Statement in Defense of Free Speech Presented at the Board of Trustees Forum

Kristi Brownfield of GA United read a powerful statement in defense of free speech at SIUC at this morning’s open forum with the Board of Trustees. It concludes:

This administration seems more interested in power than people. Any policies that protect the established power of the status quo over the expressive power of a free people are policies that must be overturned. The students here recognize that. It was our voices inside the Student Center, outside of Anthony Hall and the Stone Center, throughout campus, on Facebook, and online — calling for accountability, fairness, and transparency. That is what we want from this university. That is not what we have been getting. We expect better and in the future we hope to work with the administration to ensure we get that better. Together we can heal this damage to create a better SIUC for today and tomorrow.

Read the full statement at GA United’s blog.

Meanwhile in Little Egypt, Part 3

Can You Hear Me Now? — SIU Board calls roll amid protests

“Lies of Convenience” – Student Testimony

“Rita, Rita, Rita, Out, Out, Out!”

SIUC Students communicate their thoughts out side the window of President Glenn Poshard meeting with the Board of Trustees.

QueerillaCollective: SIU Administration wants to punish strikers! END THIS!

Thanks to the QueerillaCollective for making this video that addresses current issues happening at SIUC.

CALL THE ADMINISTRATION:
Board of Trustees 618-536-3357
Chancellor Cheng 618-453-2341
President Poshard 618-536-3331

Questions About Chancellor Cheng’s Recent Version of the Facebook Fiasco

[Edit: Here is the interview referenced below ]

We just received this email:

Moments ago, I just heard Chancellor Rita Cheng on WSIU radio. I have two things I would like to request you post to your blog.

#1
Chancellor Cheng claimed that the only posts that were deleted from the SIU Facebook page were ones containing vulgar language. She then went on to say that at 3am, the one staff member who was monitoring the site had the page locked down, to prevent further inflammitory comments. She did not mention the many comments that were not vulgar, but simply asked the administration to settle, yet were deleted. Even now days later, SIUC is not being honest about what happened. Could you ask your blog readers to call Chancellor Cheng for clarification?

#2
Chancellor Cheng also mentioned that some students have started a petition stating they now prefer their faculty replacement. Could you ask your blog readers to call Chancellor Cheng to make this petition available to the public. How many students have signed it? In the interest of transparency, let us see it.

If you do wish to call the administration:
Chancellor Rita Cheng 618-453-2341
SIUC Board of Trustees 618-536-3357
President Glen Poshard 618-536-3357

Music Video: The First Five Days

Daily Eastern News Supports Concerns About Censorship

The Daily Eastern News at Eastern Illinois University printed an editorial concerning the recent online censorship controversy at SIUC. The editorial validated the frustration students may feel because of the University’s decision to delete comments about a labor dispute between the faculty and the administration.

“We hope that Eastern and other universities have learned a lesson from SIUC’s mistake: don’t deny people the opportunity to vent online.
Eastern’s student body is pretty mild-mannered and most everyone has a favorable opinion of President Perry and the rest of Eastern’s administration, but we believe if they took away our ability to post on Eastern’s Facebook wall, Occupy EIU wouldn’t be the only people marching around campus.”

For the complete editorial:

http://www.dennews.com/opinion/editorials/staff-editorial-university-censorship-unacceptable/article_e7ea1ce2-0a87-11e1-9a53-001a4bcf6878.html#user-comment-area

SIUC Strike Comic, Part 2

View the entire SIUC strike comic…