FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/1/2014
Coalition Unites to Victory in Enduring Struggle of FSM
Press contact: Maggie Downey, Email: margaretmaryd@gmail.com, Phone: (717) 471-0459
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A & E Building, UC Berkeley Campus: Cal Progressive Coalition (CPC) demonstrates the power of unity and civil disobedience.
Uniting students, workers, community members, and veterans of the Free Speech Movement, CPC led a surprise sit-in at Capital Projects following the rally for the 50th Anniversary of the Free Speech Movement. Capital Projects is the real estate arm of the University of California Berkeley that is actively privatizing public resources, such as in their proposed commercial development of the historic Gill Tract Farm. The CPC action sparked dialogue across campus on how the UC continues to silence students through the privatization of the public university and increasingly militarized police violence.
The sit-in lasted through 6 hours of negotiation amidst speeches and chants that could be heard across central campus. Students, community members, and FSM veterans emerged from Capital Projects around 7pm calling victory on their first two short-term demands: a meeting with Chancellor Dirks and a signed commitment for documents that Capital Projects promised to share in May. The coalition came forward to the cheers of supporters who had gathered outside in solidarity. However, the UC continued to stonewall on any of the main demands, which include a halt to the development of the Gill Tract and a community process for an alternative design for a Food Initiative on all 20 acres of this historic farmland (more about the demands and the Gill Tract, below).