Letters of Support
If you have a message for the students sitting in, please mail it to
pslm@hcs.harvard.edu, and we will post it here. The students
on the inside can
read these messages, and love to get them. Show your support! Feel free to
send poems, quotations, funny stories, what ever.
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 16:15:29 EDT
Subject: living wage sit-in
I'm a pre-frosh and your sit-in inspires me to no end! I'm sorry that my
future alma mater isn't negotiating but thrilled that my future
school-mates are so conscientious, active, and brave. Maddy E, I love you
and miss you and can't wait to help out with your campaign next year
(although I hope there's no need for it by then!)
-Sarah, NYC
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 15:59:11 -0400
From: "Loew, Cori"
Subject: sit-in, the nation
dear ben, i wanted to let you know that i am on the other side of the
world, in santiago, chile, but after finding out from a friend what is
going on at harvard, i've emailed your president, deans, and a whole list
of people that were recommended... i just read your piece in the nation
online and you all are kickass rockstars... today a general strike of
chilean workers began following a labor day march for healthcare and a
basic sueldo suitable for living. i marched with them for a little
while, chanting, holding signs, standing in solidarity- and while talking
to a welder at the rally i mentioned what the students, community
members, workers, and faculty at harvard university are fighting for. he
couldn't believe that harvard students (and all the stereotypes that
follow) actually cared about workers on the campus, nor could he believe
that they were sitting in for over 300 hours... and he asked me to let
you know that as he marched down the street in front of the department of
labor in santiago, he marched in solidarity with you all at harvard...
con paz y justicia, cori.
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 13:50:56 -0400
From: Tivey
Dear friends,
In the matter of the Living Wage Campaign, the PSLM has been carrying
coal not just for the lowest paid workers on campus, but for all of the
Harvard Community. You need not carry the whole of this load alone.
Perhaps it's becoming time to distribute this burden more evenly. I
believe that all segments of the community will now exercise the tools at
their disposal in coming to the aid of the Campaign. You have advanced
the cause immensely. You have moved substantial numbers of people in
every corner of the Harvard Community to support a Living Wage. In all
the work that each of us has to do to make the Living Wage become an
imminent reality, we can never lose sight of the significance of your
contributions, the strength of your convictions, and the power of your
actions.
We *will* prevail.
In solidarity,
-Tivey.
ALB '97
Staff Assistant III, Department of Economics
HUCTW activist
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 12:35:59 -0500
From: Mischa A. Gaus
Subject: Days
hey harvard --
just wanted to let you know that northwestern students spent
hours on the phone yesterday debating secretaries and informing voice
mail of your demands. they were pretty sick of us after a while and had
to take the phone off the hook. we really owe a debt of graditude to you
guys -- our campaign for the WRC "coincidentally" ended after a
solidarity fast for harvard, and our administration was very aware of
what was happening inside mass hall. the sacrifice you are making is
paving the way for us and future living wage campaigns that will help
workers and communities around the nation and the globe. thanks for your
dedication. you have the support and utmost admiration from all of us at
northwestern.
stay strong,
mischa
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 09:57:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: david prothero
To: Harvard Living Wage Campaign
Subject: Re: 5/4 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
go get em! keep up the hard work! i'm so happy you
guys are doing that.
great press too, great article in globe
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 08:42:35 -0700
Subject: Solidarity
I will e-mail everyday until this is settled in the workers favor.I
admire your courage! solidarity,
Bob Reilly IWW Galveston, Tx
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 09:16:59 +0200
Subject: go for it!
Hello
I read about your "action" in one of the biggest morning newspapers here
in Sweden.
It feels so good to see your support with the blue collarworkers;
people who are as necessary as the professors for your and all other
universitys. Or for the rest of society for that sake. And they deserve
a decent wage for the important work they are doing...
So, keep on fighting...
Heli Kärkkäinen
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 08:00:03 -0700
From: Mar Preston
Subject: Support from Santa Monica's Living wage campaign
I'm an organizer with the Santa Monica Living wage campaign. We've
recently won City Council's vote to begin drafting an ordinance that
would target the nation's first law that would ask private businesses
making more than $3million in annual gross receipts to pay a wage that
people can live on with respect and dignity. We're asking $10.69 an
hour with a $2.50/hour health insurance credit.
We are all excited watching you and send our best wishes your way. We
wish we could be there taking the heat with you.
Be strong. This is the right thing to do.
Mar Preston, Organizer
Santa Monicans Allied for Responsible Tourism
Look for us at www.laane.org
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 07:56:50 -0500
From: M Livingston
Subject: A note of support from Houston, Tx
I rarely tell people that I graduated from Harvard (class of '71). I saw
Harvard's ugly underside in the fight against racism and the war 30 years
ago. I believe I learned more from my participation in the struggle to
change Harvard than I learned in it's classrooms. It takes courage to
take up the battle from the belly of the beast.. I applaud you. This is
one of the few occasions when I've felt proud to be an alum. This is the
"Harvard tradition" that really matters. May you succeed in your demands
for the living wage. You have my support.
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 08:23:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: dan brezenoff
Subject: sit-in solidarity
Hey y'all
This is just a message to let you know that lots of us down here at
UNC-Chapel Hill are with you in spirit.
We had a very successful sit-in two springs ago as part of our
anti-sweatshop campaign, and the communications we received from other
college students and from Noam Chomsky (!) were very helpful in keeping
our spirits up. So I thought I'd write and say KEEP GOING! YOU FUCKING
ROCK!
dan brezenoff,msw
chapel hill, nc
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 22:09:01 -0400
From: David Goodman
Subject: good work on sit-in
Dear Harvard Living Wage Protesters,
As one of many Harvard alumni ('82) who was involved in efforts to
support a unionization drive for kitchen/maintenance workers on campus
20 years ago (as well as the campaign to get Harvard to divest from
apartheid South Africa), I'm writing to applaud what you are doing to
win a living wage for those same workers. Your struggle has long roots,
and your protest is in the best tradition of social activism at Harvard.
The institution will not move unless forced to. The kind of public
shaming that you are giving the Harvard administration is exactly the
right medicine.
People will tell you that "you'll grow out of" these social commitments.
You won't, and you shouldn't. You're doing the right thing. Keep on
doing it.
Solidarity,
David Goodman, Class of 82
From African-American faculty members of the Harvard University School of
Law:
We support the Living Wage Campaign because it draws attention to
Harvard's role as a "corporate citizen." Many of the affected workers --
those directly employed by Harvard or whose labor is subcontracted to
others -- are people of color and immigrants. But it is not only to these
workers that Harvard owes a duty to assure a living wage. Harvard is the
largest corporate employer in the City of Cambridge and a substantial
employer in other parts of the Boston area. More important, as a great
university, Harvard is -- and ought to be -- a moral leader throughout
the United States and around the world. It is therefore particularly
important that Harvard fulfill its public responsibilities as a corporate
citizen by committing itself to the principle that all those who work for
this great institution should earn a living wage.
Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor of Law
Co-Director, The Civil Rights Project at Harvard
Lani Guinier
Professor of Law
Kenneth Mack
Assistant Professor of Law
Charles J. Ogletree
Jesse Climenko Professor of Law
Faculty Director, Clinical Programs
David Wilkins
Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law
Director of the Program on the Legal Profession
_________LOCAL NAACP STATEMENT____________
The NAACP of Cambridge fully endorses the principles
of the Living Wage Campaign and encourages Harvard
University, as an employer of Cambridge workers, to
fulfill its role as a "corporate citizen" of the
Cambridge area.
Kathy A. Reddick
President NAACP, Cambridge Branch
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 23:54:39 -0400
From: Thad Williamson
Subject: letter of support from Dollars and Sense Magazine
We had informally endorsed before, but at our meeting tonight we approved
this letter of support for the living wage campaign. Great job!!! Let us
know if you want any more speakers from D&S (Chris Tiily spoke last
week.)
best,
Thad Williamson (Harvard Ph.D student, Department of Government)
Dear Members of the Living Wage Campaign,
We would like to congratulate you and thank you for your
outstanding efforts to improve working conditions at Harvard and indeed
to lift labor standards throughout the Cambridge area. You have overcome
the institutional arrogance of Harvard and the indifference of so many of
your peers to awaken a dormant sense of justice at Harvard, and have
attracted national attention to the need for workers to earn a living
wage. We are confident that the sit-in and related events will also soon
lead to real gains for Harvard's workers and provide a new baseline of
decency.
We thoroughly admire the principled persistence and the ethos of
solidarity you have demonstrated in the last three weeks. Actions like
yours inspire us as we continue our own advocacy for economic justice for
all. We all know the exhaustion and personal toll such thorough
commitment to a cause like this can take, and hope that our expression of
support will help in a small way to keep your spirits high from now until
the issue gets the just resolution it deserves.
Yours in solidarity,
The Dollars and Sense Collective
Cambridge, MA
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 11:37:55 -0400
From: Barbara Fuchs
Subject: Yes
Dear Matt et.al.
Thinking of you all.
Keep up the fight - so few can do so much!
Barb & Dan
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 16:26:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: LANNY SMITH
Subject: Re: 4/24 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Watching and writing about your struggle with interest, Companer@s.
Thinking about my friends among the custodial staff at HSPH. Could
someone give me the direct, exact, quotation from the outside wall of the
FXB Building (about the Right to Health being a fundamental Human Right)
and how many languages it is etched in, please? I want to use it in a
letter.
Lanny Smith
HSPH Class Marshal 2000
President, Doctors for Global Health, DGH
www.dghonline.org
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 11:20:00 -0700
From: Tom Mullane
Subject: Thank you
Hi,
I just wanted to send you a note of support. I think it is great what all
you folks are doing. In this era of globalized economic inequality it is
important for all people of conscious to fight for economic justice both
here and abroad. Keep up the great fight.
Tom Mullane
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 11:32:41 -0700
From: Ellen Herman
Subject: living wages in Cambridge
Dear friends,
I support the Harvard living wage campaign. I taught at Harvard
for a number of years before coming to the University of Oregon, so I
know exactly what it means to be a low-wage worker in Cambridge. Keep up
the good work!
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 11:37:25 -0500
From: lauren gofney
Subject: !
as a student on a college campus wallowing in apathy, where our attempts
to educate others about living-wage issues (specifically for our adjunct
faculty and dining service workers) are blatantly ignored, i just want to
extend my support and thanks to everyone involved in the sit-in. i'm
thinking about you.
sincerely,
lauren
webster university, st. louis
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 10:34:52 -0500
Subject: Stay Strong!
"I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed
and those who do the oppressed. I believe that there will be a clash
between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and
those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that
there will be that kind of clash, but I don't think it will be based on
the colour of the skin..." Malcolm X
It seems as though you are becoming the stage on which we must all
perform! Confronting capitalism and getting the attention of the press
nationwide only makes what you are doing even more important. The clash
that Malcolm was referring to appears to be pointing more and more to
economic and class struggle. If there is anything else I or we can do to
stand in solidarity with you or support you let me know and I will share
it with our campus! Thanks for taking this stand!
Peace and Solidarity,
Donnie Morgan
peace studies intern
Manchester College
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 10:20:06 -0700
From: cathy cuthbertson
Subject: Comments
Hi - Just wanted to let you know that I caught part of an interview
yesterday on public radio about your sit-in, and living-wage war. It
caught my ear immediately - I am a writer who formerly worked as a
waitress. All the while, I have been thinking about our tourism economy
here in southwest Florida and wanting to write a really in depth piece
about what really amounts to restaurant slavery. So, that said, I will
follow your campaign and its success with great interest. Thanks!
Cathy C. in Sarasota, Florida
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 04:55:15 -0400
From: Daniel Gerson
Subject: Justice
The people-united-will never be defeated. Thank you for fighting the
good fight.
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 17:07:15 -0500
From: Sarah Knipper
Subject: Fighting the good fight
Dear PSLM -
In my graduate studies in social work, I am constantly made aware of how
_injust_ our society is. I applaud you all from the bottom of my heart
for truly standing up for the noble cause of social and economic justice.
None of us are so far away from a life of minimum-wage work as we might
like to think - not even Harvard administrators!
Thank you for sparking an international reminder that we as a society
need to take care of ALL our people - not just the pretty ones. I wish
you all the best of success, and I know that your commitment and
enthusiasm has touched many.
Regards,
Sarah Knipper
George Warren Brown School of Social Work
Washington University in St. Louis
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 01:45:55 -0700
Subject: Fw: Students in Action - Harvard
Bravo!
I hope the connection is being made between Harvard's labor policy and
the agenda of those who support the free-trade agenda of the
multinational corporations and their political supporters. The problems
at Harvard are the problems throughout the international workforce.
Maybe now is the time to speak the truth about the record of your newly
selected President who worked at the World Bank and no doubt supported
the policies of structural adjustment, union busting, lowering of wages
and labor standards that are reflected in Harvard's policy on the living
wage and other of their labor practices.
