Posted on 11/13/2015 8:04:31 AM PST by pabianice
The lobby of the University of Massachusetts Student Union shook as roughly 250 students leapt up and down in unison, shouting chant after chant Thursday afternoon as a part of a national day of action focused on higher education reform.
Nine student groups presented demands during UMass’ Million Student March. Nearly 100 campuses nationwide held similar demonstrations, according to the event’s emcee and policy and legislative director for the Center for Educational Policy and Advocacy Filipe Carvalho.
Members of each group proudly held up posters and draped banners over the Student Union’s balcony, plastered with phrases such as, “Education is a human right,†“Involve us; It’s your job,†and “We are students; not customers.â€
The national day of action centered around three demands: free universal public higher education, the cancellation of student debt and a $15 minimum wage for campus workers.
Chrissy Dasco, of CEPA’s access and affordability branch, spoke about her concern with student debt. She argued that students shouldn’t have to struggle to eat or scrape to get by just to prepare themselves for the workforce.
“A lot of people pursue higher education to learn how to live, so we will be able to live out there,†Dasco said. “We want to live out there, but we cannot do that if we’re $50,000 in the hole. We can’t do that if the money we make becomes the money they take faster than we can make dinner to feed ourselves.â€
Erika Civitarese, of CEPA’s Student Labor Action Project branch, told her story of growing up as a first generation college student and working in the fast food industry for four and a half years to pull together enough money to attend college. She argued everyone deserves a $15 minimum wage, “whether it’s the workers in the Dining Commons serving your food or the janitors cleaning up your vomit on the weekends.â€
In addition to the national demands, the student organizers included six UMass-specific demands: the creation a new seal and mascot because not steeped in the legacy of racism; the implementation of a survivor’s bill of rights for survivors of gender based violence on and off campus; a five percent increase in recruitment and retention of students of color at UMass over the next four years; the removal of all Sabra products from campus retail, publication of UMass’ list of their private investments and divestment from all “companies that profit off Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine;†divestment from the top 200 fossil fuel companies; and gender-neutral bathrooms in every building, more gender-neutral housing options, and the other demands listed in Gender Liberation UMass’ open letter.
Other student speakers focused on these campus-based demands. Multicultural Organizing Bureau representative Gillian Teng addressed racism on campus, demanding that students of color be provided resources that will help them navigate through the institution of higher education. One banner stated that, in 2013, 47.9 percent of students of color did not graduate.
Teng expressed concern over the safety of students of color on campus and the administration’s response.
“The safety of students of color at UMass is always compromised,†she said. “And the administration has shown time and time again that they do not take the concerns of students of color seriously.â€
Andrea Nyamekye, of the UMass Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign, demanded UMass invest in renewable sources of energy and abandon fossil fuels for the sake of the environment and the community.
“Everyone has the right to clean air and clean water. It is the right of all inhabitants of this Earth,†she told the audience.
Students for Justice in Palestine was represented by Mohamad Barham, who argued for the end of Israeli occupation in Palestinian territory, the end of treatment of Palestinians as third class civilians and allowing Palestinians to return to their homeland.
In regards to the removal of all Sabra products from campus, Barham described Sabra as, “a company that invests and helps fund the Israeli armed forces.â€
He also argued that students have a right to know where their money is going and what organizations their money is being invested in.
Taylor Glickman of Gender Liberation UMass advocated for gender inclusive bathrooms “that aren’t a million miles away from our class,†as well as gender neutral housing.
“(Transgender students) want to use the bathroom we want by the end of the spring semester of 2016,†Glickman said.
The Coalition to End Rape Culture’s secretary and co-treasurer Steph George and president Priya Ghosh spoke on then necessity of a survivor’s bill of rights. They also advocated for no-contact orders for survivors of sexual assault and gender based violence.
“We demand a survivor’s bill of rights because you shouldn’t have to report to get support,†George stated. “Survivors shouldn’t have to change their majors, their classes, their housing, their life.â€
“As it stands right now, one in four women will be survivors of rape and sexual assault by the time they graduate from UMass,†George said.
George and Ghosh expressed concern that there is only one Title IX coordinator for all the students at UMass.
UMass for Bernie Sanders, MASSPIRG, Student Bridges and the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts UMass Amherst Chapter were also represented.
Danny Cordova can be reached at dcordova@umass.edu. Shelby Ashline can be reached at sashline@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @shelby_ashline.
Department of Student Development (SD)
Social Justice Education Concentration
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Social Justice Education
60 credits
Social Justice Education is an interdisciplinary concentration of study with a focus on social diversity and social justice as they apply to formal and non-formal educational systems. It uses and generates research and theory to understand the sociocultural and historical contexts and dynamics of specific manifestations of oppression (e.g., ableism, classism, heterosexism, racism, religious oppression, transgender oppression and sexism) in social systems. It brings together faculty and students with interests in issues of social diversity and social oppression, inclusion, equity, social justice, critical theories, critical pedagogies, dialogues across differences, individual and collective empowerment, liberatory consciousness and practice, and research and for social justice.
The goal of the SJE doctoral concentration is to prepare scholars and educational leaders that can promote social diversity and justice in educational settings through the development of theoretical and practical knowledge, empirical research, and the use of effective social justice education practices. The concentration engages candidates in the study, interrogation and further theorizing of social justice issues and social justice education practices for the purpose of developing knowledge capable of fostering educational environments that are socially just, diverse, inclusive, equitable, and accessible to all members within given communities and contexts. Candidates are experienced educational professionals – classroom teachers, school counselors, staff development professional, education administrators, student affairs programmers, special educators, youth workers, or college residential educators – who work closely with a faculty guidance committee to plan a course of study which balances academic and professional experiences relevant to successfully completing doctoral work. Graduates are employed in various roles including faculty and leadership and administration roles in a variety of educational settings including private and public schools, non-governmental organizations, university and college settings.
