Occupy Texas State

Occupy Texas State is a student activist group formed at Texas State University - San Marcos.[1][2] It is distinguished from the off-campus but allied Occupy San Marcos.

Occupy Texas State
Part of the Occupy Movement
Date5 October 2011 – 2012
Location
San Marcos, Texas
Caused byEconomic inequality, corporate influence over government, economic inequality in education
MethodsDemonstration, occupation, student activism, protest, street protesters, community service
StatusEnded

Occupy Texas State utilizes the principles of peaceful protest that began on October 5, 2011[3] in the Quad around the "Fighting Stallions". It is affiliated with both the Occupy Colleges and Occupy Wall Street movements that began in Los Angeles, California and New York City, New York respectively.

The series of protests and demonstrations put forth by Occupy Texas State are the largest to occur on the campus since November 1969 when about 70 students at the then named Southwest Texas State University gathered in the Quad to hold a peaceful demonstration against the Vietnam War. The 1969 demonstrations resulted in ten students referred to as the "San Marcos Ten"[4] being expelled from the university and went before the US Supreme Court in 1970 which led to the creation of "Free Speech Zones" at several universities nationwide.[5]

Background and history

The original intent of Occupy Texas State was to denounce the role that large corporations had in promulgating the financial crisis and to highlight the effects of the financial crisis on higher education. The protesters at Texas State University, as in other movements throughout the world, have described themselves as the "99 percent," a reflection of their belief that the financial system rewards the richest 1 percent at the expense of everyone else.[6] The group was founded by Joshua Christopher Harvey (Joschua Beres), a US Air Force veteran,[7] Leo Gomez Jr., Matthew Molnar, Laura Cowan and Max Anderson.[8]

The group's motto is "Student activism for higher education reform" and they plan to "implement change to improve the quality of education and reduce educational cost inequality for not only Texas State University students – but students across the state of Texas and the nation". They plan to highlight cuts to student grants and highlight the problems posed by the current student loan system.

Mission and values

The General Assembly for Occupy Texas State ratified a "Declaration of Occupation" [9] which was modeled after the Declaration of Occupation by The New York General Assembly.[10] T

Chronology of events

On October 5, around fifty students walked out of class in a show of student solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. The call was put out by the newly formed Occupy Colleges group based in Los Angeles, California [11] They held the quad for several hours and at one time brought about 1,000 students, faculty and staff to a complete standstill as they chanted. University PD were called to the scene but maintained distance.[3]

On October 11, Occupy Texas State holds its first informal General Assembly to discuss participating in a solidarity protest on the 13 October.

On October 13 around 40 to 50 students gathered to rally in the Quad in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street[12]

On October 27 representatives Matthew Molnar, Lindsey Huckaby, Joshua Christopher Harvey (Joschua Beres), Rex Pape and Clifton MacAlbrecht of Occupy Texas State united marched with Occupy Austin in a coordinated demonstration with the city of Oakland.[13] About two hundred Occupy Austin protestors gathered with candles and marched silently from Austin City Hall to the Texas capitol building in downtown Austin.

On November 1 The College Republicans ofcounter-protestiversity hold an "Occupy Occupy Wall Street" protest to counter protest Occupy Texas State and mock the Occupy Movement in general.[14]

On the evening of November 1 Occupy Texas State sponsored a candlelight vigil[15] for Scott Olsen[16] a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, and a member of Veterans for Peace who suffered a skull fracture caused by a projectile fired by the police at Occupy Oakland on October 25, 2011. The students marched in silence to and from the Quad at the university to the Hays County Courthouse

On November 17 Occupy Texas State, Occupy Austin, the Texas State Employees Union/CWA, The American Federation of Teachers the ISO and the Texas AFL-CIO gathered at the Texas State Capitol to rally against the Texas Legislature's $6.6 billion cut on public education.[17] The events were coordinated to fall on the two-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.

On November 17 Occupy Texas State organizer Joshua Christopher Harvey (Joschua Beres) and University of Texas at Austin student Eslerh O. Gomez formed the United Communities Action Coalition to unify members of Occupy San Marcos, Occupy Austin, Occupy UT, Occupy The Hood, The Texas Branch of the ISO as well as local churches and grassroots organizations to commit to working together on social projects that improve local communities in Central Texas. Their first event was planned for December 5 when they planned to march into East Austin for a day of community service. (Citation Needed).

See also

References
  1. O'Rourke, Ciara (October 13, 2011). "Occupy Texas State protesters rally at the Hays County Courthouse". The Statesman. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  2. Rogers, Simon (October 17, 2011). "Occupy protests around the world: full list visualised". The Guardian. London. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  3. "Occupy Wall Street Reaches San Marcos". Archived from the original on 2012-01-20.
  4. (Associated Press) (October 23, 2001). "San Marcos 10 still carrying torch for free speech". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  5. "430 F. 2d 873 - Bayless v. Martine". Openjurist.org. June 24, 1970. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  6. Fairbanks, Amanda M. (October 13, 2011). "Occupy Colleges: Student Supporters Of Occupy Wall Street Continue To Show Solidarity". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  7. "Inside Higher Ed Profile: Occupy Texas State".
  8. "Occupy Texas State: About Us".
  9. "Declaration of Occupation by The Texas State General Assembly".
  10. "Declaration of Occupation by The New York General Assembly".
  11. "Occupy Wall Street: College Students Urged To Walk Out Today".
  12. "Occupy Texas State Movement Growing". Archived from the original on 2012-01-20.
  13. "Occupy Texas State And Occupy Austin United In Solidarity With Occupy Oakland And Scott Olsen".
  14. "Occupy Occupy Wall Street".
  15. "Candlelight Vigil for Veteran Scott Olsen".
  16. "Oakland Protesters Plan March, Mayor Apologizes". Reuters. October 29, 2011.
  17. "200 Occupy Austin Protesters Rally at Capitol".
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