I'm encouraged that the faculty supports your campaign and is willing to
take a stand against the administration. It remains to be seen whether
the Harvard faculty will have the courage to develop courses, Teach-Ins,
and other tools of education about globalization and the danger to
democracy posed by the free-trade agenda and investor rights principles
along the lines of the campus efforts during the Vietnam War.
In Alliance,
a Harvard student's mother
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 01:46:53 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: in solidarity
Dear PSLM,
I applaud and admire your bold, brave dedication to
eliminating the economic injustice at Harvard that
reflects the injustice at many universities and in our
society in general.
Our school, our communities, our lives belong to US.
We are not tools of production or profit. You are
sending the message loud and clear to those who
definitely need to hear it.
Keep on keeping on!
Chad Gerson
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 12:03:25 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: 5/2 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Hey, I've been following y'all's activities from NY (and sending my
emails to the baddies) and just wanted to say to say "great job!"
ate: Wed, 2 May 2001 19:07:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: Graduate Student Council
Subject: [GSC] GSC Endorsement of Living Wage Campaign.
At tonight's GSC meeting, the Council voted to endorse the Living Wage
Campaign. The following statement was sent to the LWC. Thanks to those
who came to speak on both sides of the debate.
-Lisa Laskin,
Pres., GSC
The Graduate Student Council of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
hereby expresses our wholehearted support for the Living Wage Campaign at
Harvard University. We urge the University administration to adopt a
living wage policy of $10.25 per hour plus benefits for all Harvard
workers. This University's greatness as an educational institution
is compromised by its current unwillingness to provide an adequate wage
and benefits package to all who work here. An institution with financial
resources as vast as Harvard's surely can afford to pay its workers a
living wage. Harvard's community of scholars and workers will only be
enhanced by such an action.
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:54:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: Liz Albiston
Subject: support for Harvard Living Wage
Hi! I'm a member of Alliance for Hope, an economic
justice group at the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville. We've heard about the struggle at Harvard
for a living wage. We too are fighting for a living
wage and economic justice at our university, and we
wanted to tell you that we support you completely
throughout the sit-in and the rest of your campaign.
What you've done is really amazing. Keep it up!
In solidarity,
Liz Albiston
Alliance for Hope
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 18:26:57 -0600
Subject: WITH SUPPORT
To the Harvard "sit-in" students:
As someone who witnesses all the injustices of the world on a daily
basis, your efforts are a reminder what the youth of today can do.
My support, prayers, and encouragement are with all of you.
In Solidarity,
Lisa Stamm
Omaha, NE
From: Kieran Roberts
Subject: Solidarity message
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 18:01:27 +0100
Dear occupiers,
Socialist Students and the Socialist Party (the British section of the
CWI) send the students in occupation over the wages of staff at Harvard
University, our solidarity. In Britain students and staff alike have
faced years of attacks on our education and conditions. Under Tony
Blair's New Labour government we have seen the introduction of tuition
fees and the abolition of student grants. At the same time education
workers have seen the continued erosion of their pay and employment
rights. Like you we aim to build united struggles between workers and
students. Ultimately this is the best way we have of defeating the
attacks workers and students are facing. Your actions at Harvard are an
inspiration for British students in involved in campaigns in the
universities and colleges here. We hope you win your campaign. All the
best.
Yours in Solidarity,
Socialist Students National Office and Socialist Party Students.
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 18:41:00 EDT
Subject: Naderisms
Keep sitting! Just last night I was freshly inspired when I went to hear
Ralph Nader speak, so I'm passing along some apt comments:
"If we don't learn the tools of democracy [and civil disobedience], we're
going to go through life on our knees in front of the power brokers, who
know very well how to use the tools of democracy."
Nader characterized injustice as "invigorating" rather than depressing,
comparing it to "a shot of adrenaline." He stated that he had read "all
the pessimist philosophers, even Schopenauer," but none of them convinced
him. He argued that there is "no utility to pessimism [which is often
confused with realism]."
...and finally
"You shouldn't go through college without tackling some injustice. It's
good for memories."
Hope you're bearing up well under the pressure. Thank you for the
inspiration.
--Julie Boerst
Binghamton Greens
Endicott, NY
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:49:15 -0400
Subject: keep up the good work
Dear PSLM,
I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of congratulations
and well-wishes for your campaign. I am proud to wear my "Living Wage
Now" pin, not because I think I am doing all that much good by wearing
it, but because it joins me in some small way with those of you on the
inside and outside of mass hall who are working day and night for
justice, a word that you've proven does stand for something. I only wish
those of you inside could be there as I walk across campus and am stopped
by men and women in harvard uniforms--custodians, security guards, and
maintenance workers--who thank me for wearing it. Thank you thank you
thank you. I am lucky to be on this campus with you all, not just
because you are fighting for this cause, but also because of the manner
in which you are fighting it. You have all my respect.
Sincerely,
Sarah Robinson '03
p.s. please contact me if you need a hand! my name and number are on
the board outside.
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 18:01:45 -0400
From: Priscilla Smith
Subject: Action for Harvard Workers
I am a professor at the University of Akron. I am the advisor for
student action group, STAND, Students Taking Action for a New Democracy.
I wish to express my admiration to all of you for your commendable
actions. Please hang in there and know there is support for you across
the nation.
What you are doing is one of the items on the agenda for our group.
Currently we are working on getting the university not to buy products
made in sweatshops (join the WRC).
Thank you to all of you.
Dr. Priscilla Smith
Sponsor: Representative Jessica Curtin
Passed by the Michigan Student Assembly May 1, 2001
Resolution in Solidarity with Student Struggles at Pennsylvania State
University, the University of Florida, Harvard, and Yale
Whereas, Over the past two weeks important student struggles have begun
on several campuses across the country, including Pennsylvania State
University, the University of Florida, Harvard, and Yale. The students
are fighting over issues of racism and workers' rights. Students
involved in the demonstrations, marches, and building occupations on
these campuses have asked for support and solidarity from students on
other campuses.
Whereas, On Tuesday, April 24th, thousands of students at Pennsylvania
State University rallied against racism in response to a series of racist
death threats. A letter sent to a Black Caucus leader threatened her
personally and said that the body of a young black man would be found in
the nearby woods. Since the receipt of the letter the bodies of two
black men have been found. Racist or threatening mail or emails have
been received by black students, athletes, the president of the
undergraduate student government, a trustee board member, and the parents
of athletes. At least 68 students received a racist email. Hundreds of
students are currently occupying a student center called the HUB in a
show of solidarity. Demands of the students to change the climate on the
campus and increase minority students' access to education include
establishing an "Africana Studies Research Institute", hiring 10 tenured
faculty members by 2002-03, increased scholarships, and a mandatory
course on race.
Whereas, On April 6th, 500 University of Florida students marched against
racism. The march was in response to several racist and bigoted
incidents on the campus including a white fraternity that held an "Asian
Theme" party where men dressed as Army GIs and women dressed as
Vietnamese prostitutes, the spray painting of racial epithets on the side
of the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures, and the theft and
destruction of a banner put up by gay and lesbian students for PRIDE
Awareness Month. Organizers and speakers at the rally included Latino,
Asian American, black, gay, and white students.
Whereas, At Harvard, dozens of students have occupied the first floor of
Massachusetts Hall, the building where the university president has his
office. They are demanding a living wage of $10.25 for campus workers,
some of whom make as little as $7 per hour at one of the richest
universities in the world. The sit-in is believed to be the longest
building occupation ever staged at Harvard and is supported by dozens of
other students camping in tents outside the building. The sit-in follows
a two-year long campaign on the campus for a living wage for campus
workers. The Harvard administration is refusing to negotiate with the
students sitting in. The students have also received support from 100
faculty members at Harvard, both U.S. Senators from Massachusetts, and
the city council of Cambridge.
Whereas, At Yale, hundreds of graduate students are protesting the Yale
administrations' opposition to their efforts to unionize. The graduate
students are attempting to form a union for graduate student instructors
and workers. They are calling on the administration to recognize their
efforts to unionize through a "card-count", in which an employer
recognizes a union when a majority of the workers sign union membership
cards. The students are supported by members of Yale's clerical,
maintenance, and hospital workers.
Whereas, The Michigan Student Assembly has repeatedly taken stands
against racism and for workers' rights.
Therefore be it resolved, The Summer Assembly stands in solidarity with
students struggling at Pennsylvania State University, the University of
Florida, Harvard, and Yale.
Therefore be it resolved, The Summer Assembly will help publicize the
struggles at the above campuses to students on the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, campus and other campuses nationally.
Therefore be it resolved,
The Summer Assembly invites all students involved in these struggles to
attend the National Student/Youth Conference to Defend Affirmative Action
& Integration and Struggle for Equality and to discuss the struggles on
their campuses at the conference.
Therefore be it resolved,
MSA President Matt Nolan will mail copies of this resolution and MSA
Representative Jessica Curtin will deliver copies of this resolution to
protesters and student government representatives at Pennsylvania State,
the University of Florida, Harvard, and Yale, and to the Michigan Daily
and the Ann Arbor News.
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 13:10:50 -0400
From: Noam Chomsky
Subject: faculty endorsement
I see I'm not listed under endorsements from other faculties, only
individuals. If you'd like to add my name to that list, fine of course.
Tremendously impressed to see what you've accomplished. Even the
mainstream media are now writing that the Harvard Administration has
discredited itself, and the effects elsewhere have been extremely
positive too. Really important achievements.
Noam
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 08:33:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zayed M Yasin
Subject: Living Wage Campaign
As-salaamu 'Alaikum,
After significant discussion among members of the Harvard Islamic
Society, culminating with a general dinner table discussion Tuesday
night, we have decided to support the Living Wage Campaign. While we
take no position regarding the tactics of the sit-in, the Harvard Muslim
community believes that the social justice and fairness of the principles
espoused by the Living Wage campaign are worthy of support. We pray that
Allah will grant a just and peaceful resolution to this confrontation,
and hope that Harvard will treat all members of its community with the
fairness and respect that they deserve.
Wassalaam,
Zayed Yasin '02
President
Harvard Islamic Society
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 11:39:04 -0000
From: Bryony Horrocks
Subject: support and encouragment from australia
a friend who's studying at harvard this year put me onto your website. i
think the campaign you are running is inspirational- and so important.
so here's a message of support from perth, australia.
keep up the good work
Bryony Horrocks
Secretary of UWA Student Guild
Date: 2 May 01 01:55:09 EDT
From: Sue Fendrick
Dear Students,
I'm filled with awe, respect, and inspiration following your actions.
Even your website is totally outstanding. On Friday, the webzine that I
edit, SocialAction.com (a webzine devoted to Jewish approaches to social
action and social justice) will be publishing an article by Ari Weisbard
and others.
As a former campus progressive activist, and as a religious social
justice professional and clergyperson, as well as an admirer of
excellence :-), I salute you. I will try to make it over to Mass Hall.
All best,
Rabbi Sue Fendrick
Newton, MA
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 11:51:13 -0600
From: Doug Giebel
Subject: Sent this letter to TomPaine.com website re Madeleine
Elfenbein's and her mother's pieces on today's
TomPaine webpage. Good luck!
To TomPaine.com:
What some (but not all) students at Harvard are learning through the
campus sit-in is that higher education's high ideals and the many hours
of lectures devoted to mankind's noblest works and efforts are often not
practiced in the "real world" of academia. The message in the dog-eared
lecture notes is belied by the here-and-now actions of those in
authority.
While student cheating is subject to strict disciplinary codes,
cheating by management is often not only ignored, it is frequently
rewarded. Harvard's leadership, as in most ivory tower institutions,
tells the students to return to the books, as if discussing ethics in the
classroom were more important than acting and living ethically as a
matter of principle for the human heart.
Rather than take immediate action to fairly compensate the
non-elite who keep the institution clean and warm and safe, Harvard's
solution is to talk the issue to death and offer classes in lieu of real
money.
Too often those of us in academia deliberately ignore or turn away
from uncomfortable issues that negatively impact others, whether it be
blantantly corrupt tenure and hiring procedures or campus crime or the
university's responsiblity to pay its workers a living wage.
In future years will the students now camped out in Harvard's
historic hallways always act on principle and "do the right thing"?
Perhaps not. But for the present those who value human dignity can revel
in their grand adventure.
