On Monday, Sept. 30 at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Student Union and in the Campus Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst Dissenters and collaborative organizations protested UMass’ partnerships with industrial corporations during the Engineering Career Fair.
UMass Amherst Dissenters, UMass Amherst Students for Justice in Palestine, UMass Amherst GEO Palestine Solidarity Caucus and UMass Amherst Young Communist League announced the Call to Action protest on Instagram. They called for the end of partnerships with industrial companies such as Raytheon and General Dynamics, and “more life-sustaining job opportunities” for students.
The organization members made their way from the Student Union to the Campus Center using megaphones to amplify their chants. The organizations were then asked to leave by the University’s Demonstration Response and Safety Team.
“The demonstration was not dispersed,” university spokesperson Melinda Rose said in an emailed statement to the Collegian. “The University only asked that they not use amplified sound indoors, which was disrupting the career fair and other operations in the Campus Center.” Rose emphasized that these are not new policies.
According to the University’s picketing code, all students have a right to demonstrate on University premises as long as the demonstration does not disrupt the time, place or “type of behavior materially of class work or other university business, or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others.”
University guidelines’ definition of disruption include “using bullhorns or other loud or amplified sound-making devices in a way that disrupts academic or administrative activities of the university.”
At 1:30 p.m., protesters re-entered the Campus Center without amplified machines. Half of the members remained in front of the Information Desk for a silent sit-in while others moved to the basement and stood at the entrance of the Engineering Career Fair.
Joseph Van Allen, Associate Director of Career Analytics and Communications, said that the protesters have been “super respectful.” During the career fair, protesters handed out fliers and had conversations with those tabling and representing their companies.
General Dynamics representative and UMass Alumni, Krishna Vijayakumar, was handed a flier.
“We expected [the protests] to a degree. We heard about protesters before, and it’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
The Collegian reached out to Raytheon Technology Corporation (RTX) at the career fair and were told to reach out to the RTX PR team. At the time of this publication, RTX had not responded to the Collegian’s email attempts.
Several student attendees said that they had barely noticed the protesters outside of the Campus Center auditorium. Many of them had been in the auditorium since 12 p.m. and did not notice anything until they were told by friends entering the fair later in the afternoon.
James Buckley, a junior biomedical engineering major, had seen some of the protesters walk through the auditorium. “I didn’t think it would happen [Monday], but given all the protests happening last semester, I’m not surprised at the end of the day.”
After protesters left the fair, many made their way and sat in the middle of the floor near the information desk and at the entrance of the escalators leading to the basement. Jeff Hescock, the Executive Director of EH&S and Emergency Management, asked protesters to make room for passersby. “Do you normally sit in the middle of the pathway?”
As the protest continued, Buckley said, “Protesting is only going to go so far. You’ll get the word out, but at the same time, as much as you give love, you’re giving hate too.”
Kalina Kornacki can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter @KalinaKornacki.
