Occupy IU discusses next steps

Two discussions headlined Occupy IU’s second meeting Tuesday: whether to become an IU-affiliated student organization and what the group’s first step should be.

Senior Justinian Dispenza began the first issue by saying he didn’t agree with becoming a student organization, but he believed it was something that should be mentioned.

“The pros, though I’m against it personally, are that we can rent rooms on campus, possibly receive student funding and legal tabling,” he said.

According to the Student Organizations Handbook, members of a new organization must write a constitution, including the exact phrase “This organization shall comply with all Indiana University regulations, and local, state, and federal laws.”

Violations of University regulations might result in loss of student organization benefits and might subject the organization to the Student Organization Ethics Board process, according to the handbook.

Possible violations were addressed in the second topic of the meeting: where to go next. Handing out pamphlets and occupying designated spaces for a few hours would not infringe on University policy but occupying Dunn Meadow overnight would.

The handbook states that “overnight camping is not a form of expression and, therefore, permission will not be granted to cook or live in overnight structures.”

Occupier Joseph Klatt suggested flash occupations in different locations to bring more students into the movement before setting up a permanent tent city in the spring. But Peoples Park occupier Max Walsh said forming an overflow camp in Dunn Meadow is already being discussed.

“We might beat the students to occupying Dunn Meadow,” he said.

The Occupy IU group agreed, though, that occupying now is too soon and that they should first reach out to more students.

Propaganda, such as handing out pamphlets and making a list of facts that students care about, would be the first step, Klatt said. Students would also have the opportunity to learn about the cause face-to-face with an Occupy IU member.

Then, the group will move on to more noticeable tactics: occupied teach-ins, where members of the group take control of a classroom for one lecture period at the start of the semester when students don’t recognize their professors’ faces and occupying public buses — possibly a handful of people with signs on every bus. That way, they’d reach thousands of people at one time.

Starting with pamphlets will allow the group to maintain a sustained movement with room to grow.

“It’s a structure that makes it inviting and brings people in,” said Ben Robinson, assistant professor of Germanic studies. “We want to be taken seriously.”

Occupy IU’s next meeting will be at 7 p.m. today in the Indiana Memorial Union.