Doug Giebel
Big Sandy, MT
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 02:46:47 -0400
From: Ayan Bose
Subject: the best of luck to you people
as i sit here on my computer ready to go to sleep after studying for
finals i can only be proud of every single one of you people. to the
best of my knowledge i have never met any one of you but i must say that
your priorities in life are in order. i can only imagine the difficulty
all of you had in deciding if you actually wanted to do this at this
time, but there are some things in life which are more important than gpa
and i applaud your courage and judgment.
the best of luck again
ayan bose
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 00:47:22 -0500
From: Ben Horne
Subject: be strong
some words to encourage your just sit in from houston texas
(Ben Horne, Rice University)
'Anyone can become angry -- that's easy. But to be angry with the right
person, to the right degreee, at the right time, for the right purpose,
and in the right way -- this is not easy.' -- Aristotle
"Let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of
love." Che Guevara
"Power concedes nothing without a demand" -----Frederick Douglass
"If you think you can do it, you're right. If you think you can't do it,
you're still right." Henry Ford
"You're given only a spark of madness. you mustn't lose it." Robin
Williams
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 00:56:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: David Badagnani
Subject: Faculty endorsement
Bravo to all of you from us here at Kent State! We have an
anti-sweatshop campaign going on right now and you are giving us so much
inspiration. I have been following your website every day and today I
read through all the workers' statements (it took me several hours but I
don't think I've ever read anything more *real* in my life). I hope you
can get through this, because you're doing something so important I don't
know if we can realize the ramifications for other universities.
I wish I could've been there for the janitors' conga line!!!!!
Anyway, if you like, you can add my faculty endorsement, small though it
is. I'm an adjunct faculty member in Music at Kent State University.
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 23:11:07 EDT
Subject: May Day Greetings from Migrant Ministry
Brothers and Sisters: Greetings for the May Day season from the
Unitarian Universalist Migrant Ministry! We work with the National Farm
Worker Ministry and with other organizations in support of America's farm
worker families. News of your Cambridge crusade has now been heard
among union workers in the fields in North Carolina, Florida, California,
and elsewhere in America. We send you our support, our appreciation,
and all of our love as you press forward to win a living wage for Harvard
employees. Viva la Causa!
Gracias,
Rev. Robert Francis Murphy,
Secretary-Treasurer, Unitarian Universalist Migrant Ministry
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 19:20:42 -0400
From: Jason Schulman
Subject: You people rock!
Dear brothers and sisters,
I'm glad to see that there are, in fact, still dissidents at Harvard.
Bravo. You highly deserve all the international support you are
receiving. And you -- and the Harvard workers -- will win.
In solidarity,
Jason Schulman
Democratic Socialists of America, National Political Committee
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 17:32:25 -0500 (CDT)
From: vivek mittal
Subject: In Solidarity
All of us here with Rice Students for Global Justice at Rice University
in Houston, TX are thinking about you and want to express our solidarity
for all the brave folks sitting in and supporting a living wage for
Harvard workers. With May Day coming up, we hope justice comes sooner
than later for everyone involved.
We think what you are doing is wonderful - keep up the good work! Stay
Strong!
Sincerely,
Charlotte Albrecht
Dr. Elias K. Bongmba, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Ellen Chenoweth
Sarah Cloots
Jesse Dickerman
Beth Garrett
Nam Ha
Ben Horne
Daniel Livorsi
Vivek Mittal
Shayda Naficy
Katrina Reichwein
Chris Roncal
Mahek Shah
Lindsey Trott
Victor Udoewa
Jordan Vexler
Sofia Westblom
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 09:47:52 -0500
From: Robert Buzzanco
Subject: In Solidarity
Today, May 1st, is traditionally celebrated as Labor Day around the
world, except in the United States. Here, the state has generally be
hostile to organized labor for over a century. That is why the work you
are doing on behalf of Harvard workers is so important. We face a
similar situation here at the University of Houston; our working people
do not receive a living wage, they can be fired without cause, they have
no effective appeals process, and they fear reprisal daily.
That is why we will be having a rally today in suppport of the working
people of the University of Houston. Hopefully, through the efforts of
concerned activists nationally--in places like Harvard and
Houston--campus workers will soon earn a decent wage and be treated with
respect and dignity. Along with my colleagues in the Progressive Faculty
Association and various student groups at the University of Houston, we
applaud your efforts and wish you the best for the future.
Solidarity,
Bob Buzzanco
Associate Professor of History
University of Houston
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 09:34:06 -0500
From: Aunt Jane
Subject: Re: 5/1 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Hi You Guys! Good going!
About two weeks ago there was a news report about Harvard students being
so overwhelmed with constant studying that they had no time for any
campus life. So, hurray for you, you're combatting that bad press.
Rudenstine must be so grateful to you.? lvje
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 21:32:32 EDT
Subject: Living Wage
May God bless your heroic efforts on behalf of the working men and women
at Harvard. Ten million dollar bonus to the investors who made generous
fees on the earnings as well, Hopefully not on investments in overseas
sweatshops, but museum tickets to their own staff is shameful. Most
students learn at least as much from their colleagues as from their
professors , so fear not that your educational experience is being
impaired. The faculty is being given a lesson in decency and dignity by
you young people that they will not soon forget.
Keep up the good work,
Albert B. West Esq.
63 Linden Rd.
Barrington. R.I.
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 11:45:10 -0700
From: Robert W. Fuller
Ben McKean --
Ira Arlook gave me your name and email address. As President of Oberlin
College during the early 1970's--appointed by a liberal board at age 33
to transform the college--I lead the fight against the familiar "isms"
(racism, sexism, ageism). By the time I left I realized there was another
"ism," below the radar, that we hadn't touched, or even identified. In
the last few years, I've been writing about it, and speaking out about it
here in California.
I call it "rankism"--abuse or discrimination based on a difference of
rank (as signifying power). Rankism embraces the familiar isms, but goes
further. Although the demonstrations at Harvard and elsewhere can be seen
in traditional labor relations terms, there is more to them, and also
more to why young, well-off students are taking up the cause of
blue-collar workers.
Twenty-somethings instinctively abhor rankism. So does everyone, really,
as rankism invariably insults human dignity, but early on we learn to
pass rankist actions down the line--from "somebodies" to "nobodies"--and
before long we are inured to them. We become like people under the spell
of Jim Crow or the Feminine Mystique--oblivious to the rankist abuse,
indignity, discrimination, and injustice around us. Many fall under the
spell of the "Somebody Mystique," and look to celebrities for answers.
I have created a web site on rankism. I think the analysis there, and in
the free downloadable book available on the site, would provide a useful
framework--an "analysis," if you'll forgive the term--that is pertinent
to what we now see erupting, and spreading, on campuses and elsewhere. I
think a large-scale movement against rankism--in all its guises--is in
the offing. Something analogous to the civil rights and feminist
movements. I'm meeting with Betty Friedan next month.
The site is .
The book is "Breaking Ranks: With All Due Respect."
Ira suggested I let you know. I hope you will let others know about it,
too.
If some of the protestors have access to the internet from within the
administration building and log onto they may take
heart, for they are the forerunners of a social movement that, I believe,
will shape the coming century as much as the idea of civil liberty shaped
the last.
A supporter,
Robert W. Fuller
Web Site:
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 14:27:22 -0500
From: Matthew
Subject: happy may day
I heard about your efforts toward worker justice this morning on
Democracy Now. I want to congratulate you on your courage and strength
and to tell you that I stand with you in spirit throughout your
struggle.
Sincerely,
Matthew O'Connor
Baylor College of Medicine
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 13:45:41 -0500
From: "Pete(r) Micek"
Subject: Northwestern Solidarity
All of us at Northwestern Students Against Sweatshops extend a HUGE
thanks to you folks at Harvard. Your determination played a large role
in convincing our administration to join the WRC. The first thing they
asked about in the meeting today was how our solidarity fast for Harvard
went on Friday. And you also saved us some court time (we had planned a
sit-in for wednesday).
Keep up the fight--through peace, love, and ACTION!
pete micek
Northwestern Students Against Sweatshops
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 13:17:11 -0500
From: "[iso-8859-1] \"Desireé S. Evans\"
Subject: Northwestern solidarity
Please forward this out to all the Harvard kids working on the Harvard
Living Wage sit-in.
I'm Desireé from Northwestern, and I am just writing to give our full
support to what you are fighting for right now. What you are doing is
amazing and powerful, and I just want to let you know that the entire
Northwestern Students Against Sweatshops community is behind you. In a
way what Harvard has down in the last couple of weeks completely
influenced the decision our administration made to join the WRC yesterday
(in a way to not see the same thing happen here). So this is not only a
letter of support, but a sort of thank you and a promise of continued
solidarity!
Keep the struggle. Keep the fire. Living wages now!
peace and solidarity,
Desireé
Northwestern Students Against Sweatshops
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 10:10:45 -0500
From: Carolyn Dennis
Subject: so proud!
What a wonderful thing you are doing...you have given an old liberal
fresh hope!
Carolyn Dennis
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 14:18:13
From: Mary Wildfire
Subject: support for students
A few days ago, after a really discouraging day, I heard on NPR about 25
Harvard students sitting in an office to demand a living wage for all
campus workers. Maybe it's an unfair stereotype, but I think of Harvard
students as rich snots. To think that a bunch of THEM had taken over an
office, not to protest a raise in student fees but to support working
class people, gave me an indescribable lift at a time when I really
needed it. There's hope for the world after all! Don't give up! What
you're doing is more important and probably more educational than the
classes you're missing; and you might be surprised what it will do for
your resume, depending what kind of work you want to go into. Also, you
can tell your children with pride that you were a part of this. Right
now, the publicity is going your way, so hold firm. Thanks for making my
day.
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 07:51:32 EDT
Subject: students for justice
All PSLM members,
I am a senior at Jesuit High School in Sacramento CA. I have read a
number of articles now about your sit-in, and I admire each of you for
your effort to help Harvard University workers achieve a living wage. I
believe that it is students like you who have made Harvard the
institution that it is today. Harvard was made great by those that
challenged established practices, not those that simply fell into line or
those that simply did the work and got all A's. I believe that all 46 of
you students sitting in are the true leaders of the future. I recently
went to a speech by Dr. Cornell West and I think that you exemplify
everything that he preaches. He said that we must all live Socratically
and with compassion. Clearly you are doing both. First, you have
challenged the norm, and second you have acted with compassion in
fighting for those who are being treated unjustly. All my support goes
out to you.
All the best
Greg Ruiz
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 04:02:33 -0600
From: jeanne degange
Subject: Living Wage
I want to send you a note of support. What you are doing is very
important.
Best wishes.
Jeanne DeGange
Connecticut College 1956
Superior, Montana
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 20:32:52 EDT
Subject: god bless you
Human decency is seldom profitable, but that makes it no less
necessary. I can't believe that an organization that is billed as non
profit pulls in so much money while starving the people who keep it
running. I am planing to use this issue with my students as an example of
right and wrong. I keep hearing we need some morality teaching in our
public schools here in Georgia. I am glad to see there are still some
heroes around that students can look up to. God bless you all.
Jason Dilling
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 13:34:24 -0700
From: "Jansen, Linda"
Subject: Hey, folks. WAY TO GO. YOU WILL WIN!!!!! I'm in Seattle...
else I'd try to be there with you. My husband works at the University of
Washington as a delivery truck driver and they are dealing with similar
issues. They should probably sit in. They've been having rolling
strikes instead and it doesn't seem to have much effect. You guys have
the right idea. KEEP IT UP UNTIL THEY GIVE IN. This is more of an
education than you can ever get in a classroom. Thank you. Linda Jansen
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 15:57:28 -0400
To: pslm@hcs.harvard.edu
Subject: Keep up the good work!
Hi Living Wage Protesters,
I just read about your campaign, and I wanted to tell you what a great
thing I think it is you're doing. Having taught at the college level
for a number of years, I was beginning to wonder where all of the
progressive students had gone - nice to know you are out there and are
taking on important issues of economic and social justice. Shame on
Harvard for refusing to use its riches to provide its employees a living
wage.
Ashley Mattison
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 15:47:15 -0700
From: Jane Blanshard
Subject: wages
Good work! I graduated in 1952 and they were treating the help just as
badly then, but we were not effective organizers. We let them bar us
from Lamont, keep their earphones pure in the poetry room, tell us what
to wear, etc.! I am ashamed when I look back.
I was very close to a couple of the women who worked in Eliot Hall
at Radcliffe and stayed in touch with them after I graduated, when they
were retired and living in shabby little rooms with cracked linoleum on
the floor because of the way they had been paid by the great
university. Keep up the good work! Jane Blanshard
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 12:05:00 -0500
From: Suzanne Belongia - Catholic Charities
Greetings to you all . . . I received info on your sit-in from a
list-serve I am part of and just wanted to send you my support. Also
heard that my Senator, Paul Wellstone, had written in to endorse your
work -- I echo his sentiments! And never doubt that small groups of
committed citizens can change the world. My thoughts are with you.
Suzanne in Minnesota
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 10:24:13 -0400
From: Scott C. Shershow
Subject: Living Wage compaign
As a professor and Harvard alumnus, I'd like to add my name to the list
of faculty supporting the Living Wage Compaign.
