For the past year UF SDS has been working on a campaign that would ensure UF’s 1.2 billion dollar endowment is not invested in war, environmental destruction, and human rights abuses. We took on this campaign because it looked like a practical and achievable goal that would help our movement in its fight for a more just, sustainable society. After a year of working on this issue and being consistently ignored, misrepresented, patronized, and denied, we felt it was time to bring the campaign to the next level. We considered a multitude of different options and finally decided that a hunger strike had the best potential to achieve our desired result.

On April 9th, 2008, members of UF SDS shared a “last supper” on the steps of Tigert Hall. At least 11 people have committed to some level of participation in this hunger strike, including some that will be consuming nothing but water until our Socially Responsible Investing proposal is accepted by the University of Florida. We need your help in letting the administration know that they can no longer ignore us and our proposal.

We are aware of the seriousness of the step we have taken, and can only reiterate the seriousness of the problem we are confronting - the systematic subjugation of people, cultures, and ecosystems before the almighty dollar. This system operates because it is profitable, and it is profitable because everyday people and institutional investors like UF have sacrificed their own values to cash in on the madness. Our proposal is an attempt to disconnect UF from this cycle and restore some sense of dignity and honor to higher education in the US.

Call school president Bernie Machen and let him know what you think about his refusal to put UF’s money where its mouth is. Ask him if he thinks it is okay if our university is profiting off of war, environmental destruction, and human rights abuses.

Phone: (352) 392-1311
Fax: (352) 392-9506
Email: President@ufl.edu
Office of the President, 226 Tigert Hall, PO Box 113150,
Gainesville, FL 32611

Other administrators you can talk to:

Student Body President: president@sg.ufl.edu

Office of Sustainability Director Dedee DeLongpre: dedee@ufl.edu, (352) 392-1336

Ask them to publicly declare their support for the hunger strikers and their SRI proposal.

Also, please sign our petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/srisds/petition.html

And, join the facebook group for updates: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14624337562

Can you organize a call in and letter writing day with your chapter? Every little bit helps. Thanks for your support!

In solidarity,
Gainesville Area SDS

Here is a sample call-in or letter/email script:

Hello, my name is ________ from __________ (school). I am (calling/writing) to urge you to support the socially responsible investment proposal submitted to you by Students for a Democratic Society. Currently, the SRI policy passed by the Board of Trustees provides no measure of accountability to the students or the public. If the University of Florida is to live up to its mission statement of working for the public good, it must realize that its investments should be held to the same standard. I implore you to meet the demands of the students who are on a hunger strike and ensure that the University of Florida will remain at the forefront of the fight for sustainability and responsibility. Thank you.

Beth Slutzky (Sarah Lawrence SDS) and Christa Hendrickson (Drew SDS) were interviewed on The Joy of Resistance: Multicultural Feminist Radio on WBAI (an independent radio station in NYC).  They discussed how combating sexism and promoting liberatory politics within SDS.  It aired April 3, 2008 @ 11am and you can listen to it online at: http://archive.wbai.org/

It will be up for 90 days.  It is listed as: Shared Timeslot Thursday - 11AM to Noon Thursday, April 3, 2008 11:00 am  - WmnCollectiv,LrgstMinority,JoyofResist

Students for a Democratic Society

http://www.newsds.org

http://www.newsds.org/march20/

Students for a Democratic Society is the largest and fastest growing student-led organization in the U.S. We win local campaigns to create real change.

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release: Contact: Zachary Hershman

Tuesday March 18th, 2008 Phone: 201.264.2200

WAVE OF 90 STUDENT PROTESTS HIT SCHOOLS AROUND THE NATIONSTUDENTS RISK ARREST IN WEEK OF ACTION FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF WAR IN IRAQ

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN WASHINGTON ON MARCH 19th

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led student protests in over 90 schools Monday morning, marking the first day of a week of anti-war action for the fifth anniversary of the War in Iraq. From high schools to Harvard, students left class and took to the streets to demand an immediate end to the war in Iraq and a reinvestment in America’s schools. Students for a Democratic Society is challenging local schools around the country to adopt a progressive agenda.

