Awareness raised for April strike

About 25 people, mostly IU students, gathered Thursday in the first floor hallway of Ballantine Hall to recruit for a strike planned for April 11 and 12.

Although the major purpose of the strike is lowering tuition fees, the protesters have other demands, including less privatization of things such as parking lots and higher wages for IU staff.

Senior Thomas Munster said President Michael McRobbie created a rule last year that gave no tuition raises to juniors in good academic standing.

Munster said this rule was created in hopes that students with good grades would not have to work to pay for their tuition, since paid work can often distract from schoolwork. It was created as an incentive to maintain good grades.

“(McRobbie’s policy) does nothing to address the already extremely high tuition for students that continues to increase every year,” Munster said.

Senior Kelsey Pitts said movements within the student body to stop the tuition increases have been unproductive.

“People are just worried about (tuition increases) rather than trying to solve,” Pitts said.

Senior Dave Hamilton said he has $33,000 in student debt. He spoke out to the students passing through the halls, and some stopped to listen.

“(Education) is a public good,” Hamilton said. “It should be treated as such ... We’re not saying education should be free, but they want to make it a spa for the rich, instead of an academic and research university.”

Another demand the protesters have expressed is doubling the African-American enrollment to 8 percent.

They recall that in 2006, President Adam Herbert elicited a commitment from the Board of Trustees to raise African-American enrollment.

The protesters explain that now, seven years later, the University plans to use its newly-hired Vice Provost of Admissions to work on the problem.

Junior Nick Greven said it’s taken too long for this policy to be instated and it was an unnecessary use of funds.

“I don’t think you need another administrator to oversee that,” Greven said.

The students are planning further events leading up to the strike. They are having weekly meetings at 7:30 p.m. Mondays by the IMU bowling alley, and a concert Feb. 7. A blog is available at iuonstrike.tumblr.com with more information on the proposal.