For a Democratic University: UW General Assemblies

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

UW General Assemblies

Last night, University of Washington students, staff, and community members held the first UW general assembly. This was a public meeting that created an alternative space for both discussion and decision making. The GA allows for democratic decision making, from the ground-up, about what affects us as student and workers at this public university. Last night, we discussed campaigns we'd like to see happen at UW, including a student debt strike, a boycott divestment sanctions campaign at UW against Israeli apartheid, and logistical details about how to proceed with future GAs.

Missed last night's GA? Minutes are posted on the UW GA website. Be sure to check out this positive coverage in UW Daily, which includes interviews with For a Democracy University Members Chris and Ariel! Note an error in the article: FADU is actually an interdisciplinary group rather than exclusive to the English department.

FADU hopes you will be able to join the second GA next week on Tuesday, January 17, at 5 pm in By George Cafe in the basement of Odegaard.

For a Democratic University

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About FADU

Who we are
We are an independent rank and file graduate student labor group fighting privatization at the UW. We emphasize that as graduate students we are workers. We are moved by previous and ongoing struggles to reclaim the University for the public, including movements in the 60's and 70's for anti-war campuses, open access to admission, and ethnic and women's studies departments, as well as the contemporary strikes, occupations, and protests at NYU, New School, University of California campuses, and Oakland University in Detroit.

Our Vision
As our name shows, we envision a truly democratic university. We believe the university should be controlled by the community, by workers, and by students, and that access to the university should not be limited based on race, nationality, disability, sexuality, or the ability to pay tuition. We believe the University should be a place for democratic and public education, not a tool for war, corporate greed, or worker oppression. As it exists now the University is intimately connected to capitalism; it serves a social order where the rich profit and the poor are left to fend for themselves. If we are to create a democratic university this relationship must change.

Our values
We recognize that privatization disproportionately harms workers and students who are of color, from working class backgrounds, disabled, immigrants, women, and queer
We organize in solidarity with other rank and file workers and university struggles worldwide
We believe struggles are won by fighting collectively as workers
We value academic freedom, including the freedom to practice radical pedagogy
We are anti-imperialist, anti-racist, anti-patriarchy, and pro queer liberation. We refuse to be divided!

For a Democratic University

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

UW General Assemblies

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