Scott Cutler Shershow (PhD '83)
Associate Professor of English
Miami University
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 07:05:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: Daniel Morgan
Subject: Re: 4/30 HARVARD SIT IN UPDATE
Good luck with the AFL-CIO today - you all have earned the
respect of national labor, and it's about time that they
used the power they have to support the movement.
Those of us who are not students in the UK support you as
well!
Solidarity.
(and I sure as hell wish I could be there)
Dan Morgan
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 09:46:31 -0400
From: "Wagner, Gregory R."
Subject: RE: living wage news coverage
Wow!
btw--
After sending an "update" and web link, got a note from Theodore
Hesburgh, President Emeritus of Notre Dame & ?former member of the HU
Overseers, saying, in part:
"I was much edified by the wonderful project that your daughter and her
fellow students and faculty are promoting at Harvard. Be sure that I
hope and pray that someone will be listening in the days ahead and that
they will be successful in their dedicated work. Do give them my best
wishes and prayers for all success.
"With cordial best wishes and many thanks, again,
"Devotedly in Notre Dame,
"(Rev.) Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.
"President Emeritus"
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 10:33:47 -0500
From: Stuart Fox
Subject: Impressed And Inspired In Chicago
Dear Harvard Living Wage Campaign,
I am a Freshman at the University of Chicago and I must say, you people
are really projecting a different image than most colleges. We have only
had one protest here at the U of C this year, and that only lasted less
than an hour (granted it was below freezing out, but still, they should
have dressed for the occasion). That fact that you are proving that the
well being of the people around you and the world at large is more
important than school work or tests is indescribably important, and
something that should be studied by other students. Kudos for not waiting
another decade before you tried to change the world for the better. And
just as an aside, that "Maddy" from your photo gallery seems to be all
over the place. Make sure she sees this, she needs an extra thanks.
-Stuart Fox, University of Chicago
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 23:24:45 -0400
Subject: support from at least one alumnus
Good luck with the struggle. You make this alumnus proud- stay together
and build your strength. They have little shame, but they cannot stand
the pressure.
Mark Dyen '70/72
HR-SDS 66-69
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 16:48:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul DiBara
Subject: Good work!
Just a note of support for you all and your very worthy cause. You've
been getting excellent coverage from the national press...hope this
continues.
Please continue to speak for those who are least able to advocate for
themselves. Harvard certainly should be ashamed of itself...I think
you've at least made that point. It's very difficult to understand the
Administration's position except to note that it founded in arrogance and
lack of a sense of equity.
Regards,
Paul DiBara
Quincy MA
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 19:22:21 +0000
From: Michael Kaplan
Subject: Knoxville Progressive Radio supports the sit-in
In its May Day special broadcast on Sunday, April 29, Knoxville
Progressive Radio dedicated its 3-hour show to the Harvard 40 sitting-in
for a Living Wage. The show included programs featuring Barbara
Ehrenreich and Howard Zinn, and music by Earl Robinson, Kurt
Weill/Bertholdt Brecht, Marc Blitzstein and Bob Dylan.
In Solidarity!
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 01:11:22 EDT
Subject: thank you
it was most rewarding to host the poetry reading last night. 11 poets
participated, the work was varied and appropriate, no one went over the
time limit, everyone enjoyed himself or herself, and we all felt grateful
for the opportunity to show solidarity and love for the students
occupying Massachusetts Hall.
hugs,
peter desmond
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 11:17:20 EDT
Subject: For Susan
Hi Sue,
Thanks for putting me on your mailing list.
Wanted you to know that I saw an article about your sit in yesterday in
the Indianapolis paper. Think it was on the 3rd page.
Anyway, thinking of you and am proud of you.
Love,
Christy
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 22:07:49 -0700
From: Cynthia Brooke
Subject: Sit-in
Hi there,
as a student working part-time I salute you and your colleagues to your
effort. Even though I am from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada i
give you my support and luck for the coming days. Hope all is going
well.
Marianna
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 16:58:12 -0400
Subject: Re: To the folks on the inside
I just want to send my encouragement and best wishes to the students
who have had the courage and stamina to take bold action in support
of others. I've been on the outside from time to time in support -
but you folks sitting in Mass Hall are GREAT!
Regards,
Randall Collura (Harvard anthropology graduate student)
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 12:21:27 EDT
Subject: Hello from Las Vegas, NV
Holy Cow !! You students are actually doing it. Your going to make a
difference. This old Vet's faith in America is being restored. Your
Heroes in the true sense of the word. The World is watching and the story
is growing. History is being made. You must win. You will win. You carry
the hopes and dreams of millions. Where do I send my check in support?
God Bless
Don Skaggs
Las Vegas,NV
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 10:43:34 -0500
Subject: Your CNN Appearence - Bravo!!!
Amy: I live in New York City and saw the Harvard story. You are a brave
and courageous woman. I just had to write a few words to you. I work at
a university here in New York City. I see the abuses: sexual-racial-age
discrimination and the resignation in the faces of my co-workers who are
so afraid to speak up for their rights as human beings. I see our own
Administrators as truly evil people who allow this kind of management
style to become the norm. Our students see the buldings & grounds,
security and custodial staff as beneath them. That is why I applaud you
and the others who see a wrong and try to make it right. It is so very
rare to find this. Do not allow the Harvard Administration to scare and
threathen you and the others. God bless.
Brian Richards
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 08:28:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: Sadik Kassim
Subject: Living Wage
My name is Sadik Kassim and I'm a junior at Tulane
University in New Orleans. I just wanted to urge you
to keep up the good fight. Last year at tulane, we
had a sit in to protest the university's use of sweat
shop labor products such as t-shirts and jackets. The
administration was peeved, to say the least, but after
nearly two weeks of rallies and uninterrupted sit ins,
they eventually agreed to talk to us, resulting in a
fruitful and constructive discussion for all parties
involved. So, keep up the good work, and don't be
thrown off track by niggling side-comments and the
administration's attitude. In the words of Neil
Hannon, a bona fide rabble rouser,
Sadik Kassim
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 14:17:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: neil nugent
Subject: UMass-Amherst Solidarity
Jen,
Please pass on my tremendous respect and solidarity to the 48 Harvard
students who are now in the 9th day of their living wage campaign sit-in.
Yesterday here at UMASS-Amherst we had a successful solidarity rally. We
read the letter that was written from inside the sit-in. We passed out
literature to passers-by. Myself and a Labor Center professor were
interviewed by the local TV news media.
Regards,
Neil Nugent
UMASS Radical Student Union
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 7:39 PM
The Harvard Republican Club has not and most likely will not
articulate an official position regarding the PSLM protest and the
Harvard Living Wage Campaign, and our opinions do not represent an
official stance of the HRC board or its members. However, as
conservative leaders and executive board members of the Republican Club,
we feel that we have a responsibility to make our opinion known and to
ask others to consider these arguments offered against the Harvard
administration and for a Living Wage from a conservative and free-market
perspective.
After much struggling and prayer over the issue of the Harvard PSLM and
the Living Wage debate, we cannot fully align ourselves with the
position, demands, and tactics of the Harvard PSLM. However, we have
become convinced that the Harvard administration is in the wrong in its
persistent failure to act to improve the conditions of Harvard employees.
We have two primary concerns:
First, Harvard has failed to follow through in accordance with the
recommendations of President Rudenstine's handpicked committee. Although
Harvard agreed to act upon the recommendations to expand education and
heath care benefits and to ensure a fair code of conduct in contracting
employees, little action has been taken to realize these stated goals.
These goals, as developed by a Harvard-friendly committee, are certainly
among the most conservative measures that Harvard could adopt, yet it has
failed to do so. To the extent that Harvard's stated objectives have
been unreasonably neglected at the expense of its employees, Harvard is
in the wrong.
Harvard must act now to fulfill its own promises for improved conditions.
Second, although government-imposed wage levels are contrary to
conservative and free-market views, this campaign is an entirely private
concern. It is a disagreement arising between private groups.
Conservatives should voice their support for this social mechanism of
change enacted by private individuals coming together to voice a shared
opinion. No one should have to work two or three jobs days, nights, and
weekends, to scrape by on an impoverished lifestyle. Life conditions in
which one has no personal or family time, no leisure time, and no surplus
income despite hard work every day are simply inhumane. We are concerned
for strong family values and therefore we must also recognize and
accommodate the need for people to spend time with their families. To
the extent that Harvard employees with family and dependents are forced
into inhumane work schedules as a result of contracting and outsourcing,
Harvard has failed its employees, students, and faculty.
Harvard must provide an officially negotiated and adjustable living wage.
Even by its own standards, Harvard is perpetuating injustice by failing
to implement the policies to which it agreed. Moreover, the fairness of
those standards is suspect, and Harvard should engage in dialogue and
continue to seek to adopt fair practices and wages for all of its
workers.
In faith, hope, and love,
HEATHER WOODRUFF - Political Director, Harvard Republican Club
LAURA SEATON - Secretary, Harvard Republican Club
RICH HALVORSON - Membership Director, Harvard Republican
Club
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 02:41:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: Andrew Beath
Subject: Re: Facts and fallacies about employment at Harvard (fwd)
Alright folks,
The admin's "Facts and fallacies . . . " can easily be refuted
point-by-point with a little research, by getting it out there will be
made a little more difficult if the PSLM doesn't have the mass access to
University e-mail addresses that the administration enjoys. The admin's
use of their mass access is a flagrant violation of their own electronic
policy and they should accordingly be shamed into granting the PSLM
similar access so that we can debate their fascist employment policies on
an equal footing. I encourage you to take a look at the forwarded e-mail
below, draft something along the same lines and send it off to our
beloved "Office of the President" . . . you never know what these freaks
might do once they're reminded that their behavior contradicts (1) their
own rules, (2) their own statements and (3) the ideals of the institution
that they are supposed to be presiding over!
- A.L.
P.S. Of course, I don't really think these press characters are worth the
amount of time that is manifested in the e-mail below, but somehow on a
sleepless night, I managed to actually enjoy spending many minutes
telling the spokespeople of the Harvard administration how hypocritical
and contradictory they are . . .
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 22:47:23 EDT
Subject: Re: Harvard Sit-In: Day Nine
greg --
i am so proud of all you and what you are doing. thank you SO MUCH!!
please pass on my admiration and support to everyone involved.
how can i help? i'm on the road now, trying to complete my next film and
book, both due in a month or so. you all should just get out some video
cameras and start shooting. if i can help you put it together later, i
will.
if for some reason i can get up to boston soon, i will come and
participate!
yours,
michael moore
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 18:02:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: andrew mcgrath
Subject: solidarity and a big woopo woop from cincy
all of us here in the embattled streets of cincinnati
are thinking of you and send you undying love and
support. your endurance for equality is inspiring.
i want to give a personal shout out to my beautiful
friend jane martin for keepin it real. i love you!
andy
cincinnati refuse and resist
From Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Minority Leader of the House Committee
on
Education and the Workforce
To the students of the 2001 Harvard sit-in:
I am writing to express my admiration and gratitude for the important
actions you have taken on behalf of the employees of Harvard University.
I fully agree with your principled position that universities should
support their surrounding communities by paying all employees a wage that
allows them to live with dignity. Living wages allow working parents to
have one full-time job- as opposed to several low-paying jobs- to help
them afford their basic needs, and to allow them more time to spend with
their children and engage in their communities. Your efforts will help
make a real difference for many hard-working families.
I admire your actions and wish you the strength and courage to continue
to make your important point.
Sincerely,
(signed)
George Miller
Senior Democratic Member
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 17:03:20 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: miranda!
Hi Miranda - you are awesome. How are you doing? I saw your picture in
the Roving Reporter part of the Crimson and just wanted to email you to
let you know I admire what you are doing and completely support it.
Also, I have to tell you a little phonathon story you can appreciate...I
called a woman who graduated in 1942 on Wednesday and she had just been
to a Harvard event with her husband. THere was a speaker there on behalf
of the University who she said gave a speech full of mistakes (she said
he told the crowd Radcliffe Crew became Harvard women's crew...she kindly
corrected him:) and then he opened it up for questions. She has been
following the living wage campaign and she asked him why Harvard was
unwilling to pay its employees the deserved wage. She was SO angry
Miranda at his smug, condescending response that justified Harvard's
position on the living wage. She kept saying to me in her cute old lady
voice.."Rachel, I am just so angry. Damnit. I didn't know I could get
this angry. I want to sit outside with those protestors. Well, I don't
want to be labeled a radical because my husband is on the 60th reunion
committee, but oh I am so angry at Harvard." She talked for 20 minutes
and is just livid. I feel totally un-PC typing this, but she then added
that "her daughter married a black" and they support the black
Episcopalian church in Philidelphia so she could only give $50 to
Radcliffe, but she was going to not allow her husband to give to Harvard.
Miranda, the Radcliffe women of '42 are behind you :) Let me know if I
can bring you anything through the window. Thank you for doing this,
Rachel
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 10:00:22 -0400
From: Barbara Fuchs
Subject: Hang In There
Michigan Cheers you on!
