SDR Newsletter 09/25/2020

Hey all! It’s been an exciting few weeks! Since we have now developed such a strong presence on this campus and beyond, we thought it would be a great idea to start a biweekly series of newsletters where we can update everyone wanting to know more about our coalition, what we’ve been up to, and what to expect over the next two weeks!

Accomplishments

Prior to Sept 11th: We would be remiss not to discuss our coalition’s efforts over the Summer, which included actions such as our Phone Zap targeting the offices of the Regents, our extensive research done on University administration and budgeting, our many wide-reaching petitions in support of student financial need, our fantastic development of a campaign to elect a student to the Board of Regents, and our commitment to coalition-building with all those affected by the University’s policy decisions throughout the past months.

Sept. 11th: We hosted a rally of 250+ student and community members, inviting a long list of speakers spanning from Res Staff, YDSA, La Casa, the Black Student Union, LEO, GEO and our own Ann Arbor district representative, Yousef Rabhi! We ended the event by voicing our solidarity in MDining Workers’ planned walkout near Mosher-Jordan Hall, marching across Ann Arbor in support of their commitment to improving their own working conditions.

Sept 2oth: We co-hosted a march and vigil with GEO in remembrance of our lost faith in University administration, continuing GEO’s and our efforts to create a safer environment for all. Many community members witnessed and participated in our march through town, joining us on President Schlissel’s front lawn.

Sept 25th: As of today, our social media presence has increased doubly over the course of a week, with 237 followers and counting on Twitter! Students Demand Representation (@studentsdemandr)

Also, check out our other social media pages:

Facebook: Students Demand Representation - Home

Instagram: studentsdemandrepresentation

Projects

We have a multitude of new developments, now that our coalition keeps growing, and continue to focus on the many ways we can amplify and represent student voices to the administration.

1. Solidarity Network

   1. We are working on our connections with YDSA, GEO, the Students of Color Liberation Front, College Democrats, the Roosevelt Institute, CSG, and many more to develop a more expansive network of student and community allies! This can be used for groups such as our own to share our actions and coordinate quickly with other student and community groups going forward.

2. Website Development

   1. We are developing a team to make an official SDR website. If you have any experience with website design or are looking to develop some of those skills, we would love to get more people involved!

3. Campaign to Elect Students to the Board of Regents

   1. We are in the process of applying to Optimize to seek funding for our initiative to get a student seat on the Board of Regents.

   2. We are also looking into alternatives for voting representation in University policy and budgeting.

4. Supporting MDining Workers

   1. As MDining student workers continue to organize and mobilize, they are prepared to commit to action should the administration not hear their immediate appeals. We are in communication with their organizers and intend to support them through any of their projects and actions!

5. Furthering Financial Pressure on the University

   1. As we plan on doing bargaining on behalf of all undergraduates, we are looking into ways we can leverage the University to accept our demands; see our demands below. If you are at all looking to help mobilize departments and undergraduates to take action, we need all the solidarity we can get!

6. Research and Development of SDR Demands

   1. We are always looking for more student perspectives and experiences on University policy. We have a running list of demands that you should feel free to suggest on! As we move forward, we need to consider how we can propose alternative policy and budgeting decisions for the University, and that requires a lot of research.

Next week

Here’s what to expect over the next few weeks. Keep in mind that as things develop on campus, this is dynamic and is not comprehensive of all items on our agenda:

• Saturday, 9/26 (1~2:30PM) - SDR Weekly Meeting

• Saturday, 9/26 (3-4PM) - UM Solidarity Network

• Monday, 9/28 (6-7PM) - Information/Onboarding Session

• Wednesday, 9/30 (6-7PM) - Strategy

• Saturday, 10/3 (1~2:30PM) - SDR Weekly Meeting

Getting Involved

As we continue, we need all the help we can get over this semester! Feel free to share our GroupMe link for the time being, as we use that primarily for announcements. For our organizing, simply reach out to Trenten or Renée via the GroupMe or send us an email studentsdemandrep@gmail.com for a brief onboarding process so you can join our Slack team and help us organize future actions!

In Solidarity,

The SDR Team