WEBVTT

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Hi, my name is
Joanna Gonsalves

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and I'm a professor at

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Salem State University.

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Thank you for tuning
in to today's podcast.

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On August 24th, 2022,

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President Joe
Biden announced

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a historic plan under

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the authority of
the Secretary

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of Education to provide

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$10,000 in

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federal student loan
forgiveness for millions

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of borrowers in

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up to 20,000
and loan forgiveness

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for those borrowers who

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qualified for Pell Grants.

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While not
extensive enough,

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this actually represents

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a significant step in
the right direction.

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In Biden's words,

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this means people
can start to

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finally crawl out from
under that mountain of

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debt to get on top of

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their rent and utilities,

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to finally think
about buying

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a home or starting a
family or a business.

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However, federal
debt cancellation

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provides only temporary

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and retroactive relief.

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It doesn't address
the root causes

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of why students
are accruing

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so much dead in

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pursuit of
higher education

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we're not
attending at all.

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The reason is the
steep rising cost

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of tuition and fees of
college attendance.

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Even our public
campuses are no longer

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affordable to most of

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those in our communities,

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due to decades of

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underfunding by

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our state and
federal government.

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In this podcast, we

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examine the other
college debt crisis.

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That's how
university borrowing

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for capital projects has

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added thousands
of dollars in

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fees to our students
tuition bills,

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and subsequently

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to their student
loan balances.

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Well, almost no one knows

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about university
capital debt.

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the austere
consequences are felt

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broadly and deeply
by students,

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campus workers and
surrounding communities.

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In the fall of 2020,

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and expanding
collective of

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campus workers, unionists

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scholars and students,

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all interested in the

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other college debt crisis,

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embarked on an organizing

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project to reveal how

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university debt
undermines our campuses

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and our college missions.

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We begin with a
Eleni Schirmer,

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a researcher, writer, an

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organizer on the problem

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with the university debt.

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Following that,

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Jason Wozniak,
Assistant Professor

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of Educational
Foundations and

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Policy Studies at

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West Chester
University will

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tell us more
about the project

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and who we are and what
we're trying to do.

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And why we're here to

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talk about debt
right now isn't

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just because debt
servicing payments,

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which we'll get into
in a little bit later,

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are usually large chunks

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of money on
universities budgets.

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But because of the
power relationship

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that debt and engenders.

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And that's why we're
here tonight so that we

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know will

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always be the
university's priority.

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That paying a
university's creditors

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will always be

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the first budget item to

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comment on the budget and

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how much money is
leftover for workers,

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how much tuition will cost

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that gets determined
afterwards.

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We're also here
to talk about

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debt as a power
relationship

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because it's punishing,
that is regressive.

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Meaning that

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the rules of credit
make it such that

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those who have the
least pay the most.

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And I think that's
important to keep in mind,

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what we're here
to do is that

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it's not just that we need

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to go after debt

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as a point of
redistribution,

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as we're facing all of
these and the debt,

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the amount of interest and

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fees that
universities pay

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to creditors in order
to reclaim that money.

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Although we do, it's

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also because we
want to challenge

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the power
relationships that

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debt financing has
wrought for universities.

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We're here
tonight to begin

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to talk about what
it would take

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to reveal that invisible
infrastructure.

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That's this really
fundamental

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structuring force

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of all of our campuses.

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And revealing,
we believe is

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a first but
incomplete step

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towards dismantling

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the debt finance
university.

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And then it will take very

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hard collective
work of organizing

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in order to actually

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replace it with
reparative,

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publicly funded,

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democratically
governed university

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that co-sponsored
undertaking by

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few Labor Notes and
the debt collective.

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And both organizations
are currently building

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national networks and
efforts to re-imagine,

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remake, rethink a higher
education landscape.

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So few. This is
a short intro,

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basically brings
together the union and

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other types of labor
organizers from AUD

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to talk about

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different issues
that impact labor

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on college campuses and

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impact not just faculty,

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staff and
community as well.

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And the debt
collective is

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doing quite a bit,

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especially around
student debt,

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but as of recently,

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is creating a first

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debtors union in
the United States.

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One thing that the debt

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collective reminds
us that I want

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to stress very much
from the beginning.

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And I think
we'll come back

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to this over
and over again,

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is that the debt collective
always reminds us

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that alone or debts
are a burden,

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but together they give
us power and leverage.

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And so one of
the questions,

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and this actually came up

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in some of the chat,

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the chat, but some

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of the pre-conference
questions.

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How can we build a
national network?

