The administration claimed, then, that the problem was safety procedures. From what I understand, some people on the safety review committee have tried to bring up the fundamentally unsafe police violence and racism that instigated the events. It appears that the committee has not yet come to a conclusion; a separate campus police review committee found no racism in the arrest. The attached report details their inadequate response.
Radical views have long been a target for the administration, but SDS knew that the situation would worsen after the concert. We had been planning the San Francisco 8 event and the subsequent performance for months. After the moratorium was announced, members of SDS approached the administration and were told that the event could continue. Shortly before the events were scheduled, the administration went back on its word and cancelled them. It claimed that because one of these two events involved music and both were advertised on the same flier, neither could continue. After much deliberation within our group and with the panelists and guests, we decided to hold the events anyway.
Filemon: The Evergreen administration’s reason for the ban on concerts, called the concert moratorium, was to prevent any future ‘violence’ at future events. Many students, staff, and faculty were outraged with this decision, made solely by the President, Vice President, and the Dean of Student Services. The Evergreen administration has been aggressively cooperative with local police in the investigation that has five people facing felony charges as a result of the events after the Dead Prez concert. Olympia SDS officially criticized both the police actions on the night of the Dead Prez event and the concert moratorium. The concert ban was never actually put into effect though, because the week after it was announced, a musical performance was held at Evergreen with the administration’s knowledge and without any interference. (my italics-Ron)
When the members of the San Francisco 8 came to speak and were told about the ban, what was their response? I know that you all went ahead with the program and it was well attended. Can you give a summary of how the administration and campus police reacted that evening and in the immediate aftermath? Also, how many people are in Olympia SDS?
Courtney: Olympia Students for Democratic Society (SDS) meetings are usually attended by up to twenty-five people, and about fifty people total come attend some meetings. Hundreds of people have come to our events, cosponsored them, or helped us with our activism.
The San Francisco 8 panelists told us they were proud of us as young activists and expressed support for our resistance against police actions and racism as well as our work in defense of free speech. They largely agreed that the police were a fundamentally and systematically oppressive force.
Campus police monitored the events from outside the building and talked to a few people, but there was little direct interaction at the event itself; things appeared to be going fine. Shortly after the panel and performance, the administration sent us a letter notifying us of our suspension. We held an initial appeal, which was well attended by other students and student groups, and were informed that our suspension was shortened. We have filed a letter of intent to appeal a second and final time.
Filemon: (Regarding the banned event) SDS went ahead with promoting a panel discussion that had been planned for months with the San Francisco 8, former Black Panthers who had been tortured by U.S. Government agencies and were victims of the COINTELPRO campaign (now on trial for charges related to the murder of a police officer in 1971-charges that were thrown out in 1975 in part because confessions were extracted under police torture-Ron). We were also promoting an acoustic performance by David Rovics, Danny Kelly and Mark Eckert that would serve as a benefit for anti-war activist Carlos Arredondo, whose son was killed in Iraq. Two days before both separate events were to occur; the administration abruptly informed SDS that the two events were canceled, because “they were advertised as a concert.” The panel discussion was in no way a concert, and the second, separate event was an acoustic performance, hardly a concert. The decision was obviously politically motivated because there had already been another musical performance (as noted above) since the so-called concert moratorium had began. SDS and many other student groups deemed the cancellation illegitimate, and we decided to proceed with both events. Both the panel discussion with the San Francisco 8 and the later acoustic benefit performance by David Rovics ran smoothly and were very well attended. Both the San Francisco 8 and David Rovics have been very supportive of SDS and were appreciative that we went ahead with the scheduled events. The next week, the Evergreen Administration informed SDS that we were temporarily suspended until they could come to a decision. Eventually they decided to suspend SDS’s group status for an entire year.
I saw in the Indymedia article regarding Olympia SDS' suspension that you have received support from other student groups. Is there a way for other folks who are not affiliated with Evergreen to express support? Should they write the administration? Is there a petition?
Filemon: Many Evergreen student groups including MEChA de Evergreen as well as various other Olympia community groups have been very supportive of Olympia SDS in this time. The regional and national SDS chapters have also been very vocal in their support. I definitely encourage people to write letters in support of SDS, especially to Evergreen State College President Les Purce, Vice President Art Constantino, and Dean of Student and Academic Support Services Phyllis Lane, who have been the main opponents of free speech at Evergreen and against SDS as a group. We generated a petition and gathered about 500 signatures in one week.
Courtney: There is a petition, but the following would be more helpful, especially for those outside the community. We are always looking for like-minded people to work with, and this campaign is not just about us or our community; it is about free speech rights everywhere, especially on campuses.
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