11/2/11--SDS meets with Susan Cole

Montclair Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) brought together a group of students for an Occupy-Wall-Street-style general assembly, and, together, the group of about 30 students decided to march to President Cole’s office and demand a meeting with her. The meeting was scheduled about 1 week later.

The meeting took place in Student Center, room 417 and was open to the public and media. There were about 20 students present, as well as Dr. Pennington, Dr. Cole, the student trustee, and some other SGA members. Students were able to express their grievances and concerns about the unequal distribution of power that the administration has over students and faculty. Issues that came up were the snow storm power outages, parking, privatization of the heights, Sodexo, and, of course, Dr. Cole's $125,000 bonus. 

For the most part, Cole was able to make herself look good, by trying to sympathize with the students and humanize herself. Some tensions arose when she reluctantly admitted that the money supplying her bonus came from student fees. She refused to donate the bonus to the Education Opportunity Fund (EOF)--a scholarship that helps low income students afford college-- arguing that she "worked hard for it."

Criticisms of the meeting include the setup, the amount of people who attended, the presence of bureaucrats, and the lack of media presence. For example, the meeting was set up so Cole was able to lecture and talk down to the students. Some feel that the amount of people in the room and the set up of the room contributed to this and inhibited a discussion based atmosphere. However, despite these shortcomings, SDS was well prepared, having researched the issues discussed extensively. Despite the lack of media, the Montclarion published some of SDS's press release, including mention of Susan Cole's bonus. 


Written by: Lisa Grab


Click here for the Montclarion coverage of the OWS teach-in and march. 
Click here for the Montclarion coverage of the meeting.

Here are some related videos, posted from SDS's youtube account:

Footage of the march to Cole's office

Meeting with Susan Cole (Part 1)