Word: sit-in
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...degree of media coverage surrounding the Mass Hall sit-in gave the impression that Harvard’s wage policies are by far the worst in the business. However, the campaign for a living wage is a carefully coordinated national movement, embracing a diverse coalition of unions, workers, students, religious groups and local politicians. The movement’s nascent steps in raising awareness culminated last spring in dramatic protests across fifty university campuses. Harvard’s PSLM attracted the most national and international press outlets because the Harvard name gave the most sensational lead for any news broadcast...
Elfenbein’s comments are typical of many PSLM members, for whom the maintenance of good public relations is of paramount importance. In the days before the sit-in, PSLM’s press corp spent over sixteen hours each day phoning media outlets—from regional cable operators to international wire news syndicates. Aaron Bartley claims that the PSLM “created relationships with reporters from all over the country, just like in a political campaign...
Julia B. Appel ’04 explains that at the same time as the Living Wage PSLM sit-in was taking place at Harvard, there were heated rallies occuring at Northeastern over the displacement of the university’s African-American center to the edge of campus. She observes that “there was no publicity for this action because the cache of privilege at Harvard gave us an edge...
...culture of acceptance. When you have I-banks and Goldman Sachs knocking on your door, it’s hard to believe there’s anything else out there when all you see is plenty.” He speculates that widespread resistance to the sit-in tactic, as demonstrated by a Crimson poll which found that only one-third of students agreed with this strategy, is due partly to “an unfamiliarity with how direct social action can change society...
Bartley believes that some elements of the comparison between ’60s demonstrations and those of the PSLM are valid. “There is a direct link in methodology—we’re both part of a social movement which has used sit-ins. We needed to get across to students more that the sit-in was merely the next logical step in a lengthy trajectory of attempts to speak to the university administration...