Postcards distributed by S.O.S., a new student/faculty protest group. The group plans to mail 2500 postcards to the office of Governnor John Corzine.By Angel Marino
Published: December 10, 2008
Students are walking Kean hallways and visiting classrooms as part of “Save Our Schedule,” a new student and faculty protest group that launched an ongoing letter writing campaign to the office of Governor John Corzine on Thanksgiving week, in an attempt to stop the Spring 2009 schedule change.
Handing out flyers and postcards, the group hopes to motivate Kean students into fighting a schedule change they say will harm students and faculty. During their postcard outreach they ask students to write in their names, addresses and comments about how the schedule will negatively affect them.
S.O.S. states that Kean President, Dawood Farahi, ignored student opinions on the schedule proposal. They hope the postcards will spark an intervention by Gov. Corzine that will lead to a direct vote on the spring schedule, one that will include student voices.
“We are deeply concerned about the new class schedule President Farahi and the Board of Trustees have imposed on us unilaterally and undemocratically,” states SaveOurSchedule.org, the S.O.S. website. “The class schedule [they] abolished served many generations of Kean students and us well. We will do all that is necessary to restore it immediately and unconditionally.”
Stephen Hudik, public relations spokesperson for the university, has not responded to requests for Kean’s response to S.O.S. by the date of this article’s publication.
So far, S.O.S. has distributed about 200 out of 2500 postcards that will be mailed together at the end of the semester, with postage paid by the group. The group believes that getting Governor Corzine’s attention is the best way to bring the old schedule back.
“Governor Corzine, the schedule that was forced on us by President Farahi is absolutely ridiculous,” states one postcard’s comment. “We were not informed of this change or even asked for our opinion. It would be greatly appreciated if you could spare some time to our cause, because it’s obvious our president will not.”
Other postcards detail the hardships the schedule change will pose to students. One student comments that she is a mother who can’t go to school Monday through Friday, because she cares for her children.
Several students wrote that they would have to work less and aren’t sure how they will pay for school as a result.
“I was a full-time student up until spring ‘09,” reads one postcard. “Due to the schedule change, I am forced to become part-time.”
While it is currently focused on overturning the schedule change, S.O.S. hopes to represent the students to “address other issues when President Farahi’s arrogance and incompetence hurts us as students,” according to the S.O.S. website.
“This is a public school, they’re here to serve the students,” said Raphael Almeida, a 26 year-old Sociology major and founding member of S.O.S. “If the majority of students do not want this new schedule, it’s crucial that this school accepts that the new schedule is doing harm to the students.”
S.O.S. has also expressed concern over the $1.3 million transferred in September to Kean from Student Org., the student government.
S.O.S. wants to see that the $1.3 million “is spent on the students, with the students, for the students,” said Almeida, “and that they’re clear for the whole community to see where the money’s going, how and when, where.”
Almeida collected about 1400 signatures last May to petition the Board of Trustees to look into students’ concerns over the schedule change. That was when he encountered faculty and other students who were just as against the proposed schedule as he was.
“The name S.O.S. happened recently,” said Almeida, “but the ideology of trying to save the schedule was from March.”
“I was so pissed off that the 1400 signatures weren’t acknowledged,” said Jessica Dussault, a 21 year-old Sociology major who signed the petition in May and joined S.O.S. three weeks ago.
“Students should have a voice,” said Dussault, who believes that students should have been surveyed about the schedule when it was first proposed.
In September the core group of S.O.S. found a name, started organizing regular meetings and planning the postcard protest. S.O.S. estimates its has 20 members, with a core of five people who do most of the organizing. Faculty members participate by giving the group advice, some helping S.O.S. financially.
The Kean Federation of Teachers, the university’s faculty union, has agreed to fund an S.O.S. request of up to $6000 in assistance. The money comes from a Committee on Political Education account, and is intended to fund various student directed activities, including the S.O.S.’s postcard campaign to the governor, the creation of a website and the coordination of future activities, according to James Castiglione, Physics professor and KFT president.
“As a union, it is our duty to speak up and support those whose voices have traditionally been marginalized,” said Castiglione. “The KFT is proud to place ourselves on the side of our students on the issues that significantly impact their lives.”
S.O.S. members state it is organized as an informal democratic collective, without explicit leaders or a board of officers. Members share duties and with certain members organizing specific tasks.
“There’s no president or vice president,” said Jesus Diaz, a professor of philosophy and S.O.S. member, because the group doesn’t want to take the risk of personal retaliations. “We feared what the administration would do if they found out.”
Anish Patel, a 22 year-old Philosophy major, joined S.O.S. two weeks ago when he heard his professor talking about the group.
“It seemed like a worthy cause,” said Patel, who hands out flyers and gets students to sign postcards, in addition to giving out free buttons and t-shirts that urge students to stop the schedule. He’s been getting a lot of input from students about what S.O.S. could do.
“It’s been real positive feedback,” said Patel, who says that even students who were unaffected by the change were vocal in their opposition.
