A new battleground on campuses

[Judi Lynn]

A new battleground on campuses
by Elizabeth Wrigley-Field
June 18, 2005

The increasingly polarized political climate on U.S. campuses was driven home to me in the last few weeks of the semester at my school, New York University (NYU) – which saw an outpouring of activity at both ends of the political spectrum. The remarkably diverse array of progressive activism included a serious anti-racism campaign; a protest that resulted in the cancellation of a CIA recruiting event; a campaign to kick Coca-Cola off campus for its complicity in the murder of union activists in Colombia; a teaching assistants’ union campaign; and protests against right-wing speakers, including a protest against Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia that received national attention when a law student asked Scalia (who supports anti-sodomy laws against homosexual sex), “Do you sodomize your wife?” At the same time, right-wing student groups and individuals tried to advance their agenda, targeting affirmative action, gay rights, and individual left-wing students, in a series of attacks I relay below. As classes wound down, the campus began to feel electrified by the political organizing on both sides. A similar dynamic is taking place on campuses across the country, with grassroots activism in resurgence – sharpened by the fact that conservatives are organizing as well.

The climate on campuses is affected by the political context of the rest of the country. Claiming the election as a “mandate” for the worst of his policies, Bush has gone on a rampage on a whole range of issues – most recently, putting forward a horrifying slate of right-wing judicial nominees who will receive lifetime federal appointments, now that the Democrats have promised not to filibuster the vote. Politicians across the board have embraced the “war on terror” as justification for attacking civil liberties wholesale, demonizing Arabs and Muslims in the process.

Taking their lead from this conservative offensive at the top of society is what seems like an escalating movement of grassroots right-wing forces across the country – epitomized most clearly, and chillingly, by the Minutemen, a group of racist, anti-immigrant vigilantes organizing armed “border patrols” along Arizona’s border with Mexico.

But it isn’t only the right-wing fringe that is taking a lead from the Bush administration. On campuses, College Republicans and larger conservative organizations have also begun to seize what they see as an opportunity to reshape the atmosphere.
(snip/...)

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=72&ItemID=8104

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Related article:

University of Michigan seeks probe of Coke's Colombia operations

By SCOTT LEITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/17/05
Coca-Cola, which has faced ongoing criticism concerning its business practices in Colombia, must agree to an independent investigation if the company wants to keep selling drinks at the University of Michigan.

The requirement, handed down by the huge school Friday, means allegations about Colombia and other claims will continue to dog Coca-Cola.

Much of the anti-Coke tension has centered on college campuses, where student activists at schools ranging from New York's Bard College to Michigan have tried to put an end to Coke contracts.

Coca-Cola has tried to clear its name in hopes of ending the controversies, but the issue has grown in prominence, largely due to a grass-roots campaign orchestrated by a longtime labor activist, Ray Rogers.
(snip/...)

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/coke/0605/18colombia.html