Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Occupy USF to hold first major events in the coming week
Posted by Mitch Perry on Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 1:40 PM
But there has never been much activism at the 40,000 member student body.
But with the Occupy movement still in existence in Tampa, the first Occupy USF event is scheduled now to take place on the Fowler Avenue campus next Wednesday, November 9.
But before that, the Tampa chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) will be holding a teach-in this Thursday, November 3, "to educate students, faculty and staff about budget cuts, tuition increases, and attacks on what they call “the 99%” of campus."
23-year-old Danielle Leppo, an English major at the school, spoke at Tuesday night's Awake The State rally. She's helping organize not only tomorrow's teach-in, but also a major march and rally next Wednesday, November 9.
"We look at (school president) Judy Genshaft and the school board as our 1%," Leppo said Tuesday night. She said one place where students have become more active is about the fact that tuition at state institutions of higher learning was raised 15 percent this fall, after the state Board of Governors allowed each university to add a 7 percent "tuition differential" to the 8 percent increase already approved by the Legislature in April.
Leppo did admit that when began informing some of her students about that hike, many of them had no idea it was happening.
The New Port Richey native also said that she has become energized by the Occupy protests, particularly in Tampa, again not a usual hotbed of protests, from students or anyone else for that matter.
"I always hear a lot of complaints that they don't have clear demands, but hey, they're putting down the remote and getting out there, you know what I mean?," adding that she hasn't seen such activity in Tampa in her short lifetime.
Occupy USF/SDS will hold a teach-in this Thursday, November 3, with a march and protest beginning at 1:30 p.m.
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