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thread on student divestment campaigns:
I really respect student organizers who work on divestment campaigns. They are grueling battles. I was part of one for four years. But the reality is, it's near-impossible to force a school to divest. They nearly always outlast you. 1/
I really respect student organizers who work on divestment campaigns. They are grueling battles. I was part of one for four years. But the reality is, it's near-impossible to force a school to divest. They nearly always outlast you. 1/
Administrators have decades at institutions; we have four years. They know they can wait us out –– and often, they just have to wait until the summer, when the most experienced organizers graduate.
They have learned every trick in the book to defang student movements. 2/
They have learned every trick in the book to defang student movements. 2/
They use symbolic yet meaningless concessions, misinformation, countless committee meetings, unclear power structures, and more. Above all else, they insulate the true decision makers –– the president and the Board –– from public scrutiny. 3/
Lots of divestment campaigns go down at Ivys/"elite" (heavy air quotes) schools. But historically, these schools are almost always the last to divest. They prize their reputations & donors above all else. They would rather have all their students hate them than lose one donor. 4/
And all the universities learned from the apartheid divestment days. Post apartheid divestment movements, schools like Princeton created different versions of (at Princeton) the "Resource Committee" –– the school's first line of defense against students. 5/
They meet a couple times a year, have symbolic representation, & are usually controlled by one upper-level administrator who pretends not to have the control. Students get stuck in committees forever, hoping that if they can convince the committee, they'll see change. 6/
The committees will ask you to do so much work, and they'll have ever-shifting goal posts. First they wanted a gauge of student support. So we had a massive movement to get votes on an undergrad student referendum that showed huge support for divestment. 7/
Then they said, well actually we need grad students. So we had a massive push to get graduate student referendum, that also showed overwhelming support. Then they said, well what about the faculty? So we put a ton of time into getting faculty signatures on a petition. 8/
Then they said, well we really need to know about what the alumni think. And we said FUCK NO YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES. They also asked us to plan an event, which we did, which only like 3/12 of them attended.
Committees are there to slow you down, full stop. 9/
Committees are there to slow you down, full stop. 9/
The first committee process will take like two years. Best case scenario, you get a favorable report with a recommendation to divest. Then you go to another. At Princeton, you move from the Resources Committee to the Finance Committee, and hope for a favorable rec. 10/
If they recommend divestment, then you finally go to the Board. At this point, you've likely graduated, or one of those committees has said no, or momentum has faded, or the Board says no. Burnout and fatigue are real. You feel like you're constantly losing. 11/
Some campaigns are successful. Most are not. And with each victory, universities get better and better at repression of student movements. They're always learning. 12/
Part way through my time student organizing, we realized we needed to focus less on our institution, and more on the communities we were a part of. We expanded our efforts to New Jersey, joined coalitions with NJ organizers, and looked outward. 13/
I think university-based campaigns are most useful as tools of radicalization (when I joined, I thought private prisons were the devil; being part of the campaign was part of what radicalized me), and political education for those around you. 14/
But ultimately, Universities have all the power. They can suspend and expel us, they can deploy campus police, they can AND WILL rewrite the rules the second you discover that they benefit you in some way. Also, university activism ultimately serves a small slice of the pop. 15/
This isn't to say don't work on divestment campaigns. Again, they can radicalize & teach people. But be aware of your surroundings. Be connected to those organizing in your community, & across issues on campus, & especially know what the workers on your campus are up to. 16/
One of my biggest regrets is how out of touch I was with the organizing of working people on our campus. If I could go back, I'd spend a lot more time working with those folks. 17/
Anyway, in sum, divestment campaigns are nearly insurmountable uphill climbs, and you should seriously consider the barriers before starting one. Be in community with those surrounding your school, and those working in your school. 18/
goodnight!