Tamara Tal, an organizer with University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill SDS, said they are working with more than 30 student organizations, as well as campus workers and faculty, in order to build a broad antiwar coalition. “We’re raising the stakes and bringing that message home to the university,” said Tal. “We want the university administration to cut their ties with military recruiters, war profiteers and Army research labs.”

“Just like last year, thousands of SDS youth are leading their communities in active opposition to the occupation of Iraq,” said Charla Schlueter, another SDS organizer from North Carolina. “Students and youth are fighting for a future that is largely theirs. Young people are on the ground in Iraq, they are facing education cuts at home, and will inherit the policy mistakes of the last generation.”

On March 19th, the anniversary of the War, SDS will be holding a titanic “Funk The War” dance party and dramatic civil disobedience in the nation’s capitol of Washington. Hundreds of DC SDS members, along with friends The Baltimore Algebra Project and United for Peace and Justice, will be occupying the streets and the offices of war profiteers with hundreds of students and a mobile sound system.

University of Delaware SDS will be re-creating the occupation of Iraq in a street theater demonstration called “Operation First Casualty”. Soldiers in camouflage will patrol the streets before detaining, arresting and interrogating members of the audience disguised as passer-by.

In Asheville North Carolina, SDS is poised to beat last year’s 500 student turnout with a mass student strike and teach-in on March 19th, as part of a weeklong series of events in coalition with 12 other student groups and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Students for a Democratic Society was refounded two years ago to build progressive student power. SDS is the fastest growing student led organization in the nation, with over 100 chapters at schools and in communities. We win local campaigns for quality, affordable education, grassroots democracy, peace and justice.

###

Students for a Democratic Society
http://www.newsds.org/march20/

Attention Students for a Democratic Society! We have lift-off!

After mucho work by the Ratifications Committee, the ratification process was completed on March 1, 2008, with 85 SDS chapters submitting ballots. Only 5 of those ballots were incomplete and did not contain votes.

Here’s a summary of the results (For the full results, check out the SDS Wiki: http://newsds.org/wiki/index.php?title=Results_of_National_Ratification):

Note: A 2/3 majority (66.7%) was required for a proposal to pass Ratification. Abstentions do not count.

1. Who We Are, What We Are Building

99 FOR, 13 AGAINST, 22 ABSTAIN
88.4% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not cxount.)
PASSES
Complete results and comments on Proposal #1

2. Statement on Totalist Politics
105 FOR, 13 AGAINST, 16 ABSTAIN
89.0% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
PASSES
Complete results and comments on Proposal #2

3. Local Organizers Come First
99 FOR, 13 AGAINST, 22 ABSTAIN
88.4% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
PASSES
Complete results and comments on Proposal #3

4. Principles of Unity
83 FOR, 27 AGAINST, 24 ABSTAIN
75.5% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
PASSES
Complete results and comments on Proposal #4

5. Student Solidarity with Workers & Communities
101 FOR, 12 AGAINST, 21 ABSTAIN
89.4% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
PASSES
Complete results and comments on Proposal #5

6. Provisional National Structure
55 FOR, 56 AGAINST, 23 ABSTAIN
49.5% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
DOES NOT PASS
Complete results and comments on Proposal #6

7. The Member & The Chapter
85 FOR, 27 AGAINST, 22 ABSTAIN 75.9% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
PASSES
Complete results and comments on Proposal #7

8. Communications
56 FOR, 44 AGAINST, 34 ABSTAIN 56.0% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
DOES NOT PASS
Complete results and comments on Proposal #8

9. Creation of an Official SDS News Bulletin
116 FOR, 7 AGAINST, 11 ABSTAIN
94.3% SUPPORT (Abstentions do not count.)
PASSES
Complete results and comments on Proposal #9

 

