee protest demand justice for Trayvon Martin

Milwaukee, WI – Students and community members rallied at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, March 29, to demand justice for Trayvon Martin. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized the rally with the Black Student Union, AFSCME Local 82 and the support of Occupy the Hood Milwaukee and Occupy Milwaukee. 75 students marched silently across campus behind a banner that read “Justice for Trayvon.” When the march reached the student union they began chanting a call and response “Jail the killer, fire the cops! Without justice we won't stop!”

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By Fern

Gainesville SDS MC Chrisley Carpio introduced the speakers at Turlington Plaza

Gainesville, FL – Over 200 students, community activists and supporters rallied and marched from the University of Florida campus to the downtown FBI office on March 26, demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. Organizers of the rally brought forward two main demands: Arrest George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin and fire the police involved in the case for obstructing justice and covering-up the truth.

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By Kelly O'Brien

Minneapolis, MN – Over 65 people joined a March 1 protest here for education rights at the University of Minnesota campus. Students, staff and faculty rallied outside of Morrill Hall, the administrative building on campus, to call for transparency in governance, an end to bloated administration, and no tuition hikes or staff and faculty layoffs.

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By staff

University of Minnesota SDS protests education cuts.

Tallahassee, FL – On Thursday, March 1, the student movement in the United States took a collective step forward in the fight for higher education. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), along with Occupy Education groups across the country and other progressive student organizations, held a nationwide day of action against crippling budget cuts, tuition hikes, and student debt.

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By Jacob Flom

UWM students protest March 1 for education rights

Milwaukee, WI – Hundreds of students, faculty, and staff rallied at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) for the March 1st National Day of Action for Education rights. Members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), AFSCME Local 82, and AFT Locals marched across campus chanting “No remorse, no regret, we wont pay our student debt!” The crowd stopped at the Chancellor's office to present the demands of the Education Rights Coalition, where they were met by members of the administration. The coalition demands include a tuition freeze, student loan debt forgiveness, and collective bargaining rights for public employee unions affected by Governor Scott Walker's union busting.

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By Jared Hamil

Students occupy the Marshall Student Center

Tampa Bay, FL – Over 200 students rallied at the University of South Florida to protest budget cuts and rising tuition costs. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) along with other groups, including Occupy USF and a local union with the American Federation of State, City, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), took part in a walkout to protest the attacks on students and education. This walkout came as part of the March 1st National Day of Action for Education Rights. Across the board, education continues to be cut and tuition is on the rise.

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By Kelly O'Brien

Minneapolis, MN – Across the country, student activists are promoting a national day of action for education rights on March 1. While administrators make six figure salaries and receive bonus payouts, students’ tuition and fees are rising to unprecedented heights and staff and faculty continue to be laid off. Students are paying more for fewer services and less education. Students, staff and faculty nationwide are uniting for transparency in administration and spending and the right to an affordable education.

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By staff

Feb 17 protest at Brian Piccolo Elementary Specialty School

Chicago, IL – Yellow buses from across the city arrived with students, parents, staff and community members for a rally at Lake View High School, Feb 20. Their message to Mayor Rahm Emanuel: “Support our schools, don't close them.”

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By Students for a Democratic Society

SDS tent at Occupy Minneapolis, Nov. 29

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

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By staff

Tents at Angela Davis (formerly Wilson) Plaza, Occupy UCLA.

Los Angeles, CA – “Evict us, we multiply, occupy will never die!” Despite crackdowns against encampments around the country, a large group of students, activists, and union members launched “Occupy UCLA” on Thursday, after a noon rally of several hundred students and workers against budget cuts and fee hikes.

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By Chris Getowicz

Participants in SDS National Convention

Milwaukee, WI – Students gathered over the weekend of Nov. 12 for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) 6th annual National Convention at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Over 150 students from across the country gathered to participate in workshops, share organizing skills, and exchange experiences about campaigns and strategies practiced on their respective campuses. For over half the students in attendance, this was their first SDS convention.

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By Fern

Students learn all about tuition hikes

Gainesville, FL – Students at the University of Florida (UF) got a real taste of fear this past week when members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) hosted the “Tuition Hikes House of Horrors.” SDS created a walk in haunted house filled with information about the scary 15% tuition hikes the University of Florida administrators are imposing.

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By staff

Logo for the 2011 SDS national convention.

Milwaukee, WI – On November 12th, over a hundred student organizers from across the country will gather here to participate in the 6th annual National Convention of [Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)](http://www.newsds.org). SDS was re-founded in 2006 in response to the upsurge of war in the Middle East and the need for a united, national multi-issue radical student and youth organization in the United States.

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By Chris Getowicz

Students march on Wells Fargo in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – Students from colleges and universities across the Twin Cities gathered for the second week in a row, Oct. 19, at the Occupy MN space in downtown Minneapolis.

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