Thursday, November 12 marks the date of the Million Student March – an event aimed at bringing attention to the mounting student debt and need for affordable education in the United States. Inspired by national campaigns to boost minimum wages, students at 110 colleges and universities across the nation pledged to walk out of their classes and march for the right to a free (or affordable) education – and they did just that.
Still, before delving into the actual events of November 12, it is important to note where the idea of the Million Student March was born. Keely Mullen, a student at Northeastern University and one of the lead organizers of the event, credits presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as being the inspiration for the movement.
Sanders was quoted in an interview with Katie Couric earlier this year stating, “If a million young people march on Washington they [say] to the Republican leadership, we know what’s going on, and you better vote to deal with student debt. You better vote to make public universities and colleges tuition free, that’s when it will happen.”
Mullen and other student organizers found this call for student activism especially appealing and decided to take action – creating a Facebook page to organize a march. Interest in the march quickly spread and resulted in the need for a central organizing committee and a website dedicated to the event that was no longer a single march, but a nationwide demonstration.
Prior to Thursday’s events, the Million Student March’s central organizing committee put together a list of three demands that were to define the day of action:
1. Tuition-free public college
2. Cancellation of all student debt
3. A $15 minimum wage for all campus workers
Each demand was specifically chosen to address the needs and complaints of past, current, and future students. The official event website states:
“#MillionStudentMarch will be a day of local actions. From coast to coast, students, current and former, are organizing rallies and marches on college campuses and high schools. We are people of all colors, genders, and sexual orientation, and we are united to fight for education as a human right. Together we can build an independent movement capable of winning tuition-free public college, a cancellation of all student debt, and a $15/hr minimum wage for all campus workers!”
Photos and videos of the #MillionStudentMarch demonstrations were trending worldwide – depicting the intensity of the marches at major universities across the nation. Marches ranged from dozens to hundreds of demonstrators, all joined together for the same cause. One of the most notable demonstrations took place at the University of California Berkley, as students posted posters on the outside of a campus building that showed their individual student debt.
The Million Student March came at a time of extreme unrest within the college system. Demonstrators even chose to broaden their protests to include the issues recognized at the University of Missouri earlier this month. Still, only time will tell the impact of the #MillionStudentMarch and its many dedicated demonstrators.
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