The 2 proposals which did not pass will not be implemented. The other 7, as defined at the 2007 National Convention, are “binding, pending ratification” and are implemented immediately if they have not already been. Now comes the fun part!
To facilitate the implementation of these national decisions, several working groups were created through the ratification process, as follows:

2008 National Convention Planning Working Group: sds-national-convention-2008@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/sds-national-convention-2008
Alliance Building Working Group: sds-alliance-outreach@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/sds-alliance-outreach

Media Working Group: national-sds-media@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/national-sds-media

National Structure Working Group: (to discuss and create a new proposal for national structure) sds-national-structure@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/sds-national-structure

Another group will work on the document called ‘A Vision for the Future’ which came out of the 2007 National Convention. This is a living document, and should be discussed and debated, clarified and amplified, rewritten partially or entirely, and be revisited at the 2008 National Convention.
Vision for the Future Working Group: sds-vision-for-the-future@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/sds-vision-for-the-future

4 additional working groups are equally crucial for implementation of these national decisions, and have already been hard at work:

Chapter Census Working Group: (to locate and contact all SDS chapters) sds-chapter-census@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/sds-chapter-census

Fundraising Working Group: sds-fundraising@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/sds-fundraising

SDS Welcoming Committee: SDSwelcome@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/SDSwelcome

News Bulletin Working Group: sds-news-bulletin@googlegroups.com
To sign up, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/sds-news-bulletin

Phew! There’s so much to do! We’re gonna need a lot of people to get involved!!!

A note on “Officialdom“: the 85 chapters who submitted ballots have gained recognized status as official chapters of Students for a Democratic Society. This will entitle them to take part in future national decisions and send representatives to the National Convention, among other joys.

Chapters which did not respond to the Ratification process are currently not recognized. But have no fear! They can fix that by declaring their existence to the SDS Welcoming Committee and the Chapter Census by filling out these FUN FORM

SDS Chapter Application: http://www.studentsforademocraticsociety.org/join/sds_chapter.cgi

and

New Chapter Declaration Form: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=r2vfPWX7×9y4w_2fy9vUIHjw_3d_3d

ONE LAST THING!

The following SDSers deserve heaps and mounds of recognition and appreciation for months of effort to make Ratification happen:

Phil Chinn, Olympia SDS
Mike da Cruz, Brown SDS
Alex Grosskurth, Philly SDS
Mike Mangels, York College SDS
Sicily McRaven, Detroit SDS
Daniel Meltzer, DC SDS
Samantha Miller, DC SDS
Dave Shukla, UCLA SDS
DJ Sirois, UCF SDS

Ratification Committee, its mission accomplished, ready to fade into the night…

Questions, concerns, congratulations, etc. can be sent to Sam and Alex

PRINT and DISTRIBUTE to your CHAPTER, CAMPUS and COMMUNITY!

The SDS News Bulletin working group is proud to bring you our third issue, much improved over the first two issues in our humble opinion. We amped up the articles, poetry, art and layout from Issue 1 & 2, and you made it all possible by sending in your work, thoughts, ideas and love.

Here is the result:

Print Version
Online Reading Version

(You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file, which is FREE software you can download Here)

Enjoy! and Distribute widely!

Send us your stuff to be published in Issue 4: sds.bulletin@gmail.com

Want to join the bulletin working group? Get involved by signing up for our email listserv: sds-news-bulletin@googlegroups.com

-The SDS News Bulletin Working Group

On Tuesday morning, February 12th, the widely-popular and progressive Gene R. Nichol, President of the College and William and Mary, tendered his resignation, following a decision by the Board of Visitors to not renew his contract (set to expire at the end of the academic year). President Nichol bravely denounced the Board of Visitors and their attempt to purchase his silence as to the true reasons for which he was fired: free speech and broad-minded change to a traditionally conservative institution. The Board of Visitors, the governing body of the College, is composed of the political appointees of the Governor of Virginia. The majority is otherwise not active members of the William & Mary community, and has in their decision-making process continuously silenced the voices of students, staff, faculty, and alumni, who are overwhelming in support of President Nichol and the substantive, progressive change he has made to this institution in three, short years.