“Everyone has an opinion on what’s going on and it’s not favorable to the administration—it’s favorable to S.O.S.”
Published: December 10, 2008
Students are walking Kean hallways and visiting classrooms as part of “Save Our Schedule,” a new student and faculty protest group that launched an ongoing letter writing campaign to the office of Governor John Corzine on Thanksgiving week, in an attempt to stop the Spring 2009 schedule change.
Handing out flyers and postcards, the group hopes to motivate Kean students into fighting a schedule change they say will harm students and faculty. During their postcard outreach they ask students to write in their names, addresses and comments about how the schedule will negatively affect them.
S.O.S. states that Kean President, Dawood Farahi, ignored student opinions on the schedule proposal. They hope the postcards will spark an intervention by Gov. Corzine that will lead to a direct vote on the spring schedule, one that will include student voices.
“We are deeply concerned about the new class schedule President Farahi and the Board of Trustees have imposed on us unilaterally and undemocratically,” states SaveOurSchedule.org, the S.O.S. website. “The class schedule [they] abolished served many generations of Kean students and us well. We will do all that is necessary to restore it immediately and unconditionally.”
Stephen Hudik, public relations spokesperson for the university, has not responded to requests for Kean’s response to S.O.S. by the date of this article’s publication.
So far, S.O.S. has distributed about 200 out of 2500 postcards that will be mailed together at the end of the semester, with postage paid by the group. The group believes that getting Governor Corzine’s attention is the best way to bring the old schedule back.
“Governor Corzine, the schedule that was forced on us by President Farahi is absolutely ridiculous,” states one postcard’s comment. “We were not informed of this change or even asked for our opinion. It would be greatly appreciated if you could spare some time to our cause, because it’s obvious our president will not.”
Other postcards detail the hardships the schedule change will pose to students. One student comments that she is a mother who can’t go to school Monday through Friday, because she cares for her children.
Several students wrote that they would have to work less and aren’t sure how they will pay for school as a result.
“I was a full-time student up until spring ‘09,” reads one postcard. “Due to the schedule change, I am forced to become part-time.”
While it is currently focused on overturning the schedule change, S.O.S. hopes to represent the students to “address other issues when President Farahi’s arrogance and incompetence hurts us as students,” according to the S.O.S. website.
“This is a public school, they’re here to serve the students,” said Raphael Almeida, a 26 year-old Sociology major and founding member of S.O.S. “If the majority of students do not want this new schedule, it’s crucial that this school accepts that the new schedule is doing harm to the students.”
S.O.S. has also expressed concern over the $1.3 million transferred in September to Kean from Student Org., the student government.
S.O.S. wants to see that the $1.3 million “is spent on the students, with the students, for the students,” said Almeida, “and that they’re clear for the whole community to see where the money’s going, how and when, where.”
Almeida collected about 1400 signatures last May to petition the Board of Trustees to look into students’ concerns over the schedule change. That was when he encountered faculty and other students who were just as against the proposed schedule as he was.
“The name S.O.S. happened recently,” said Almeida, “but the ideology of trying to save the schedule was from March.”
“I was so pissed off that the 1400 signatures weren’t acknowledged,” said Jessica Dussault, a 21 year-old Sociology major who signed the petition in May and joined S.O.S. three weeks ago.
“Students should have a voice,” said Dussault, who believes that students should have been surveyed about the schedule when it was first proposed.
In September the core group of S.O.S. found a name, started organizing regular meetings and planning the postcard protest. S.O.S. estimates its has 20 members, with a core of five people who do most of the organizing. Faculty members participate by giving the group advice, some helping S.O.S. financially.
The Kean Federation of Teachers, the university’s faculty union, has agreed to fund an S.O.S. request of up to $6000 in assistance. The money comes from a Committee on Political Education account, and is intended to fund various student directed activities, including the S.O.S.’s postcard campaign to the governor, the creation of a website and the coordination of future activities, according to James Castiglione, Physics professor and KFT president.
“As a union, it is our duty to speak up and support those whose voices have traditionally been marginalized,” said Castiglione. “The KFT is proud to place ourselves on the side of our students on the issues that significantly impact their lives.”
S.O.S. members state it is organized as an informal democratic collective, without explicit leaders or a board of officers. Members share duties and with certain members organizing specific tasks.
“There’s no president or vice president,” said Jesus Diaz, a professor of philosophy and S.O.S. member, because the group doesn’t want to take the risk of personal retaliations. “We feared what the administration would do if they found out.”
Anish Patel, a 22 year-old Philosophy major, joined S.O.S. two weeks ago when he heard his professor talking about the group.
“It seemed like a worthy cause,” said Patel, who hands out flyers and gets students to sign postcards, in addition to giving out free buttons and t-shirts that urge students to stop the schedule. He’s been getting a lot of input from students about what S.O.S. could do.
“It’s been real positive feedback,” said Patel, who says that even students who were unaffected by the change were vocal in their opposition.
“Everyone has an opinion on what’s going on and it’s not favorable to the administration—it’s favorable to S.O.S.”
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