Thinking about all of you and wishing you well
"Do what you can with what you have from where you are"
Love,
Barb & Dan
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 16:33:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: Josh Bell
Subject: Endorsements
Dear PSLM
I have been working in recent days on securing endorsements from the UK
for your fantastic campaign.
Today, Oxford University Student Union's Executive Council voted 48-2 in
favour of supporting and endorsing the occupation, and instituting policy
calling upon Oxford University itself to establish a living wage of half
median male earnings (about 5.50 pounds per hour).
Oxford will be following up their endorsement with news articles next
week in the student press on the Harvard occupation and the commencement
of Oxford's own campaign for a living wage for all its own workers.
An additional point of note is that Rudenstine studied at Oxford in the
60s, and is close friends with Oxford's own Vice-Chancellor (their
equivalent of President), Colin Lucas. Dr Lucas will be made aware of the
Harvard campaign at a weekly meeting with the Student Union this coming
Monday, and will be encouraged to engage in discussion with Rudenstine on
the matter. Perhaps Rudenstine should be made aware too of the impact his
current stance is having on:
1) His reputation at Oxford, and with their senior administrators.
2) Harvard's repututation in the wider UK Press, once this developing
story moves beyond the student papers there.
3) Harvard's grad applications from Oxford and other UK Universities.
Additional endorsements which I have secured include that of the
"Campaign for Free Education", the largest student pressure group in the
UK with affiliated student membership of over one million students from
40 student unions, and the "Alliance for Workers' Liberty", the UK-wide
equivalent of the PSLM. I have attached statements of support below from
both organisations.
I have tabled a motion at Monday's Executive meeting of the *National
Union of Students*, which is the UK's union of all 3.5 million students
and, I believe, the world's largest student organisation, calling upon
them for an endorsement of the campaign. I will let you know of their
decision by Monday night.
I would be grateful if you would add Oxford University Student Union, the
Campaign for Free Education and the Alliance for Workers' LIberty to your
list of endorsements on the webpage.
Yours in Solidarity
Josh Bell
PS Please scroll down for endorsements....
-------------------
To students at Harvard University:
Support and greetings from the Steering Committee of the Campaign for
Free Education. The CFE believes that freedom of education is about more
than just getting rid of student fees; it is about fighting for the kind
of education system in which students, parents and workers co-operate for
the benefit of all. For too long the British student movement has cut
itself off from struggles taking place in society; your occupation shows
that, contrary to popular myth, students can and do care about these
struggles. It also represents a step in the process of re-education
which will be necessary if the student movement is to become a force for
a better world.
Yours for free education,
Lee Sergent
Helen Aspell
(Co-Chairs, CFE)
-------------------
Dear Josh,
The student fraction of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty sends comradely
greetings and its wholehearted support to Harvard students' occupation
for a living wage. Your action is the most stirring display of
student-worker solidarity for years, and a potent demonstration of the
principle which, taken to its logical conclusion, can remake society:
solidarity.
Good luck and keep us informed.
Yours for socialism,
Kate Buckell
Helen Russell
Faz Veimi
Jim Bywater
(AWL Student Committee)
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 11:30:03
Dear Students--
First, I want to say keep up the good work! I am behind you
100%. I have been a full-time Harvard employee for the past
4 years and a part-time Masters student at the Ed School
for 2 years. This dual role has given me a unique
perspective on the shockingly unjust system that serves to
maintain and elevate the image of Harvard University.
My main purpose in contacting you is to let you know that
the attached document was sent to all of the staff at the
Ed School this morning. You have probably already seen
this, but I wanted you to know that it is being circulated
to all staff(obviously in an attempt to invalidate your
claims). You may find it necessary to respond to this in a
similar fashion.
I wish you all the best. Please don't give up!
In Solidarity,
Kimberly McGuffie
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 00:26:54 +1200
From: Brent Williams
Subject: From New Zealand
Hi all,
I thought you might want to know the news of your campaign has reached
New Zealand. The power of your actions lies not only in your attempting
to realise your own equity issues but in the challenge to the ivy league
and the perpetuators of their privilege that environmental equity
requires more than words.
Go for it.
King regards
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 22:29:04
From: Michael Kaplan
Subject: network news
The piece on the network news tonight (NBC?) was terrific. I loved the
list of other schools struggling for a living wage. U. Tenn. was listed,
and this gives us a big boost.
--
Michael Kaplan
Professor of Architecture, Emeritus
University of Tennessee/Knoxville
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 08:10:58 -0400
Subject: thanks for all your hard work
Dear friends,
last night, I had the great pleasure of being your guest at the
Harvard Hilton (on the lawns outside Massachusetts Hall.)
I hope we can all sleep more comfortably soon, after we've
helped the University become a more respectful and
responsible employer for all its workers.
Many thanks for your kind hospitality and for your dedication.
In solidarity,
-Tivey.
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:49:41 -0400
Subject: Thanks and comment
Dear PSLM,
I want to thank you for the terrific daily updates on the living wage
campaign. The campaign has been incredibly well organized and
informative. Many of us from the Hauser Center, mostly staff assistance
and project managers, have been out several times to the noon rallys to
support the students, and of course the campaign. My one concern is that
in your literature, you almost exclusively mention students and faculty.
Rarely do I see staff that work for faculty -- staff and research
assistants who are not students, administrators, managers (some of whom
are in unions and some of whom are not) -- recognized. Several here
have written letters of support and have been very vocal with faculty
about why they think the living wage campaign is so important.
Again, I want to congratulate everyone on your remarkable work, and we
here will certainly continue our commitment and support,
Sincerely,
Frances Kunreuther
Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Harvard University
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 10:48:45 -0400
From: Andrew Tripp
Subject: Solidarity!!
Alex
Thanks for getting back to me...I imagine things are a bit strained at
the moment.
What you guys are doing is vital work and part of a much larger struggle.
On behalf of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America
(UE), our 40,000 members nationally and our 5,000 members in New England,
I send you a message of solidarity and of thanks.
A personal note as an alum of the college...I can think of no better way
to mark the ascendency of a neoliberal creep like Summers than what you
folks are doing.
In Solidarity,
Andrew Tripp
UE Organizer
ps Quebec City was great 75,000 Trade Unionists in the streets. But I
guess you guys were otherwise occupied. Stay Strong.
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 20:12:56 -0500
From: B. S. Pyle
Subject: Good for you
At last you guys are getting some TV coverage!
Keep on trucking,
gem, aging hippie in Texas
Greetings from Michigan!
We think you guys are supporting the right cause and respect the right to
a living wage. Hang in there and remember to always stand up for what
you believe in.
Rob, Julie and Jordan Samson
From: Benjamin Davis
Subject: solidarity
Hi, I just watched an ABC news story on your struggle and you were
portrayed very sympathetically, especially from the corporate media. I
lead a progressive student organization, Voiced Organized In Democracy
(VOID), at Trinity College in Hartford and would like to convey to you
our solidarity and also ask you how we can join the struggle. I'd like to
start a living wage campaign here.......any materials or suggestions?
Anyway, keep the faith and goodluck!
Solidarity,
You courageous Harvard students could not have picked a better cause.
We have allowed the corporate greed mongers to create a nation of
hopeless, hapless, mindless slaves.
You all deserve medals for calling the nation's attention to the low
wages at Harvard and elsewhere.
Ms. Churchill deserves a gold for her appearance on "World News Tonight."
She did a great job as spokesman for the group.
What you're doing is critically important to the future of this country;
you've earned my deepest respect for your willingness to defend the right
of every man to a fair and livable wage.
You are tomorrows warriors. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Carol Haege
p.s. As I write this a Northern Minnesota food shelf director is on tv
stating that there are people coming in to get groceries who are working
two
and three jobs and still cannot support their families. The low wage
travesty
is epidemic.
Dear Students,
My name is Kirsten, and I am a single mother in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I
was watching the news and saw your noble sit-in, and I'm so proud of
you. I have two sons, a ten year old and a baby, and I make $8.00 an
hour working 60 hours a week with little or no child support.
You're doing a great thing, fighting for the people without power,
without education...people raising kids on next to nothing after rent and
a few bills, but never all the bills are paid. Last Christmas I gave my
children the gift of continued telephone service. But we are not
considered needy in this state because I have a job. I work very hard
and like my job, working with developmentally disabled men in a group
home, but it would be a miraculous gift if I could even get a dollar more
an hour. I'm only 30 but I feel like all your mothers. Sending hugs and
heaps of gratitude. (My ten year old wants to go to Harvard so badly but
knows with no money he'll never make it)
THANK YOU FOR DEFENDING THE POOR.
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 14:34:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: swat living wage campaign
Greetings to the Harvard Living Wage Campaign from the
Swarthmore Living Wage and Democracy Campaign! We've
been following your work very closely, especially in
light of the sit-in, and we've sent many emails to
your administration supporting you.
We recently put up a website, from which we link to
your page, and we were wondering if you might be
interested in linking to ours. The address is:
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/other/jhodes/living_wage/index.htm
Please keep us updated of your progress -- you're in
our thoughts, and we wish you tons of luck.
The Swat LWDC
PS: Lest you think that this email is coming from the
disembodied entity of the LWDC, the person behind the
site and the email is Cathy. Hi!
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 00:41:14 -0000
Thank you members of the PSLM! You're doing the right thing! It takes
conviction and you've got it! Way to go!
Lola, Bill Travis and
Maggie Stanton
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 15:44:02 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Subject: Living Wage Campaign
Dear Members of the PSLM,
As one of the few tenure Professors at Harvard who paid his
way through school, inter alia, working as a Janitor, I fully support
the living wage campaign.
Best of luck,
----------------------------------------
Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, Ph. D.
Professor
Co-Director, Harvard Immigration Projects
Chair, Interfaculty Committee on Latino Studies at Harvard
Harvard University
Graduate School of Education
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 14:49:35 -0400
Subject: Re: 4/25 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Thanks for the up-date. I am am pleased that the students have persisted in the
sit-in, and I commend all of you involved in this impoortant campaign. I recall
speaking at one of the early rallies, along with Richard Parker and Cornel
West. I
am on sabbatical, but I have signed the support letter. I do hope that a
resolution will be forthcoming soon.
Professor Harvey Cox
At the Social Anthropology Wing Faculty Meeting Tuesday,
April 24, 2001 all present faculty members approved the
following motion:
We, the faculty of the Social Anthropology Wing, as members
of the Harvard University Community, having read various
statements of Harvard students, faculty, and staff who are
advocating a living wage for Harvard employees and having
read the statements of the administration in response to the
living wage campaign, warmly support the students in
their ongoing campaign and urge in the strongest possible
terms the administration and corporation of Harvard
University to agree in principle to the living wage
campaign, and urge as well the expansion of employment
opportunities for minorities at Harvard.
Steven C. Caton
Byron Good
Michael Herzfeld
Engseng Ho
James L. Matory
Mary Steedly
Stanley Tambiah
Kay Warren
James Watson
Rubie Watson
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 20:55:23 -0400
Subject: Living Wage Campaign
Dear Harvard Living Wage Campaign,
I fully support your position that ALL employees of Harvard (and associated
instistutions) should pay a living wage.
The medical school is next! The hospitals and medical institutes are full
of low paid subcontracted employees who work for little money and few
benefits. I believe that we could get some of them to join in if Harvard
falls.
Best of luck and thanks for your fight for real social justice.
Jake Kushner MD
Instructor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Assistant in Medicine (Endocrinology)
Children's Hospital, Boston
Research Fellow
Joslin Diabetes Center
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 19:49:37 EDT
Subject: (no subject)
Hey, I know one of the guys in the building. I'm anxious to throw the ball
around with him. Recently we discussed Emerson. I find this quote
appropriate in light of the current sit-in.
It is: "What is man born for but to be a reformer,
a remaker of what man has made,
a renouncer of lies, a restorer of truth and good...."
Emerson.
Another quote comes to mind:
" We have armed ourselves with dignity and self-respect." (indeed
you have)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Love ya and keep up the good work,
Love Cuppy, Sara, and little Pepe
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 17:23:28 +0100 (BST)
Subject: support
Good luck with your attempt to force the University to treat those it
employs with some dignity.
Best wishes,
Mat Coakley
President, Cambridge University Students' Union, (UK)
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:03:29 -0400
Subject: Collateral effects!
I just wanted to let you guys know that your sit-in is having an effect far
beyond Harvard.
Krueger's article in the NYT today (second page of the business section)
obviously wouldn't have been printed if you hadn't been sticking it out for
so long, and it mentioned several ivy schools that are treating workers
unfairly.
