Monthly Archives: March 2006

Shortly after posting the last update, I got an email from a unionization supporter reporting that

• The students are still in the adminission office, with no A/C, no access to bathrooms, no water, little food.
• there is a large crowd around the Ashe Building, supporing the students inside; there’s also police
• UM President Donna Shalala offered to meet with the students, but only on condition that Father Frank wouldn’t be in the room. The students “didn’t like the sound of this,” and brought Father Frank with them to the meeting, so Shalala walked out on them almost immediately.
• UNICCO has threatened to start firing people as soon as Thursday

What I’d like to know is why is Donna Shalala afraid of Father Frank Corbishley?

The latest I have heard is that there are about 20 persons inside the Ashe building, primarily students but also including Father Frank Corbishley. The administration is not letting them use the toilets, but they have brought kitty litter.

Here’s what I have on reliable authority: The UM Administration ordered reporters to leave the building at 5pm under threat of arrest. The students stayed. The police have been called, but as of last rumor no arrests had been made–yet. Instead, negotiations are under way.

Things were sort of on hold for a while because of an unrelated nearby incident in which a gunman barricaded himself in a house about a mile up US 1, causing all Southbound (returning commuter) traffic to be stopped at Douglas Raod, which resulted in a tie-up going back several miles to I-95.

I am told there was great coverage on CBS Channel 4, making this one of the rare times I am sorry I don’t have a TV. When I get back home, I’ll try pulling up the online video.

I am told that the Ashe Building, the administrative center of the University, and also the home to many faculty offices in the Arts and Sciences, is currently being occupied by a student group. Here’s the text of an email from an Anthropology professor that is making the rounds,

As of 12:30pm today, a group of approx 20 UM students occupied the downstairs lobby of the Ashe building, and plan to stay there until they can meet with Pres.Shalala regarding workplace justice at UM. They are being supported by about 40 or so faculty, staff, clergy, and union organizers who made it into the building before the Coral Gables and University police arrived and the building was shut down. Currently faculty who have offices and classes in Ashe are being turned away at the door, others are being allowed to enter if they show a University ID. Some members of the UM community are staying inside until 5pm, when a vigil begins outside the building to protect the students in this action. Please consider joining the group of clergy, students, faculty etc outside the building, or entering the building yourself, if possible. Please consider bringing water or food to those inside-when I left a few minutes ago, no one was being allowed to use the water fountains (!) or restrooms (!!). Even faculty who have offices upstairs, and are currently on the ground floor, are not being allowed to leave the ground floor. The Coral Gables police I spoke with inside say their orders come from the University.

The more of us who witness these decisions by the University leadership, the better.

Rumor has it that there were also arrests on US 1 during the demonstration at lunch time.

I am not on campus at present, but will post more when I learn more.