THE "RALLY FOR DEMOCRACY"
Last Thursday marked the latest in a series of community events centered around general dissatisfaction with Goddard's President.
Reports of attendance vary greatly from "about 60" (a member of the staff) to "over 100" (The Times-Argus) to "at least 200" (an enthusiastic if somewhat unrealistic student). The Nudepaper estimated in attendance of approximately 130, many of whom were concerned members of the outside community.
This latest event, a rally to bolster the spirits of those opposed to President Greene, was organized by members of nearly every part of Goddard's community. The rally began shortly after noon. The opening of the rally was presaged by a performance of the hitherto unknown "Goddard Jug Band".
Mark Greenburg spoke first, and emceed the rally. He spoke of the importance of remaining true to Goddard's ideals, and praised the attendees for their commitment. He then introduced Manuel O'Neill, Director of Financial Aid and one of the people whose fast, misnomered as a "hunger strike" by the media, has brought a great deal of news coverage to the struggle taking place on-campus. The director took the stage to an ovation from the appreciative crowd.
O'Neill took his allotted time to thank the people who had supported the fast, those who had participated in it, and even those who had opposed it.
"I respect those who differed with this action and said so, just as I know they respect what we have been trying to do here." O'Neill went on to say that he'd save the greatest honor for the fasters who were in attendance. "I take my hat off to you," he said, and doffed his famous cap to laughter and cheers of the crowd.
Several students spoke next, among them Jen Reardon and Katie Herrington, both of whom had been involved in the fasting protests, and fellow student Jeanette Bacevius. All three bore messages of love for Goddard as an institution, but expressed disappointment at its current direction. Harrington stated her belief that this event, and others like it, would serve to empower the community and strengthen its commitment to democracy. Bacevius made an emotional plea to the students present to remain involved with their college, and to believe that things can be changed.
Other speakers at the rally added their sentiments. Kiko Nobusawa spoke sarcastically about the recent chastisements from the administration. "Everyone here has been doing something they shouldn't have. You have all dared to ask questions in a college."
Richard Schram took the microphone, and spoke about what it was the rally was hoping to achieve. "We've been called anarchists," he said. "Well, if that means taking apart a hierarchy and replacing it with the will of the people, then I guess I am an anarchist!" The assemblage cheered this pronouncement, but it is worth mentioning that, in the Times-Argus coverage of the rally, this comment became: 'Richard Schram, who calls himself an anarchist,...' The writer will withhold comment as to his opinion of such journalism.
Andrew Dinkelaker, off-campus student representative to the Board of Trustees, read a letter from Larry Kressley, a board member who resigned last October in protest of the college's direction.
"I left Goddard because I couldn't deal with being an outsider at my school. Today, knowing that you are all here to take back Goddard, I feel like I belong there again. I wish you all the best of luck."
Brian Tokar, a facilitator with the off-campus program, delivered a talk about the importance of maintaining personal, one-on-one contact between advisers and advisees, and between administrators and students.
The first of two guest speakers then took the microphone. Chris Wood, an organizer with Jobs With Justice and a Goddard Alumn, told the crowd about his work, and about the fight for workers' rights that goes on all over the world. "It's your fight today," Wood said, "but it's someone's fight every day."
Wood also told the crowd, "Today, you join the struggle for rights and for democracy that has gone on in this country for centuries."
The second guest speaker, Dave Dellinger of the Chicago Seven, also praised the work that has gone on up to this point. "But," he said, "I do not want to beat the president of this college. I want to listen to him. I want to listen to your board, and maybe they can give us an explaination of what has gone on here. Maybe we can work on the solutions, all of us together."
Dellinger also volunteered to act as a mediator in discussions between the administration and the students of the college, which many on-campus see as a golden opportunity for the community to begin healing the damage the institution has suffered.
The final speaker of the day was day Dan Chodorkoff, Goddard Faculty member and director of the Institute for Social Ecology, whose offices are still in danger of being evicted this summer. Chodorkoff spoke to the audience of the changes he's seen at Goddard in his twenty-two years of involvement with the institution, and the negative nature of those changes in the past two years.
"If you're listening," he shouted up to the President's window, "I want you to know that I don't hate you. I trying very hard to love you as a person. I have to hate what you've done here. I have to hate what you've cost is school."
The rally concluded with student Rachel Kavish leading a rendition of "Give Democracy A Chance." As the singing started, Goddard's Clockhouse Tower bell tolled for the first time in many students' memory.
President Greene, who understandably was not among those attending the rally, was quoted in the media as saying, "We have democracy here. You only have to look around to see that." Green also stated that he didn't want to change the existing government system of the school (which he has been accused of ignoring), but wanted to "just change a few things to make it better."
Student and Faculty response to the rally was overwhelmingly positive. Several people at the rally expressed a regret that the event had to be held in response to the loss of community members and morale, but were glad that it had been a success. One student said, as a singing was still going on, "I definitely feel like I've seen something important in Goddard's history. I don't know yet if it was a rebirth or a eulogy, but it was something."
The crowd seemed, unsurprisingly, most receptive to the message of the band (and later that of the speakers), which centered, more or less, on what makes Goddard college great, and why President Greene, according to a bystander, isn't it.