Two nights ago the toothless committee that Princeton has convened to
address COLAs here held a public meeting, and we printed hand-outs that had
pictures of Mass. Hall and Nassau Hall (our main admin building). Several
speakers pointed out that your sit-in was a consequence of a blasé
administrative attitude, and that Princeton could expect a similar reaction
if they didn't take action. I'm sure that the administration doesn't want us
following your example.
Anyway, keep it up--this is amazing,
David Tannenbaum '01
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 15:47:22 +0100
Subject: RE: 4/26 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Dear All: Its your cousin, Nada, just looked on
the net to see you standing your ground, am very proud. Will be thinking
about all of you on the Mayday march we're having here in London, should be
something...!!
Keep up the good work and don't ever back down - (whoever said that students
nowadays are apathethic??!!)
Nada-Adele Saba
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 10:23:26 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: [AAA] Living Wage
Get a backbone. "Community Awareness and Social Justice," right? How did
AAA feel when people were lukewarm about its protests? It takes courage
to stand up for a cause 100%, because you leave yourself open to
criticism. But if any cause was water-tight, without any loopholes,
completely immune from any criticism, people would automatically agree.
There would be no protest, no struggle, no cause.
The point is, there is a cause, some will disagree with you, but to be
brave, to actively promote community awareness and social justice, we must
take a real stand. Don't fall into the academic pit of passive paralysis,
unable to support a cause because of the crippling fact that someone
somewhere might be able to point at you and criticize. Support others as
you would like to be supported. Do we, AAA, support the living wage?
Then we need to join the BSA, the Catholic Students Association, PBHA,
this wide variety of students who realize that 50% is not enough. "We
support you, but..." is not good enough. Yes, this may open us to
criticism, but don't let what others say be what holds us back. It
is not enough to wish good for the world, we must be active. Don't
take the coward's way out -
LIVING WAGE NOW
Sincerely,
Minh-Chau Nguyen Le '01
Lowell House
On Thu, 26 Apr 2001, AAA wrote:
>
>
> "The Asian American Association's constitution states that the "AAA
> recognizes the existence of many injustices and inequalities in this
> society against Asian Americans, other minorities, and women, and firmly
> supports actions to correct such situations." In agreement with this, and
> as part of the Harvard community, the steering committee of AAA supports a
> living wage for Harvard workers in an effort to help relieve these
> inequalities.
>
> We appreciate the efforts of the PSLM to bring the living wage issue to the
> campus' attention, as well as the efforts of the University administration
> to implement the plan of the ad-hoc committee formed to address this
> issue. Amidst the many arguments, our steering committee finds it
> difficult to assess and agree upon the real impact of all these efforts on
> workers lives. AAA itself has a history of protest; however, protest
> should encourage discussion and communication. We strongly urge the PSLM
> and the University administration to re-open communication and negotiate
> the issue of a living wage in accordance with both parties' and AAA's
> shared concern for the workers in our community."
>
>
>
>
>
> +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
> | Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association - Founded 1976 |
> | Toward Community, Awareness and Social Justice |
> | Address: University Hall 4, Cambridge, Mass. 02138 |
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 08:35:42 -0400
Subject: Re: gen list
go get 'em we did in 1969!!
(Tony Smith)
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 17:37:00 EDT
Subject: Re: Harvard protesters ask moral questions
I SAW THIS AND THOUGHT IT WAS EXCELLENT.
Feinberg finally returned my call today. When I asked him when they were
going to start talking with you guys, he said when you come out. He said no
one shoud be coerced. I aks him to stop using that term in regard to himself
and the university, that the only one being coerced was the workers who have
to work at the wages they are paying. He tried to tell me that they have a
record of intensive assessment, though honest reviewers would disagree. He
said he has not turned his back on the issue, and will continue to discuss
the issue. He doesn't appear 100% happy with the results of the report, but
stated everything can't be resolved all at once. He also stated tehy they
cannot arbitrarily adop a wage floor outside of collective bargaining. He
seemed concerned about the outsourcing and I wouldn't back down on my numbers
as opposed to his and I continued to urge him to speak with you guys. I let
him know that Harvard administration is looking pretty bad and that is was
time to negotiate. I'll continue my daily litany of calls and emails.
I have a board meeting tonight. If you get a chance to call, call late.
Nothing in the Journal news today.
I love you,
Mom xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooooooooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 21:20:01 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: keep it up!
GO Go! GO!
zac
syracuse U.
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 23:59:06 -0400
Subject: Re: 4/25 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Keep up the good work and keep the faith.
John Stauffer
Date: 26 Apr 2001 04:43:22 -0000
Subject: sit in
To those who chose action,
I just wanted to send my greatest admiration and gratitude to all of you who
have chosen action rather than apathy. Know that you do not stand alone. I
had the pleasure and pain of taking over our chancellor's office while I
attended UW-Madison, I know the difficult times that can occur. I wish to send
two words of wisdom: don't forget to have fun, and don't trust the cops or
administration (they'll say anything to get you out of the eye of the media....
and the world).
Again, thank you for taking matters into your own hands. If more of us would
do so, we would know what the words democracy and justice truly meant. Thanks.
peace and revolutionary love,
eric c. lynch
indianapolis, in
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 23:32:05 -0400
Subject: UofM is with you
You guys are awesome. We're one hundred percent behind you. We are so
excited to see that your community is coming out to support you. If there
is anything that we can do please give us a call or send us a note...we're
here if you need some midwest solidarity.
We are all proud to be a part of a group of young people ready and willing
to stand up for what is right on our campuses. It started with code of
conduct sit-ins and we have together energized students across this nation
in campaigns ranging from anti-prison-industrial-complex to living wage
campaigns. You are telling the world that young people are organized and
are mobilized. Remember that you have thousands of us around the country
pulling for you and standing not only with you but in solidarity with the
working people of Cambridge. You will succeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep up the fight
In Solidarity-
Studnets Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality, University of Michigan
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:07:14 -0400
Subject: RE: Living Wage
Bob
As one of the originators of the Vietnam protest movement, please tell your
daughter how proud I am of what she is doing. And I am proud of you, Bob, for
how you brought her up.
david
David Brooks Arnold
Director, International Relations : American Red Cross
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 01:16:45 -0400
Subject: Support from Emerson
Hey folks!
As a member of the Underground Youth Movement, a student activist
group based at Emerson College, I am empressed with your efforts. UYM is
just a year old, and we are thrilled to see other students demanding justice
from their schools. You may know our adjunct faculty voted overwhelmingly to
unionize, making them the third part-time union at a private college in the
nation. UYM ran an education/action campaign to show our support of
unionization. Perhaps our efforts can exchange notes. Last fall, we
discussed a living wage campaign at Emerson, but we shelved it. It seemed
too daunting. Now I realize if you can do it, so can we. Thanks for your
inspiration, I'll be there to support you!
~Georgia Young
print journalism major
Emerson College
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 14:20:52 -0500 (EST)
Subject: greetings from Indiana
To those sitting-in at Harvard,
The members of the student group No Sweat at Indiana University have been
following your sit-in and are fully supportive of your campaign and your
actions. Your work is an inspirational example of strong student-labor
solidarity and positive student activism. We will continue to follow your
situation and hope your administration will act quickly to make the right
decision. Keep up the good fight!
In Solidarity,
The members of No Sweat, Indiana University
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 12:58:10 -0400
Subject: Living wage campaign
I am an alumnus of Harvard (BA 1977) and am currently a physician and
epidemiologist at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National
Institute for Occuaptional Safety and Health where I study the overburden of
occupational injuries and illnesses among our country's low wage work force.
These injuries and illness's come not only from the overrepresentation of
low income workers in the most dangerous jobs, but also from the interaction
between stress on the job and the added social burden from supporting
families on inadequate incomes. As a Harvard alumnus, I urge the University
to adopt a living wage and therefore to take a stand in support of the
health and dignity of its entire workforce.
Yours,
Sherry Baron (class of 1977)
Sherry Baron, M.D., M.P.H.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:49:41 -0400
Subject: Thanks and comment
Dear PSLM,
I want to thank you for the terrific daily updates on the living wage
campaign. The campaign has been incredibly well organized and informative.
Many of us from the Hauser Center, mostly staff assistance and project
managers, have been out several times to the noon rallys to support the
students, and of course the campaign. My one concern is that in your
literature, you almost exclusively mention students and faculty. Rarely do
I see staff that work for faculty -- staff and research assistants who are
not students, administrators, managers (some of whom are in unions and some
of whom are not) -- recognized. Several here have written letters of
support and have been very vocal with faculty about why they think the
living wage campaign is so important.
Again, I want to congratulate everyone on your remarkable work, and we here
will certainly continue our commitment and support,
Sincerely,
Frances Kunreuther
Frances Kunreuther
Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Harvard University
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 15:35:08 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time)
Subject: message of support
Dear occupiers,
It's great to hear about action that is taking place at an American
University. You should be proud of yourselves for taking a stand and
i'm sure you will inspire similair action at other Universities. At
Sussex Univeristy, Brighton, England we had a sit-in recently over
student hardship. Keep up your spirits.
Sara Turnbull, Education officer, Sussex University Students Union.
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 20:15:32 -0400
Subject: Re: Harvard Sit in
To the Harvard students participating in the living wage sit-in:
Your commitment to fighting economic inequality in your own
backyard is courageous and exemplary. These local struggles
against poverty amidst plenty are exactly where our global
movement must take root, connecting the global to the local
and the local to the global.
Solidarity begins at home. You have mine.
With respect,
Naomi Klein, author "No Logo"
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 09:06:09 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: 4/25 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Great news! Carry on! I remember fondly when we blocked Sec. of Defense
McNamara's car in the Square in about 1967 or around there.
JW '63
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 06:11:00 -0400
Subject: Support for the Sit-in
Hi,
I read about the Harvard Sit-in in the NYTimes, and I'm just writing to
offer my support. I think what you're doing is wonderful, and wish you
luck!
Kristen Gray
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 18:22:40 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: LIVING WAGE SIT-IN AT HARVARD
So wonderful to wake up to news of your sit-in on NPR this morning! In
not much detail, of course, but great to know that what you're doing in
this struggle has now been communicated to a wider group. Keep up the
good work!
In solidarity,
Shirley Novak, 2nd Vice President, doctors for Global Health
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 18:00:20 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: you guys are great!
You're great! That's all I have to say. Keep it up,
and I'll try to do all I can from the outside.
Sally Hirsch
GSE
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 20:55:42 -0400
Subject: faculty endorsement
To the Harvard Living Wage Supporters,
You are the conscience of your university! My warmest greetings and
strongest support are with you in your struggle for economic justice, for
as long as it takes....
In solidarity,
Mark Brenner
Assistant Research Professor
Political Economy Research Institute
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
From: guster
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 3:23 PM
-- best of luck fighting the good fight. we're in north carolina
right now and our tour ends in two weeks so performing at harvard seems
unrealistic. we're behind your cause one hundred percent. bri etc
Statement of Senator Russell D. Feingold
in Support of the Harvard Living Wage Campaign
I commend the members of the Harvard Living Wage Campaign for your
unwavering commitment to ensuring that all university employees are
paid a fair wage for an honest day's work. These hard working men and
women are an integral part of the Harvard University family, and, like
all Americans, they deserve a chance to work hard and earn a decent
living.
No hard working American should have to worry about affording
groceries, shoes for their children, or medicines. These are not
people who spend their money frivolously. These are the families who
scrimp and save to provide their children with the necessities of
life: a decent place to live, enough to eat, clothes on their back, a
decent education, and some hope for a better future. For those
reasons, I will continue to fight for an increase in the minimum wage
at the federal level.
As a Harvard alumnus, I congratulate you on your efforts to draw
attention to this important issue, and to carry on the tradition of
social and political activism at Harvard.
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 18:14:31 -0700
Subject: in solidarity
Just wanted to send my support for you all as you take a stand against
injustice on your campus and in your community. I wish I could join you
at Mass Hall! We've been working for over three years to get local
living wage laws passed in Santa Cruz County and were recently successful
in getting the Santa Cruz City Council to adopt an $11/$12 per hour
living wage ordinance.
Clearly, there is much more to be done as we campaign for better wages
and rights to organize in other local jurisdictions and throughout the
country. Your courage and commitment are an inspiration to us. I have
forwarded your call for support to our living wage network and we are
responding with messages to the Harvard Administration. Keep up the good
work, si se puede.
In solidarity,
Sandy Brown
Santa Cruz County Coalition for a Living Wage
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 20:09:57 -0400
Subject: You're incredible!
This is just a brief note to let you guys know how impressed I am with your
actions and your dedication. I think you are just fabulous! I know there
are many of us out here cheering for you so keep up the great work!