In the wake of the shock of President Nichol’s sudden resignation, members of the Faculty of the College of Arts and Science issued a call for fellow faculty-members to join them in a “Strike”, refusing to hold regular classes on Wednesday (2/13) and Thursday (2/14), during a rally of over 500 students, staff, and faculty in support of the president. Following this announcement, members of the William & Mary Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) announced a student strike in solidarity with their professors. That night, over 1500 students expressed their grief for our community’s loss of a great man by congregating in front of the President’s House to intone to Gene Nichol the Alma Mater of our college. Students - stunned, grieved, incensed - are experiencing ‘the fierce urgency of now’.

Continue Reading »

January 17, 2008
Students for a Democratic Society March 20 Working Group
march20sds@gmail.com

Chapters of Students for a Democratic Society and other student and youth organizations from around the country, from the Southeast to the Northwest, will be participating in a call to hold rallies, marches, walkouts and direct actions on campuses during the week of March 17th to 21st, marking the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

This historic call to action says, “Every year, there have been protests marking the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that was launched on the basis of lies and deceit. Students have historically had an especially important role in the struggles against racism and war, and we continue to do so today. Last March, over 80 high schools and colleges answered the call by chapters of Students for a Democratic

Society to come together to send one loud resounding NO to the Bush administration and the Republican agenda, to the Democrats who refuse to carry out the mandate of their constituents, and to the University administrations that so often support war efforts.”

Organizers are already working to build campaigns against the war on their campuses. More groups are signing on every day. All over the country organizers and activists are working to mobilize masses of students to simultaneously oppose the war on campuses across the country.

The call to action goes on to say, “We want as many people as possible to join us in this protest; the larger the protest the stronger the impact we have, and the sooner we can help end this war. We are calling on any and all student and youth based organizations that are opposed to the war in Iraq to mobilize their memberships, their campus, their community and hit the streets for the week of March 17-21, with March 20 as the focal point.”

The call urges militant action on the part of students, saying, “We are calling on our fellow students and youth to take the lead and do whatever it takes–from rallies, marches, walk-outs, civil disobedience, and direct action–to send a clear message to the U.S. government: Get out of Iraq Now!”

For more information see: http://march20sds.wordpress.com or contact march20sds@gmail.com

###

To Contact SDS, e-mail info@studentsforademocraticsociety.org for questions regarding becoming a member or starting a chapter

D.C. SDS brought its Mobile Anti-War Disco to the streets of
Washington, DC for an Iraq Moratorium action! Nearly 50 youth danced
through through the streets from Dupont Circle to a military
recruitment station, followed by a party invasion of war profiteer
Lockheed Martin. D.C. SDS plans on dropping beats not bombs again for
the next Iraq Moratorium action on February 15!

Continue Reading »

Dear SDSers,

The concept of opening a GI coffeehouse near Ft. Lewis is becoming a reality. The Seattle and Tacoma Chapters of Iraq Veterans Against the War are raising money to open a GI run coffeehouse near the Washington base. Coffeehouses have traditionally served as anti-war headquarters and have been integral in creating an anti-war GI movement. Only $5,000 is needed before the coffeehouse can open. If you can please send $10 or any amount of money to the GI voice project in Tacoma, we can open a center of GI resistance. It would be greatly appreciated if you could please forward this message widely.

Checks must be made to: Seattle Iraq Veterans Against the War and THE MEMO MUST READ: GI Voice Project. Please send all tax-deductible donations to:

GI Voice Project
5506 Detroit Ave. SW
Lakewood, WA 98499

Thank you so much,

Patrick Edelbacher
Tacoma SDS
Opivramones (at) cs.com

Two years ago today, on January 16, 2006 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day, young organizers all around the United States began on a journey that has taken us to where we are today - a growing, powerful and strategic national student organization. Here’s to many more years to come, and to our eventual liberty!