The University has, through the International Programs Office (IPO), stepped up its campaign against those opposed to the International Student Fee, as reported in The Collegian last week. This demonstrates just how worried the University is by what we’re doing and shows how successful our rally was. They are speaking through IPO to try and play us off against them, when our gripe is with the University. This is shameful, sending out IPO cap in hand to try and collect from us so that the University does not tell them off.

What’s even more insulting is that the University is tacitly threatening us all, even while they have proposed an unjust fee, which violates various stipulations of our graduate contracts, and the basic rights of our undergraduate colleagues. They are speaking as the high and mighty while we are grieving the fee through the proper legal channels.

In attempting to use the mechanisms which we are protesting against as a way to leverage our paying of the fee, the University realizes just how calamitous it would be if we don’t pay; not financially, not for us as individuals, but because the University would have to work out an appropriate, respectful and non-discriminatory way to pay for this fee.

The campus and the community are on our side, as shown by the nearly 1000 people who have signed our petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/survfee/petition.html) and support from resolutions by the Massachusetts Society of Professors, the Graduate Employee Organization and proposals under debate by the Student Government Association.

Please consider the establishment propaganda being disseminated when judging what we do, and thank you all for your support.

Craig Sinclair

Department of Comparative Literature