BOSTON, May 31 — An aroused alliance of students, faculty, and staff at Roxbury Community College (RCC) has turned back college bosses’ plans to put armed cops on this campus serving mainly black, Latino, and immigrant students.
News of the plan to bring in gun-packing police originally surfaced at a teach-in in late March where Progressive Labor Party gave political leadership. At a faculty meeting a day or two later, RCC Vice President John McLaughlin confirmed the plan and claimed the only reason there hadn’t been more violence at RCC was “dumb luck.” A job posting for a “sworn officer” with the power to make arrests was posted on the college website.
In response, students presented protest petitions to a joint meeting of the faculty and staff unions. The unions passed a resolution condemning both the armed police and the one-way glass that had recently been installed at the security office. Pizza and Politics, a student club, scheduled a public hearing on the administration’s pacification plan.
Beating a hasty retreat, RCC President Valerie Roberson sent out an all-college memo claiming that the impending arrival of armed police was merely a rumor. Most people saw the memo as her way of backpedaling on the issue, trying to maintain control and counter the unity and growing spirit of resistance among faculty, staff and students.
Despite considerable pressure to cancel the public hearing, Pizza and Politics went ahead with it. Several students argued that there was no objective reason for the administration’s move to more repressive security. Many expressed anger at McLaughlin’s remarks. A faculty member said that our community is made safe when people know and care about each other.
The hearing also gave students an opportunity to testify about their experiences with racist police terror. They warned that bringing armed police on campus would make them feel less safe. One student spoke passionately about having been recently beaten and arrested by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police for intervening on behalf of an elderly woman. PL’ers announced the New York May Day march and tied the issue of armed police to growing fascism in the U.S.
On April 15, the day after the hearing, hundreds of RCC faculty, staff and students attended an all-college meeting called by the administration. Roberson addressed several recent “reforms,” including the firing of top- and mid-level managers and the abrupt (if temporary) shutdown of a community ESL program.
On the matter of the armed cops, Roberson tried to use diplomacy to win our allegiance. She affirmed that despite the “confusion,” there would be no armed police on campus. This was certainly our victory, but by denying that this plan was ever in the works, she was trying to take it away from us. Led by militant students, we refused to let her off the hook, making it an even more solid victory for our class! Most people left the meeting encouraged and energized by the way we stood up to the administration.
For working-class organizers, there are many lessons to learn from these events. “Shared governance” — which gives the faculty and staff a voice and the illusion of democracy at the college — is being thrown out the window in favor of top-down, corporate-style management. This is happening due to the latest crisis of capitalism, which is forcing the bosses to rein in their public institutions and get more profits for their buck. This situation will open up opportunities for struggle, but it will take bold students and workers’ organizing to seize them.
Since the 2006 shootings at Virginia Tech, armed police have been installed on campuses nationwide. The ruling class used this tragedy just as they used 9/11 to pave the way for the Patriot Act, as an excuse for more surveillance and militarization. The rulers are preparing for worker and student rebellions against the devastating cuts to our standard of living.
At colleges like RCC, the bosses will have a harder time getting away with it. Because of racism, black and Latino students have less entrenched illusions about U.S. democracy. They know all too well what it is like to be policed in AmeriKKKa. Crafty administrator/politicians like Roberson, who are black or Latino and often from working-class backgrounds, are highly useful to the ruling class to legitimize its agenda. Exposing Roberson’s political role will loosen the rulers’ hold over the RCC community.
Building communist consciousness — a long-term strategic outlook for creating a society without bosses, profits and racism, run by the working class — is crucial for strengthening the class struggle at RCC. Distracted, pacified and confused, many people at RCC do not yet see Roberson’s transformation of the college as a part of the move toward war and fascism. Nor do they see themselves as being able to make a difference in the bosses’ murderous plans.
It is a communist understanding that gives people staying power in reform struggles, where others either become self-serving or burned out. Now we need to sharpen and expand the class struggle at RCC. PL’ers need to focus on building a regular CHALLENGE readers group that can explain what is happening around the world and how it relates to our own college.