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 18:05:22 EDT
I just took the time to read through the workers statements. It is quite sad
that a Harvard employee working full time can't even provide the basic
essentials of life without working a second job. If the university studied the
issue more carefully from a human standpoint, they might realize that a living
wage would have tremendous benefits to them. Their workers are tired from the
multiple jobs they must work to support themselves and their families, they are
demoralized from the long hours with wages so low they must feel their work is
not appreciated. To pay a living wage would allow some of these workers to work
one job, be more productive for Harvard and lift their spirits and feel their
work is appreciated. This can only have positive benefits for the University
adminstration and students. Harvard, taking a Lead on this issue only stands
to win in the public opinion form.
To the students inside: While I worry for my nephew who is part of this sit in,
I am proud that all of you have such empathy for other human beings. We are
rooting for you on Long Island!!
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 11:40:43 -0400
Subject: URGENT: Please forward to Maddy
Dear Maddy:
I just spoke briefly with E. J. Dionne, the Washington Post Op Ed
Columnist who was Grandpa Jacques student. He loved Grandpa, who turned him
on to Camus and, I believe, affected his polticial thinking, though I
believe he also came from a family of modest means in Fall River. (He wrote
an appreciation of Granpa for the Portsmouth alum mag.) He is a big
progressive voice, and a Harvard graduate.
I merely said I was Jacques's daughter,a dn that my daughter was sitting
in at Harvard in support of low-wage workers. "Aha! Carrying on the
tradition!" he said. I asked if he would think of casting his writerly eye
in that direction. He said he might very well, and "Have her call me." His
number is 202-797-6067. He was delighted to hear from anyone connected with
Granpa Jaqcues. It is 11:36. He's home now. Leave him a message where you
can be reached if you miss him.
Love Mom
I am otherwise doing nothing but standing on the sidelines and wishing you
well
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 16:55:14 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: A Living Wage
I got your email address from the Crimson office. I am an old
grannie from Boston who is sending you and your group my support and
blessings. I sent an email to Mr. Joseph Wrinn, and said "Shame on you
and shame on Harvard." (That's the way we old grannies talk.) If you
know of any other way I can show my support, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Ann Walsh
Boston
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 16:59:08 -0400
Subject: sit in
Dear Friends,
On my way home from school this afternoon, I was surprised when NPR
mentioned that they were going to air a story about Harvard. I listened
to the story about the sit in, and I wanted to let you know that your
voices were heard, not just in Cambridge, but across the country, as I
called my friends and family and told them to tune in. Thank you for
speaking out and advocating a living wage. I am sorry that I cannot be
there with you, but I support the brave work you are doing.
Erin Seaton, Ed.D. '06
Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 11:49:46 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: keep it up!!
Dear living wage campaigners,
Keep up the great work! Your commitment to justice is
truly inspiring.
You can't imagine how satisfying it is to see the
fruition of a student-labor alliance that those of us
who were student activists in the early 90s only
dreamed of.
YOU ROCK!!
love and solidarity,
Yael Falicov
(sister of an awesome PSLMer)
(Message from Rebecca Jo Levi to the Hillel List)
As American Jews, I think we have a special responsibility to endorse
the freedom of existence and freedom of expression known as
jaywalking.
On a darker note, the writing in one of the recent e-mails to this
list reminded me eerily of that poem about World War II Germany:
(the ending, as best I can recall...)
"When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak up, because I was
a Protestant. And then they came for me. And by that time, nobody
was left to speak up."
Law is not necessarily the highest authority. While I believe that in
general people should agree to uphold consistent rules, it is
important to support causes we feel are just, and to evaluate which
laws we feel are worthy of upholding.
To condemn the sit-in merely because it is in some ways illegal and
in many ways disruptive, is a cop-out on our moral responsibilities.
There is no such thing as a victimless crime, but I care more about
the supposed beneficiaries of the Living Wage Campaign's actions than
I do about the inconvenience to Harvard's administrative leadership.
Think for yourself. If you could design an ideal society, who would
choose an employee's compensation? Do we really believe that Harvard
knows what is best in all situations? Would you really rather let
the forces of the market determine what is fair than to try to
improve the situation?
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 09:59:30 -0600
Subject: good work!
Good luck with your fight for a living wage at Harvard! We hear that this
is day 6 of a sit in action. Word of your campaign is spreading quickly.
Best Wishes and in Solidarity
Paula Chakravartty
Paula Chakravartty
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
UCSD
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 17:55:22 +0000
Subject: Living Wage Sit-In
Dear friends,
Acts of solidarity like this don't happen often enough,
but it certainly is inspiring when they do.
Looks like some Harvard students have learned what
matters.
Maya and Libby and maybe some of your other Shule
students from last year will be at the vigil tonight.
We're proud of you. Thanks for being a good role model
for the kids.
Jenny Hochstadt
Harvard Employee and Living Wage Supporter
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:31:18 -0500
Subject: living wage campaign support
Please add my name to whatever list you're keeping of alumnae who support
the living wage campaign. Several years on the Board of Overseers left me
convinced that Harvard's endowment is quite large enough to pay workers a
living wage. Thanks.
Gay W. Seidman '78 (Member of Harvard University's Board of Overseers
1986-1992)
Associate professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 13:30:06 EDT
Subject: media coverage
Hello Everyone...
i just spoke to the nytimes boston news desk and they said a reporter was
there today and that they would be doing a story tomorrow...i said i
hoped it
wouldn't be buried and she said that i was addressing a "high level
decision"! keep the faith...you are all so appreciated by those on the
outside. it is hard to believe that the door to negotiating remains shut
tight by the administration. but let's hope too that this message regarding a
living wage reaches those that have been unaware of the issue.
Judi Laing
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 18:20:37 +0200
Subject: thanks, from someone who's been there...
To all of you who are sitting in:
You are doing the right thing. As someone who has been homeless two different
times due to a combination of low-income jobs with few or no
benefits, and overly high rental costs, plus an injury on the job, I
applaud your courage and your willingness to put your beliefs on the
line. Your awareness makes the crucial difference for a
society that otherwise seems to have lose most of its values
and priorites. My folks ancestors were refugees from Ireland
because of the potato famine (more ancient economic injustice).
Having come to this country, for the next few generations, they
worked hard...REALLY hard...and put themselves through college on
scholarships. They graduated suma and magna cum laude from an ivy
league college. They worked hard for the "American Dream". They
salvaged furniture from the town dump and refinished it until it
looked as "good as new". They clothed our family with used clothing.
They made sure that we did not go hungry. They bought a fixer-upper
house, and over the years, fixed it up until it fairly shone of upper
middle class. Then something happened. People started talking
about "trickle-down" theories, although some folks suspected that this
was just a fancy way of saying "piss on the poor people".
As time went by, the powers that be somehow decided that it was less
and less important for low-cost, affordable housing to remain in
existence, and converted more and more of it to condominiums, yuppie
hangouts, or whatever. It was also "discovered" that the needs of the
poor, working class important. Why do poor people need
good health care or nutrition? Hell, let'em eat cake, was the
attitude that prevailed from on high.
Alright- time for me to digress. I grew up in this neck of the woods.
If I recall rightly, it seems that the American Revolution started
here. It must have started because conditions were intolerable
somehow, Right? Lemme see here...*doing a search and finding
the "Declaration of Independence" online..*
http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html
Hmmmmmmmmm....*reading it, here* Seems to me that the whole thing is
worth quoting. However, I will just go for a few, salient parapgrapsh
and let you take it as you will.
"The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the
earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and
of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
oundation on such principles and organizing its powers in
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly
all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer,
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these
Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of
Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries
and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an
absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be
submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most
wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of
immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation
till his Assent should be obtained, and when so suspended, he has
utterly neglected to attend to them....."
Well, I'll stop there and let you read the rest.
I guess my little digresion has led me back to what I wanted to say
in the first place: supposed to be a Democratic Society
in a country for all. Even for poor, working people. And yes, even
for homeless people. And poor people, and homeless people, need to be
able to buy food and have a roof over their head as much as the next
citizen.
You are doing the right thing.
Harmony Kieding
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:19:57 -0400
Subject: Best Wishes
Dear Good Hearted, Strong, and Thoughtful Students,
To those of you in Massachusetts Hall acting upon your convictions. A
friend sent me this reminder some years ago.
First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you
Then they fight you
Then you win
-Gandhi
It is a sunny day. You could be out playing. I feel such wonder and
admiration for your dedication to the Living Wage campaign. It is a just
cause, meaningful to all workers deserving fair pay for a each day's labor,
important to all who understand that a good life is something to share.
In appreciation,
Victoria Kent
Staff Assistant in the Department of Sociology
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 08:25:06 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Support from the University of Akron
Harvard Sit-in'ers,
We are a student organization at the University of
Akron (in Ohio) called Students Taking Action for a
New Democracy (STAND). We've heard word about your
sit-in to demand that Harvard pay its many employees a
*real* living wage. This is very similar to one of our
long-term goals of an ethical economics policy at UA.
We're just starting a campaign for a sweat-free policy
here, and we hope in the future to expand the notion
of social and economic justice to all facets of the
university.
Thanks for the very noble and essential work you're
doing at Harvard. You're not only setting an example
for us at the University of Akron, but you also serve
as an inspiration to all those fighting for justice.
Don't give up!
For STAND,
Dana Williams
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 15:23:58 -0000
Subject: keep your spirits up
who are in sit-in
Just wanted to let you know that we are very proud of your commitments and
we are sure that you will be the winner at the end of the day.
Prayers and good wishes for all of you from syracuse.
Love and peace.Dube family..
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 10:05:15 -0400
Subject: Living Wage
Dear Living Wage activists,
Let me applaud and thank you for your courage and dedication - as you know,
your sit-in is being watched and cheered by many from afar.
Please also add my name to your faculty petition.
In solidarity,
Frank Borgers
Assistant Professor
Labor Center
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 09:31:43 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: For the students sitting in
Sisters & Brothers,
It is too bad that Harvard's administration isn't as proud of you as I am!
Keep rockin'!
In Solidary,
Ann Swinburn
Washington, DC
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 08:49:33 -0400
Subject: Good morning
Good morning, campers! Save your strength, it's picking up steam. Forwarded
your letter to the paltry number of alums I know. Keep it together, and be
gentle with each other.
Best, Andree
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 06:35:21 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Request for media interview at N.U.
I am Brother Minster Ahmad M. Abduliabd
Founder of SONS OF AFRIKA in Bosotn
and owner of the growing SONS OF AFRIKA E NEWS GROUP
I have been following the LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGN, as I
was once a HARVARD EMPLOYEE back in the '80's,
and I have posted your site on SOA E GROUP which
currently has 1,019 members WORLWIDE
I also co-host a radio/internet show each Sunday morning
at Northeastern University's WRBB
http://www.wrbb.neu.edu
For the past two weeks we have been having BLACK STUDENTS
at Northeastern University on our show to talk about their
demands and their current OCCUPATION of the John D. O'Bryant
African American Institute at N.U., whose building is now
slated by University President John Freeland for DEMOLITION.
I also was a student at N.U. in 1970-71 and was a part of the
first Afrian American Institute and am myself very supportive of
the BLACK STUDENTS at N.U.
We also talked about your campaign in my news segemtn and I
promised our listening audience that I would try to get some
representatives or employess of this H.U. campaign to come
on our show WHICH IS CALLED "DRUMBEAT"
This Sunday April 29th, to talk about the Living Wage Campaign
at H.U.
Could you please put me in touch with such representatives
as soon as possible
I may be reached by replying to this message
and sending a copy to:
and/or
by calling me on my CELL PHONE at
617-230-5704
Peace
Ahmad
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 00:35:02 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: why I'm fasting
I fasted today because I wanted to show my support for the living
wage campaign and to create empathy in myself for the material hardship of
those in poverty. In the context of Judaism the metaphor of the fast is
tremendously important; the following passage is read every year on Yom
Kippur, the holiest day of the year and the most significant fast:
Is this not the fast I have chosen?
To loose the fetters of wickedness,
And untie the chains of the yoke
To let the oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke.
It is to share your bread with the hungry,
And to take the destitute into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe him,
And not to hide yourself from your kin.
Isaiah 58:6,7
For me, to observe the Jewish fasts throughout the year and ignore
the living wage campain's call to fast would have been nothing short of
hypocrisy.
Jason Rubenstein '04
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 00:04:09 -0400
Subject: Thank you!
SGA members,
Thank you SO MUCH for including the (forwarded) April 19th email about
the
living wage campaign's update in this week's announcement. As your message is
received by ALL Ed. school students, I would also appreciate your further
support in forwarding this message to the GSE student body, staff, and
faculty.
