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Students at University of Maryland, College Park must come up with $678.26 by Oct. 3 in order to learn what the school’s top administrators have said in internal emails about student organizing efforts for worker justice on campus.
Since UMD is a public university, its records can be requested under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA), which is similar to the federal Freedom of Information Act.
In July, student-activist Mary Yanick, who’s now in her first year at Yale Law School, filed an MPIA request for any emails sent to or from a slew of top administrators which mention the words “Daycon,” “Feminism,” “Black Faculty and Staff Association,” or “BFSA.”
“Daycon” is in reference to the cleaning supplies company of the same name, which students pushed the university to cut ties with. May 13, the Drop Daycon Coaltion occupied President Wallace Loh’s office for more than six hours and issued a press release saying they were there “to protest the continued inaction by the administration [in] addressing violations of labor law and UMD’s ethical standards by Daycon… [which] has refused to rehire workers involved in union activity, despite the ruling of an administrative law judge.”
“Feminism” is in reference to the campus organization Feminism Without Borders, whose members were recently described by D.C. Jobs With Justice as “bad-asses-in-training.” In addition to spearheading the Drop Daycon effort, the group has most recently been working on the Justice at Maryland: Fight UMD Worker Abuse campaign.
“Black Faculty and Staff Association” or “BFSA” is in reference to the organization that has played a leading role in the Justice at Maryland campaign, including hosting a series of forums and issuing a report on UMD worker mistreatment.
In an Aug. 19 response to Yanick’s MPIA request (which students didn’t receive until Sept. 12), Jack Roach, executive assistant to the president and chief counsel, wrote:
“We estimate your request comprises approximately 192 documents and will require a combined 7 1/4 hours of work by several individuals to search, retrieve, review, and prepare them for delivery. Apart from the first two hours, the MPIA authorizes the University to recover the costs of this process. The weighted average hourly rate for the persons involved, including two Vice Presidents and the University’s General Counsel is $120.05.”
Feminism Without Borders member Sam Williamson is a junior studying history and government. She commented on the high hourly rate the administrators are receiving:
“[O]ur university officials are paid ridiculous amounts of money. Our president is paid $450,000 every year, which is more than the president of the United States. We’re paying for the vice presidents to go through their emails and print out these documents… When you consider how much other people on our university are getting paid, the disparity is astounding. The people who really make this university run, they’re the ones being mistreated and here we are paying for public information for our top officials, who really only show their regard for the bottom line and the image of the university.”
In an effort to raise the needed funds, Feminism Without Borders has set up a website where folks can help out. For a $10 donation you’ll “get to see the funniest email we find!” For $50, you’ll get the funniest and “the most angering email,” plus a campaign button. So far they’ve raised $320.
In a message to supporters, Feminism Without Borders wrote:
“As we start a new school year, we want to make sure we’re fighting in the most effective way possible. We submitted [an MPIA] request… [so] we can see first-hand the impact we’ve had on our schools decision-makers. If we can afford to pay for the printing of the 192 emails they’ve found, we can make sure to use the most effective strategies in fighting for workers’ rights!”
Update 9/18: UMD students have raised $755, surpassing the needed $678.26. Sam Williamson emailed, “Thank you to everyone who helped us meet our fundraising goal! I’m always amazed by how generous and strong our community is. A thank you isn’t enough for how you’ve helped us. We’ll keep fighting strong and we’ll post the results of the MPIA request online as soon as we get them scanned in. Love and solidarity, UMD students.”
Related Links:
Feminism Without Borders Fund Drive
JusticeAtMaryland.com
Black Faculty and Staff Association
Related Stories:
UMD Students Drop by Presiden’t Office to Say Drop Daycon, 3/17/11