As of earlier today, student activists at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have taken over an administration building to protest the university's failure to sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP). According to a statement released by the group doing the sit in:
Students at the University of Michigan entered the President's Office at about 9:00 AM, and said they were going to stay until the University takes steps to reverse their "complacency with U of M apparel being produced in sweatshops" said senior Noah Link. The students entered the building carrying backpacks full of food, sleeping bags, and laptops. "We're prepared to say as long as we have to" said junior Aria Everts, "This process is 8 years in the making, we need to see it through."
She was referring to the University's Code of Conduct, forged until President Lee Bollinger, which codified a set of standards those like Nike and Addias must adhere to when producing apparel bearing the U of M Logo. "[University President] Mary Sue Coleman has acknowledged that the Code is rarely enforced, and that those factories that do enforce become uncompetitive and are shut-down, but has yet to take any proactive step to stem this problem" said junior Jason Bates.
The students say the occupation is eight years in the making. The Code of Conduct was produced out of a similar sit-in by the same group in 1999, after which they issued a statement saying their victory was a "down payment" on the University's commitment to take a stand against sweatshops, "Today, we're here to collect." said Bates.
The students advocate signing on to the Designated Suppliers Program, which they say will "reward the high road" and create a "race to the top", "empowering the University, giving it the tools it needs to enforce the [Code of Conduct]", but that the University's bureaucracy currently employs a "non-process" that "stalls instead of stimulates ideas on this issue" commented Link. "That's why we're here" said Everts, "Because the University won't take action on this issue. We've tried their process, their meetings and forums and conferences, we've tried it for two years, and we're still no closer to a solution."