Doctoral concentration of study - 60 credits (42 semester hour credits minimum plus 18 dissertation credits)
Required Courses:
SJE Doctoral Core (18 cr.)
EDUC 691E Social Issues in Education
EDUC 624 Contemporary and Historical Constructions of SJE
EDUC 648 Historical and Pedagogical Foundations of SJE
EDUC 893C SJE Doctoral Proseminar I
EDUC 893C SJE Doctoral Proseminar II
EDUC 691E includes a minimum of three social justice issues selected from among the following seven choices: Ableism, Religious Oppression, Classism, Transgender Oppression, Heterosexism, Racism and Sexism. Students are expected to take three social justice weekend seminars in the first semester and demonstrate knowledge in a fourth one. This course can be taken twice.
Two Theory Courses (6 cr.) toward specialization, one of which should be taken outside the College of Education. Student regularly take related graduate level theory courses in Anthropology, Education, Women Gender and Sexuality studies, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, and Sociology.
Four Research Methods Courses (12 cr.) to develop competency in qualitative, quantitative research methods and critical research methodologies.
Elective Courses (9 cr.)
Ed.D. candidates are required to take 3 graduate level electives (12 cr., inside or outside the College of Education), related to scholarly interests and area of specialization selected in conjunction with graduate advisor and/or guidance committee. Students take courses in Afro-American Studies, Anthropology, Education (teacher education, higher education, educational policy), Women, Gender and Sexuality studies, Sociology, Political Science, Public Health, Psychology, and Sociology.
Additional College of Education Requirements: In addition to the SJE doctoral program requirements listed above, the College of Education requires course work (or equivalent) in human development, social justice, historical foundations, research and pedagogy. These requirements can be filled by courses already listed within the SJE core, research, and elective areas. Core, theory, research and elective courses, together account for a minimum of 42 semester hour credits. No credits are attached to the Comprehensive Papers, which typically follow the completion of all course work and enable the doctoral student to explore in depth one or two specific areas of social justice. These areas usually enable the student to become familiar with a field for dissertation inquiry. The dissertation (18 cr.) follows the comprehensives. Most doctoral students take assistantships for financial support and professional experience, thereby extending doctoral work into a fifth year.
The required and elective courses that are eligible to fulfill the doctoral requirements can be found at the following link: Social Justice Education Doctoral Graduate Program Curriculum Outline
While the faculty on the doctoral guidance committee directs individual doctoral programs of study, a typical doctoral program of studies in the SJE doctoral program might be as follows:
Semester 1 (Fall of the first year)
EDUC 691E: Social Issues in Education
EDUC 624: Contemporary and Historical Constructions of SJE
EDUC 893C: Doctoral Proseminar I
Semester 2 (Spring of the first year)
TBD: Elective 1
TBD: Theory Course 1
TBD: Research Course 1
Semester 3 (Fall of the second year)
EDUC 648: Historical and Pedagogical Foundations of SJE
TBD Research Course 2
TBD Elective 2 or Theory Course 2
TBD Research Course 3
Semester 4 (Spring of the second year)
EDUC 893C: Doctoral Proseminar II
TBD Research Course 4 or Elective 3
TBD Elective 2 or Theory Course 2
Semesters 5 and Semester 6 (third year)
TBD Research Course 4 or Elective 3
Propose and write comprehensive papers Write dissertation proposal
Semesters 7 and 8 (fourth year)
Write and defend dissertation
Lazy, good-for-nothing trash.
Ungrateful little snots need to thank God every morning and get down on their knees and kiss this hallowed ground they dwell on. But they won’t because they’re entitled. Still thing dropping them off naked and afraid in the middle of the Amazon would be eye opening.
This major should be titled “Grievance Studies”...
Preparation for them whining for handouts after graduation.
Ungrateful little snots need to thank God every morning and get down on their knees and kiss this hallowed ground they dwell on. But they won’t because they’re entitled. Still thing dropping them off naked and afraid in the middle of the Amazon would be eye opening.
Of course this happened at UMASS. Ugly campus, ugly place. The whole state is a mess.
>>in 2013, 47.9 percent of students of color did not graduate.
UMasshats.
The palitrash group is a real hoot. Send them to any islamo country to get their heads right. After a few gang rapes, some finger chopping, stoning and boys getting rear-ended by bearded savages, they may learn something.
And I am sure that these ‘greivance studies’ and ‘majors’ will have a huge demand in our workforce.....sort of like art history and eskimo-transsexual studies do.
LOL, “no more tuition, fees or debt”. I guess all they want is a socialist Utopia.
That's it? That has to be a small fraction of the enrolled students demanding 100% of the attention.
Pick through that PC fantasy-land laundry list and you’ll find two legitimate gripes — debt load and the failure to prepare students for a job that doesn’t involve standing behind the counter at a fast food restaurant. Both debt load and the failure to teach relevant job skills result form liberal policies.
The rest of the list is grounded in some alternative reality that I have no connection with.
Obama White House leading them around by the nose
Grow up, get a job, move out.
None of this is by accident. This is meant to fire up the young vote for Hillary - mark my words.
Just like Obama lit the fire of race wars - all this is designed to elect Hillary.
ANd there are people out there that are worried that Trump is “too tough” and isn’t nice enough.
Folks, this is a culture war for the soul of our country.
250/71,910 = 0.348%. The building "shook"? Shoddy, substandard union construction?
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