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XAVIER UNIVERSITY "NOT WITH OUR MONEY" CAMPAIGN
"The poor and minorities are disproportionately among both the victims as well as those in prison."
-Bishop Sullivan
Outside of Xavier University's cafeteria today, student activists
organizing against Sodexho Marriott, passed out flyers, the "Sodexho
Marriott Owners Profit from prisons" posters as placemats, and got
signatures for their petition to terminate sodexho's contract and to
install a "card check/neutrality" agreement into the next food service
provider's contract, all from behind the bars of an 8x8 cage with a
banner hanging from it saying "We're paying for Education NOT
Incarceration."
Meahwhile, inside the cafeteria crowded with students faculty, and most
of the campus police department, students acted out a performance where
a police officer ordered singing prisoners back to work... "Swing Low,
Sweet Chariot, We're going to Dump Sodexho..." the prisoners repeated
over and over until one student stood on a chair and freestyled,
"Sodexho-Marriott is the chariot that takes me away from home/places me
in a cell 23 hours a day alone/ in the hole/ this is beyond history/
know the WHOLE story/ the gory details of Anthony Bowman's life/ 18
months of strife ended his life/ I am the knife that cuts through their
lies..."
Some time after 6:30pm a banner was dropped from the balcony of the
cafeteria, run by Sodexho-Marriott, on Xavier University's campus. With
the words "Not With Our Money" and drawings of chains breaking apart,
the banner acted as a advertisement for upcoming events that night, such
as
the "Anti-Sodexho Invitational" soccer match and the open forum with our
president Fr. Mike Graham, It also displayed of one of the demands of
the student "Not With Our Money" Campaign, displaying "TERMINATE THE
CONTRACT" in large letters.
Always committed to silencing the student voice, especially when it is
that of dissent, the banner was only displayed for under 5 minutes. It
was a welcome break from the repititious BET videos on the cafeteria
televisions and distracted students from their dinner for enough time to
cause most of those in the cafeteria at the time to take notice,
especially the SMS management.
As expected, Sodexho marriott representatives didn't show up to the
soccer match. Freshman, Brian Loewe stated "They refused to come and
represent themselves at the forum we had last week. We were giving them
a second chance. We're going to even out the teams so that the game,
unlike Sodexho's labor practices, is fair."
Due to the fact that students were more focused on kicking Sodexho off
of campus rather than kicking a soccer ball, the event turned into be an
ultimate frisbee game. All the same, students came out to say "On the
field or off the field, frisbee or fork, we are opposed to
Sodexho-Marriott being on this campus and will do everything in our
power to ensure they will not be here next year."
At 9pm about 30 or so students, community members, and our president,
Rev. Mike Graham, S.J. met to discuss the "Not With Our Money"
Campaign. College Republicans that were present claim that, even if
there are problems with both private and public prisons, this protest is
completely misguided and Sodexho has no real connection. However, facts
show differently. Sodexho Marriott is soon to be 100% owned by Sodexho
Alliance. Sodexho Alliance owns and operates private prisons. Freshman
Brian Loewe asked, "What clearer connection is there?"
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