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How can we build alliances

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across different states,

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different institutions
to push back?

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So that's a constant
theme because

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no individual
education can

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possibly take on Wall
Street creditors,

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Moody's, and other credit

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rating agencies alone.

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We need a nationally
networks movement

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that draws on various
segments of society.

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That is also something.

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And I'm going to talk a

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little bit more
about this later,

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perhaps inspired
by an article and

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municipal debt by
Saqib Bhatti

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from the Action Center

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on Race & the Economy

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(ACRE).

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I'm pretty positive
that there's,

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folks are on this call,
so that's fantastic.

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But in an article
by Saqib,

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he does mention
these possibilities

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of different
municipalities bonding

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together in certain
ways to push back on

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predatory Wall
Street practices

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in terms of
municipal debt,

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so part of this idea
is motivated by that.

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I also speaking of

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ACRE, I want
aknowledging

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the expertise and
experience in

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this room or
wherever we are.

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Our work builds on
the work already

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being done by
groups like ACRE,

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Bargaining for the
Common Good and others.

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We've learned and
hope to continue

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to learn a great deal
from these groups,

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especially in the ways

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that we make our analysis,

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especially in the
ways that we think of

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our aspirations
and what is

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available to us
and accessible

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to the general public.

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So I just wanted to
say one thing about

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this is that part
of their/our tasks

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that we plan is, how do
we make much of

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the great work that's
happening could

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happen accessible to
the general public.

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How do we make,
what can be

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a very wonky and very
difficult topic to

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discuss and think
about operational.

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In other words, how can we

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turn analysis into
movement building?

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How can we build
on the analysis in

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order to build power?

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These are questions
that we want

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to continuously
talking about.

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I also want to stress,

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like some are
abolitionists colleagues

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who are here today,

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that given this nation's
colonial, racist,

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patriarchal, and
militaristic

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past and present.

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And the ways in

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which universities
have always

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been complicit in

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these systems
of oppression,

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we have to keep
in our memories.

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But I think also transcend

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the days when the
university of

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his head more
public funding.

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But the public service was

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principally white,
male and exclusionary.

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So in other words, as

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much as we want to
push back against

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the current neoliberal
policies and

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logics motivated in
large part by debt.

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This isn't a call
to go necessarily

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back to some glory
day of Post New

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Deal funding that was

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obviously
important but very

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limited in certain
incentives,

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like who is being served

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and how is that happening?

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So we're really pushing
to move towards

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this reparative public
higher education

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that Eleni
mentioned earlier.

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So again, as we take on

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creditors and their
allies of extraction,

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what does it repair
to University of

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free and public
one that seeks to

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repair past and present

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wrongdoings look like.

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This is a question
that way and

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make sure that we're
also touching it.

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So this is the first
meeting of many,

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one in which we will begin

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this conversation on what

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Eleni has called
the invisible

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infrastructure, the
university debt.

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This is the first
meeting of what we

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think is a long-term
process and

00:09:25.489 --> 00:09:27.244
campaign of educating,

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agitating, and organizing.

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And part of our educating

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and organizing
activities involves

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this long process of

00:09:35.030 --> 00:09:38.675
delegitimizing
dominant debt logics,

00:09:38.675 --> 00:09:40.805
dominant that
ethics and policies

00:09:40.805 --> 00:09:43.024
and replacing them with
other ideological,

00:09:43.024 --> 00:09:44.809
economic, political,

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and educational framework.

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Just want to ask, Who
are our obligations to?

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Since to making sure that

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the creditors get
their cut are

00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:56.420
our obligations
to the people

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that the universities are

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supposed to be serving.

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So with that,
I just want to

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let Eleni say a
couple of things about

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the influence of the
credit rating agencies

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on some of this.

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What we're talking
about here.

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Yeah, absolutely. So when

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a university kind
of takes on debt,

00:10:12.499 --> 00:10:14.210
there are a borrower,

00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:17.869
they have to get a
billion dollars dollars

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because they
don't have the

00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:20.240
10 billion that they need

00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:21.710
from the state to run.

00:10:21.710 --> 00:10:23.659
They'll look to creditors
to get that money,

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which are generally
banks and investors.

00:10:25.865 --> 00:10:29.404
And they will work
through underwriters,

00:10:29.404 --> 00:10:31.249
which are other
financial institutions

00:10:31.249 --> 00:10:33.364
to help get connected
to that creditors.

00:10:33.364 --> 00:10:35.554
So this is just sort
of like a really,

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really basic when we're

00:10:37.010 --> 00:10:38.360
talking about
university debt,

00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:39.829
who some of the
key players are.

