Students for a Democratic Society held a "teach-in" last night in Petteruti Lounge, breaking down recent developments in University governance in an attempt to increase awareness among group members and the general student body.
Various presentations profiled five members of the Corporation, discussed details of Brown's financial aid policy, highlighted points from President Ruth Simmons' Jan. 27 e-mail to the community about the University's financial situation and gave a history of the Corporation and student protests at Brown.
"The point was to show what we've been figuring out about who the Corporation is, what interests they represent and what that means for how students have control over the decisions that affect them," said SDS member Nathan Bergmann-Dean '12.
About 30 students attended the meeting and the discussion that followed, many of whom expressed discontent with the perceived lack of student accessibility to higher level decision-making. Multiple presenters criticized specifics of proposed budget cuts and spending plans, suggesting that money could be better used.
"There are 200-plus years of tradition of student protest at Brown," said SDS member William Lambek '09. "We are not alone, this is nothing new."
A significant number of students who were not SDS members were in attendance, and the group encouraged those students to attend the next meeting, according to Bergmann-Dean.
SDS has not begun discussions of whether it will protest at the next meeting of the Corporation, Feb. 19 through 21, Bergmann-Dean said.
