AU students joined their peers from other D.C. universities to protest high student loan debt on Oct. 28.
Protestors, including about a dozen AU students, marched in the streets from an Occupy D.C. camp in McPherson Square to the D.C. headquarters of Sallie Mae, a company that provides student loans.
On the way, the group of students and some teachers blocked the streets, making it impossible for traffic to pass.
Shouts of “Hey hey, ho ho, student debt has got to go,” and “When education’s under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” filled the air during the mile-long walk.
Students blocked all three entrances to Sallie Mae by linking arms and standing shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting slogans and demanding to speak with a representative. At the same time, other students taped letters of protests and signs on the pillars in front of the building.
“If we had money, we would get in,” the group shouted to the beat of a drum.
Michael Dranove, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, even led the protest playing trombone while his peers shouted slogans and carried signs that said “Students & Workers: United for Justice.”
For most of the AU protestors, this was not their first time supporting the Occupy movement. Many said they have protested in the past or have even spent the night at McPherson.
Steve Demarest, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, doesn’t have student debt himself, but he said he still doesn’t think people should have to choose between going to college and accumulating debt and not going to college and not getting a job.
“It’s a real sort of prison we’ve fallen into,” Demarest said.
Cody Steele, a senior in the School of International Service, has been actively involved in the Occupy movement for a few weeks now, and he hopes to make Occupy AU a reality.
“I would love to work with a group at AU,” Steele said. “I’d love to see kids at AU step up or hold an event or hold an action on campus,” Steele said.
Other student protestors said they would like to see free higher education, including Allison Arlotta, a junior in the School of Communication, even though she said it may be “a pipe dream.”
Another protestor held a sign outside Sallie Mae that said, “Free Higher Education.”
Most of the protesters proclaimed their dissatisfaction with “the status quo.” Faith Masi, a sophomore in SPA, said she thinks a lot of the problems with high student debt can be solved by higher taxes on the rich.
“Higher education should not be attacked and student loans should not be, I don’t know, crippling so many people,” Masi said. “It’s the reason a lot of people don’t go to college or drop out.”
zcohen@theeagleonline.com
