February 2020 ECSU Newsletter

View in browser

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER What Emerson doesn’t want you to know, in your inbox monthly

In this issue: Anonymous Art Submission Little Building, Big Brother Spring 2020 Dis-Orientation Guide Takes on Tuition Increases Free Activist Training Today!

Organizer Willie Burnley Jr (Class of ‘16) Visits ECSU

ECSU FEATURES • ECSU FEATURES • ECSU FEATURES

By Anonymous

ART SUBMISSION

By A Concerned Emer$onian

LITTLE BUILDING, BIG BROTHER CW: Mention of sexual assault, reference to Sandy Hook shooting I’d like to welcome you to a new feature for the Union Newsletter! In this column, I’m going to write about issues affecting freshmen students and the dorm building they all know and love: Little Building. If you have any suggestions for future pieces or questions regarding this piece please email us at emersoncollegestudentunion@gmail.com with the subject line “Little Building Feature.”

Little Building is ripe with issues. Little Building has had a rodent infestation, is taking in restaurants that will not accept board bucks or meal swipes, and most recently derogatory graffiti towards Asians and Asian Americans was found on the eleventh floor. In all of these cases, Emer$on could have either prevented it from happening or responded to the situation better. I write this to highlight how Little Building can be problematic, but not to overwhelm you with problems; so in this feature, I'm going to focus on one troublesome aspect of living on campus. That is, the security theatre at Emer$on.

Tapping in at the front desks of both the lower and upper levels of LB are supposed to keep students safe, but how?

All tapping in does in effect is take attendance, monitoring the comings and goings of students. However, where this data is stored, who has access to it, and for how long it remains stored remains a mystery to most of the student body. Supposedly, the tapin system acts as a deterrent, keeping students safe by dissuading “bad” students from doing anything that the college might disapprove of. Students are expected to know that their movements are being monitored and this simple fact, should, in theory, deter them from doing anything wrong, right?

The tap-in system was introduced to Emerson in 2014 in response to two events, the Boston Marathon Bombing and the Sandy Hook school shooting. However, neither of these situations are situations in which a tap-in system would protect students.

Would a school shooter seriously take the time to tap-in to the first two levels of LB, or any Emer$on building for that matter?

I’d like to argue that the surveillance culture of tapping in does not actually keep students safe. While it may nominally restrict who has access to certain areas of the building, this can easily be gotten around and does not mean that students who do have access to more parts of the building are safer for it. Tapping in, and Emer$on’s

security theatre in general, does not address actual student safety issues such as sexual assaults at Emer$on. More recently, did the so-called security measure of tapping in prevent the hateful and fascist graffiti in PRow and Little Building? Have any records of tap-ins been used in either of the investigations into these attacks?

The surveillance in Little Building is emblematic of surveillance all across campus.

Recently the Max has added new security cameras to deter petty shoplifting from students who are food insecure. Wherever students go on campus their freedom of movement is in question-- cameras surveil students in the Max, a new ECPD app can track student movement, and the Tap-In system monitors who enters and leaves Little Building. All of these so-called “security” measures were implemented without student input or without consideration for whether or not students wanted or needed it.

Yet, for a school whose student body will proudly exclaim “All Cops Are Bastards,” Emer$on students not only seem to be okay with the security theatre, but welcome it, despite the fact that things such as more transparent sexual assault statistics might be a better step forward to making Emer$on safer.

ECSU ACTIVITY • ECSU ACTIVITY • ECSU ACTIVITY SPRING 2020 DISORIENTATION GUIDE TAKES ON TUITION INCREASES We released our second Dis-Orientation Guide on Monday, January 28th. It specifically takes on the issue of tuition increases and how students do not get a chance to vote on whether or not they are worth it. Hey Board of Tru$tees: we deserve to hear the pitch, too! Check out the guide here.

FREE ACTIVIST TRAINING TODAY! We are hosting a free activist training today, led by the Emerson Staff Union’s SEIU organizer Hersch Rothmel. You don’t need to have had past organizing experience to come! It will cover how to run an escalatory campaign (don’t know what that is? That’s okay! Come learn) and how to support your fellow activists.

It will be hosted from 3-5 PM at the SEIU office on the second floor of 145 Tremont Street—just a short walk from campus. We hope to see you there!

ORGANIZER WILLIE BURNLEY JR (CLASS OF ‘16) VISITS ECSU Community organizer and Emerson alum Willie Burnley Jr. came as a guest speaker to an ECSU meeting. In 2015, Willie wrote an article for the Berkeley Beacon calling for a student union to curb tuition. In 2016, he also wrote a powerful article about antiBlack racism at Emerson (content warning for racism—especially in the comments section.) It was written after the n-word was found written on an elevator in Little Building, making it especially relevant to campus life today, as hateful graffiti (and those who espouse its sentiments) continue to make our campus unsafe.

Burnley now works as the Regional Organizing Director for Ed Markey’s senate campaign, in addition to organizing with other movements. He is an inspiring reminder to us all that the fight for justice is ongoing. We are so grateful for the activist work he did as a student here, which we learn and grow from, and for his visit.

We hope to have more incredible guest speakers in the future, so stay tuned to our newsletter and social media!

ACTION ITEMS • ACTION ITEMS • ACTION ITEMS

Read our new Dis-Orientation Guide, all about tuition increases, and share it with your friends!

Check out our new anti-fascism folder in the google drive textbook library. The swastikas graffitied in Piano Row and the racist graffiti Little Building are

reminders to us all that we must take a strong stance against fascism and the isms that feed it.

There’s been a lot of hate graffiti on Emerson’s campus recently. Combat it with some postering of your own that takes a stance against bigotry!

(JustSeeds, CrimeThinc, and Amplifier all have free downloadable pdfs of posters, for a start).

The ECSU newsletter is open to submissions from all people affiliated with Emerson College. We publish thinkpieces, DIYs, comics, and more!

The only requirement is that the content relates to Emerson College and social justice. Work can be published anonymously or with your real or pen name.

Send your submissions here.

Emerson College Student Union 150 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02117 United States You received this email because you signed up for our newsletter. Wahoo!

Unsubscribe