Students, Staff, and Faculty,
In support of the mandate that Harvard workers should (at the very
least)
receive $10.25 an hour, I have made fervent attempts to keep friends,
colleagues, fellow students (& organization members), professors, and
administrators informed of the current sit-in and living wage activities. As
2 of my roommates (and a number of friends) have remained inside Massachusetts
Hall for 6 days now, I believe it is imperative that we at the Graduate School
of Education continue to show our support! For more information (facts &
figures), news coverage, upcoming events, and further ways we as students &
faculty can help and endorse the campaign, please view their website
www.livingwagenow.com Add your student group, community, individual, union,
and/or faculty endorsement to the website and share company with the likes of:
The NAACP, Mayor Anthony Galluccio, Ralph Nadar, Ben Affleck, and Noam Chomsky
to name a few. Also, show your support by stopping by Mass. Hall (next to
Johnston gate) and pick up living wage campaign flyers to post! If you're
coming from the Ed. School, go down Church street towards the square, the
First Parish Church is on the left, the square to the right. Cross the street
(both of them) and straight ahead is Johnston Gate... Mass. Hall is the
building on the right. If you're not able to make it to Mass. Hall, please
send email letters of support to the students who bravely chose to sit-in for
a living wage.
They can be reached at: pslm@hcs.harvard.edu (F.Y.I...pslm= Progressive
Student Labor Movement).
In Solidarity,
Michelle Leyva
Michelle J. Leyva, Ed. M '01
Harvard University Graduate School of Education
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 00:08:46 -0700
Subject: Endorsements
Yes, the BRAZILIAN IMMIGRANT CENTER, support this campaign, because we think
every body has the rights to have a fair wage.
Thank you
Fausto da Rocha
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 22:43:25 EDT
Subject: Good luck with your fight for a living wage for Harvard employees.
To those involved in the fight for a living wage at Harvard.
Good luck in your campaign,
You may use my name in a list of supporters if that is helpful
In solidarity,
Dan La Botz, Visiting Professor of U.S. History
University of Cincinnati
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 22:22:49 -0400
From: Robert Pollin
Subject: Endorsement
Dear Harvard Living Wage supporters,
Please add my name to your list of supporters. I was happy to speak at
your rally last Wednesday, and I admire your determination to fight for a
truly just cause.
In solidarity, Bob Pollin, Professor of Economics, U Mass Amherst
********************************************
Robert Pollin
Department of Economics and
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)
Univesity of Massachusetts-Amherst
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 22:10:48 -0400
Subject: add my name!
Brave Friends,
Please add my name to the list of those who support your efforts to
demand that Harvard pay all its workers a living wage.
Nancy Folbre
Professor of Economics
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 20:02:09 -0700
Subject: keep it up!
You guys are an inspiration to everyone, I really enjoy getting your
updates, and wish I could be there fighting alongside you. You
make everyone proud.
Ayelet Ruppin
UCSD
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 22:15:01 -0400
Subject: Re: Appreciation and support
Since stopping by the sit-in today I have been thinking a lot about all of
you. I just wanted to let you know how deeply impressed, moved and
inspired I was by the integrity, discipline and committment I witnessed. It
is so hard to do what you are doing without slipping into anger or
aggression. I wish that more of us, way back in the Stone Age of the 60's
had had the clarity of understanding, the compassion and the simplicity I
heard expressed today. Although my name is certainly not a big one on
campus, I would be more than willing to have you include me on any lists of
supporters. If there is anything at all that I can do please let me know.
Please say good night for me ...
we missed you a lot tonight, but you were very much with
us.
Eva Gumprecht, Senior Program Director, Harvard Hillel.
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 21:26:33 -0400
Subject: Great job
Dear Harvard Living Wage Campaigners,
Congratulations on your excellent work so far. I just
returned from the Labor Notes conference in Detroit,
where we had a large living wage workshop. We mentioned
your sit-in, and everyone cheered you on. I know many
students around the country want to start living wage
campaigns on their campuses, and so they will be
watching your struggle and wishing you well. I plan
to come to Boston later this week. Hopefully, the
administration will have agreed to your demands by
then, but if not, I'd like to come by and show my
support.
Your sit-in makes me so proud to be part of this
living wage movement.
In solidarity,
Stephanie Luce
U-Mass Amherst Labor Center
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 20:57:41 -0400
Subject: You have many on your side
Dear PSLMers--Saw the Masters letter. Saw the long list of professors who
support you. Heard about the 2000 students who signed your petition. Saw
the alumni letters on your Web site, received copies of others viw e-mail.
Wonder who the administration thinks they represent. Take good care of
yourselves--you are in our thoughts.
Best, Andree
PS. the phone line is messed up. Call Gus's number to let us know
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 20:18:41 EDT
Subject: Sit In
To all who are in the sit-in:
We support you and think you are right about the concept of the living wage.
Worker rights are going to be further shafted under the Bush Administration.
Special thoughts to our cousin, who is among you in the
sit-in. Please make sure he reads this E-mail and we hope to hear from him
soon. HANG IN THERE!
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 18:21:29 EDT
Subject: Great Job! Keep up the good work!
I admire the courage of all of you participating in this extremely important
cause. I spent the weekend up in Boston to support you (and to check on my
son--love ya!) I know all of you did not go into this lightly and it is
extremely unfortunate that the administration still isn't budging.
We continue to e-mail, call and spread the word to everyone we know. Many
people are excited by this and feel that it's about time we woke up and
started to take action instead of sitting back and doing nothing.
Once again, we think you are doing a great job!!
Love,
Maureen
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 17:37:29 -0400
Subject: Fwd: Living Wage Campaign
Dear Living Wage STUDENTS - I LOVE YOU GUYS!
Below is a letter I sent to the Crimson. Hope they publish it NOW!
>Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 17:35:01 -0400
>Subject: Living Wage Campaign
>
>Dear Crimson,
>
>I have been a clerical worker in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard
>since July 1998. It was wonderful for me to meet the living wage campaign
>students just months after I arrived. Since the campaign began I have not
>missed a single living wage public event. I have attended many campaign
>meetings and, best of all, developed heartfelt relationships with several
>living wage campaign students.
>
>It is difficult for me to find the words to express my gratitude to these
>students. I was in college myself when Ronald Reagan was elected to his
>first term. Consequently, during my entire adult life I have seen the
>working poor get poorer and poorer. Because of student activism in local,
>national and international campaigns I have for the first time felt
>hopeful and now feel confident that greed will not define us. We will
>organize and organize and organize until we make this world and this
>university a good place for all.
>
>Please feel free to give my contact information.
>Ann Conry, Staff
...
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 14:27:13 -0400 (EDT)
Hello, just got your address off of indymedia site, and we have certainly
been paying attention to your struggle in one of the world' leading
training institutions for the same rapacious elite some of us spent our
weekend fighting in Quebec City. We stand in solidarity with your
actions and beliefs. We may be sending a contingent of supporters this
week to Cambridge to show our support and solidarity with your activities.
Please e-mail and tell us when we'll be most needed. Also, if we are not
here in the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass. doing a May 1st! action we
will certainly attempt to attend the May 1st rally in the Boston Commons
for immigrant rights. Keep it up, give 'em hell, and don't capitulate!!!!
Joshua Jackson, for the Hampshire College
Workstudy Union at Hampshire College, Amherst, Ma.
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 16:34:10 -0400
Subject: Re: Harvard sit in
The people who work to make Harvard work deserve a living wage. Your
action in solidarity with them makes me proud to be a Harvard alum. By
contrast, the stance of the University appalls me. Rich from years of
soaring stocks, the University chooses a miserly response to people who
never shared that bounty. My hope is that you, the students, will teach
the administrators.
In Solidarity,
David Cohen, A.B. 1974, J.D. 1978
David Cohen
Deputy Director of Education
AFL-CIO
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:29:30 -0400
Subject: Love and Solidarity from NYC
Hey PSLM;
What a thrill to come up Saturday and see what you all have done and are
continuing to do. You've galvanized Harvard,
the Harvard and Cambridge communities, and a network of people around the
country (and the world: hi Dan Morgan!!!)
and filled it with a spirit and sense of hope I have rarely, if ever seen
there.
A living wage is critical for all workers, not least of all at the world's
second-largest "non-profit" organization. The degree
of organization, commitment, coordination, engagement, and passion that I
saw on Saturday, and have been hearing
about since last Wednesday is truly awesome, and gives me great confidence
that someday VERY soon everyone
receiving Harvard paychecks will be making at least $10.25 an hour.
I've never been prouder to be part of the Harvard community. It was so
special to see so many old and new faces
working together--you guys are the greatest.
Let us know if there's ANYTHING we can do from NYC; say the word, and we'll
pile back into the car and head up there!!!
lots of love,
Liz Vladeck, P.S.L.M. '99
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:26:40 -0400
Subject: Re: 4/23 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Dear Amy Offner and allies,
Just a quick note to let you know I'm writing the members of the
administration whom I know, including President Rudenstine and Dean Lewis,
to let them know the reasons why I support the living wage campaign.
I hope you will have patience and stay calm. Your cause is just, and you
have every reason to trust that it will prevail--if not now,
eventually. Don't let yourselves lose your tempers, which will be
increasingly tempting as the days go by. Think of King and Gandhi, or of
Malcolm X after rather than before his trip to Mecca.
I'll be talking about the issues in the campaign at both meetings of my
core course this week, which seems to me the most useful thing I can
contribute to your efforts. Good for you for sticking to your
principles! I believe you will win converts by continuing to do just what
you're doing now.
James Kloppenberg, Professor of History and supporter of the living wage
campaign
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 10:55:52 -0500
Subject: RE: Harvard sit in
Dear Mass Hall Sit-iners,
I want to send a message of solidarity from Mexico where this Harvard
grad lives. I agree with Damon 100% percent you are fighting the just
fight the one that leads to a better life for all of us. Thank you for
that.
Mirka who still remembers the studen workers struggles in 87 and beyond.
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 11:39:00 -0500
Subject: Re: 4/23 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Ya'll Rock-
Keep up the awesome work.
Ben
--
Ben Smilowitz '03
Washington University
We the undersigned officers of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Graduate Student Council (GSC) express our wholehearted support for
the Living Wage Campaign at Harvard University. We urge the University
administration to immediately adopt a living wage policy of $10.25 per
hour plus benefits for all Harvard workers. This University's greatness
as an educational institution is compromised by its current unwillingness
to provide an adequate wage and benefits package to all who work here. An
institution with financial resources as vast as Harvard's surely can
afford to pay its workers a living wage. Harvard's community of scholars
and workers will only be enhanced by such an action.
Lisa Laskin, Co-President, GSC
Robert Krikorian, Co-President, GSC
Victoria Lotridge, Vice-President, GSC
Wendy Roth, At-Large Member, Executive Council, GSC
Adam Fagen, Information Officer, GSC
David Nancekivell, Parliamentarian, GSC
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 17:17:30 +0100
Subject: Living Wage Now!
Dear PSLM,
Congratulations on a splendid sit-in and a terrific website at
www.livingwage.now!
Avanti popolo!
Chris Brooke
Ph.D candidate, Government Department (on leave); Harvard Teaching Fellow,
1998-2000 or so; now Fellow and Tutor in Politics, Magdalen College, Oxford.
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 11:48:33 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: some support
A note of support for all of the Harvard students still sitting in and
struggling in support of workers' rights and a living wage... What
you're all doing is incredible and very inspiring. My thoughts are with
you, stay strong!
In solidarity & struggle,
Rachel
former U-Michigan anti-sweatshop activist
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 07:01:42 -0400
Subject: Support for PSLM
Ms. Offner:
This is a just a brief letter to express my support for the continuing efforts
of the Progressive Student Labor Movement in their struggle to bring Harvard
administration officials to the table over the issue of a minimum living wage
for all university employees. This is a situation in which I believe Robert
Reich was actually right in noting that the efforts of your organization are
not simply economic, but moral--an important point when the administration
argues that the number of Harvard employees falling below the PSLM's proposed
wage floor is practically negligible. It goes without saying that this type of
attitude--one in which the work, efforts, and needs of even those "few" are so
nonchalantly disregarded--makes your attempts at creating a dialogue even more
urgent, even more necessary.
As a student at another university (University of North Carolina-Greensboro), I
am continually heartened by the PSLM's efforts. The consensus opinion dictates
that current university students are complacent cogs simply being honed to work
more smoothly in the American machine. The Progressive Student Labor Movement,
with its words and with its actions, boldly demonstrates that this is simply is
not the case. I am sure there are countless other students around the country
who would join with me when I say: Thank you: for your actions, for your
efforts, for your cause. Hopefully, the administration of Harvard will soon
realize they need to do the same.
Sincerely,
Dahron Johnson
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 10:19:41 -0400
Subject: Re: 4/22 HARVARD SIT-IN UPDATE
Dear Friends:
being out of town on sabbatical in New York city, there has not been much
that I could do to help you-
I send you all my long distance solidarity-
greetings
Seyla Benhabib
Congratulations. You're carrying on a great tradition of nonviolent protest on
behalf of economic justice. Harvard should be proud of you, and ashamed of
itself. Proud of you because you are acting out what educators often claim to
be the purpose of education, to bring into society better, more active citizens.
Ashamed of itself because it is filthy rich and morals poor, sitting on twenty
billion dollar