Activists Plan a Breather In Wake of Rally

With several of their key demands met, organizers of the "Rally for Justice" yesterday said they would put down their placards for a little while.

"The first thing I'm going to do is take a break," said Benjamin L. McKean '02, a Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) member who helped organize the group's anti-sweatshop campaign.

During the rally Tuesday, the University announced it would disclose the locations of the factories that manufacture Harvard insignia items--"possibly the central demand of the sweatshop campaign," according to McKean.

"At other schools it has taken students hundreds strong to win," McKean added.

The rally, scheduled to coincide with the full Faculty meeting held inside University Hall, attracted around 350 supporters of PSLM, the Coalition Against Sexual Violence (CASV) and the Living Wage Campaign. The students encircled University Hall, chanting slogans advocating higher wages for University employees, changes in policies regarding sweatshop labor and increased resources for rape survivors.

Members of CASV said they were pleased by the Faculty's decision to dismiss D. Drew Douglas, Class of 2000, after an Administrative Board finding that a rape had occurred. Douglas had pled guilty in Middlesex Superior Court on Sept. 24, 1998, to a charge of indecent assault and battery.

But CASV members also said they have a long way to go before they are satisfied with the College's policies on the issue.

"For us, this is definitely about more than this one case," said Alexis B. Karteron '01, a CASV member.

She said future CASV action will probably involve more dialogue with administrators.

"I don't think we'll be planning a rally anytime soon," Karteron said. "We're just going to keep doing what we've been doing over the past year, trying to keep meeting with administrators to tell them the importance of this issue again and again."

CASV's demands include a 24-hour rape crisis center and a rape education program for first-year students.

Although the group joined the rally late in its planning stages, it received the bulk of the media attention surrounding the event. Most local news broadcasts omitted coverage of PSLM and the Living Wage Campaign.

"We jumped on [the other groups'] bandwagon but the coverage ended up coming to us, which is unfortunate because we believe in what they were trying to do also," Karteron said.

But other groups say they still benefited from the alliance. Even members of the Living Wage Campaign, who walked away from the protest empty-handed, said they were pleased with the other groups' success.

"I can't see any way in which a victory for one of these groups is not a victory for the others," said Justin B. Wood '98-'99, who is a member of the Living Wage Campaign.

"It shows when you're on the right side of things, the University may eventually listen," he added.

Wood said the Living Wage Campaign has not had as much time to develop a support base as the other two causes had.

"It's only been going for a month," he said. "I could see how it might get overshadowed by the groups that have a little higher publicity."

Living Wage Campaign supporters said they plan to meet with University administrators to discuss their demands. Members of the group met with Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III before the rally on Tuesday, but said they want to meet with a higher-ranking official who has the power to implement the changes they desire.

Wood said Living Wage Campaign members are not planning on holding more rallies in the near future.

"There are many other ways to put pressure on people in power," he said.

But for the moment, rally organizers are celebrating the effectiveness of protest.

"This shows the right way to approach the administration is through a combination of direct action and negotiation," McKean said. "That's the only way to win things from them."

Rally organizers said working together formed bonds between the groups that will be useful in the future.

"The three campaigns worked seamlessly together," said Benjamin O. Shuldiner '99, a PSLM member. "At the HUCTW [Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers] office the night before the rally, the place was packed, and everyone from the three groups was just hanging out together, making posters."

"There really was a sense of community," he added.

Shuldiner said he hopes the groups can maintain that sense of community now that the rally is over.

"There's no question that after a large rally like we had yesterday there will be some dissipation of energy, but I think the rally created connections that weren't there before, so that we know that we can count on the other groups for help," Shuldiner said.