This article was originally published in the Daily Orange and is reposted here with perimission.
Occupy Syracuse and Occupy College participants have been lacking high numbers of involved Syracuse students in relation to the total university population, so Orange, it’s officially time to step up your game.
The Women’s and Gender Studies Department is hosting a discussion and teach-in Nov. 10 at 11:00 a.m. titled "Feminism and the 99 Percent Movement." The event will take place in the Atrium Lounge on the third floor of Sims Hall. I’ll be co-facilitating the discussion with another WGS student. I encourage students to attend this discussion. It’s important for SU students to start getting involved in the Occupy movement and to talk about the most effective ways to go about contributing our own voices and experiences to this sociopolitical movement.
There are plenty of reasons why you should come out and support the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, the Occupy movement and me on November 10.
For starters, everyone else is doing it. Following the success of two separately organized protests and walkouts at colleges and universities nationwide, 68 schools have signed up on OccupyCollege.org to participate in the National Student Solidarity Teach-ins on November 2 and 3. Syracuse University has remained absent from all three forms of activism thus far — but it’s better late than never.
This is a chance to offer your perspective. If you’re not happy with the way Occupy Wall Street and Occupy College have operated thus far, this discussion is your chance to talk about, and change, it. The movement has been criticized for excluding different races and genders. The only way to make it more inclusive is for all students from different social locations to lend their thoughts and ideas for progress.
Be a part of something bigger than over-studying for your exam the next day or spending valuable time talking about the demise of Kim Kardashian’s 72-day marriage. Not to discredit the importance of grades, but one test or paper will be just a fleeting moment in your life, whereas a discussion about feminism and Occupy Wall Street has the potential to stick. And as for the Kardashian-Humphries saga, get your mind out of the gutter and start talking about important issues.
Plus, I’m bringing special brownies — special in the sense that I seldom bake or do anything in the kitchen. Take advantage of this momentous occasion by stopping by and at least humoring my baking skills and pleasing your taste buds.
Countless students talk about the myriad issues facing our country and our age group specifically, but it’s time to stop talking and take action. The Occupy Wall Street movement embodies a social movement that is — generally speaking — representative of our generation’s sentiments. If you’ve tweeted about the Occupy movement, debated with friends and made comments on Facebook statuses, it’s probably time for you to turn those smaller conversations into larger discussion.
Krystie Yandoli is a senior women and gender studies and English and textual studies major. Her column appears every Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter at @KrystieLYandoli.