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But one of the, really

00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:42.589
the most important players

00:10:42.589 --> 00:10:43.939
who's probably the

00:10:43.939 --> 00:10:45.935
most influential,
least acknowledged,

00:10:45.935 --> 00:10:47.479
or the credit raters

00:10:47.479 --> 00:10:49.039
and the credit
rating agencies,

00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.395
which are private
firms, Moody's,

00:10:51.395 --> 00:10:54.275
S&P, and Fitch,
are the big dogs.

00:10:54.275 --> 00:10:57.050
And what the credit
rating agencies

00:10:57.050 --> 00:10:58.220
do is they

00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:00.245
basically evaluate

00:11:00.245 --> 00:11:02.540
the borrowers
likelihood to default.

00:11:02.540 --> 00:11:06.439
Moody's bases, its
credit rating scores on

00:11:06.439 --> 00:11:08.959
some factors such as
university's ability

00:11:08.959 --> 00:11:11.719
to unilaterally raise
tuition and fees.

00:11:11.719 --> 00:11:13.339
If a university has

00:11:13.339 --> 00:11:14.900
to go to a state
legislature,

00:11:14.900 --> 00:11:17.090
for example, in order
to change the tuition.

00:11:17.090 --> 00:11:19.339
That's going to really dig

00:11:19.339 --> 00:11:22.534
the credit rating
of that university.

00:11:22.534 --> 00:11:24.799
Moody's cares, who sits

00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.140
on the University's
Board of Directors.

00:11:27.140 --> 00:11:28.459
So they want to make
sure that the board of

00:11:28.459 --> 00:11:30.080
directors are
financial experts,

00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:31.549
folks that are
gonna be able

00:11:31.549 --> 00:11:33.239
to read investment
documents.

00:11:33.239 --> 00:11:34.414
If you go to university,

00:11:34.414 --> 00:11:36.649
your University's Board
of Directors page,

00:11:36.649 --> 00:11:39.080
and we call them
regions at UW Madison.

00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:40.475
You can see that there's

00:11:40.475 --> 00:11:43.430
a lot of corporate
lawyers,

00:11:43.430 --> 00:11:46.850
finance experts,
etc.

00:11:46.850 --> 00:11:50.219
Moody's cares about a
universities ability

00:11:50.219 --> 00:11:52.750
to quote, take
decisive actions

00:11:52.750 --> 00:11:54.775
to preserve fiscal
equilibrium.

00:11:54.775 --> 00:11:56.410
So when we came into

00:11:56.410 --> 00:11:59.199
this Zoom room a
little while ago,

00:11:59.199 --> 00:12:02.935
some of the decisive
people were listing

00:12:02.935 --> 00:12:05.049
the decisive actions
that universities were

00:12:05.049 --> 00:12:06.069
taking an order to quote,

00:12:06.069 --> 00:12:07.240
preserve equilibrium,

00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:09.444
making furloughs,

00:12:09.444 --> 00:12:11.935
Furloughing workers,
cutting workers pay,

00:12:11.935 --> 00:12:14.590
closing down whole
programs in some cases,

00:12:14.590 --> 00:12:17.889
shutting down the
colleges writ large.

00:12:17.889 --> 00:12:19.929
And then finally,
of course,

00:12:19.929 --> 00:12:21.159
Moody's is concerned with

00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:22.630
the university's
ability to

00:12:22.630 --> 00:12:24.084
manage unions and tenure.

00:12:24.084 --> 00:12:26.424
The stronger the unions,

00:12:26.424 --> 00:12:27.939
the stronger
the workers are

00:12:27.939 --> 00:12:29.770
organized at a university,

00:12:29.770 --> 00:12:32.655
the more protective
the tenure process

00:12:32.655 --> 00:12:34.370
these are, the less

00:12:34.370 --> 00:12:36.544
inclined Moody's will
be to rate that,

00:12:36.544 --> 00:12:37.940
that university
highly with

00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:39.215
a high credit score.

00:12:39.215 --> 00:12:40.519
So I just bring
this up because I

00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:41.900
think it's important
to talk about.

00:12:41.900 --> 00:12:43.609
I know in my
organizing circles

00:12:43.609 --> 00:12:45.049
it's really easy
to see these,

00:12:45.049 --> 00:12:47.839
these austerity regimes as

00:12:47.839 --> 00:12:51.095
features of either
bad administration,

00:12:51.095 --> 00:12:52.670
which very well
may be the case.

00:12:52.670 --> 00:12:54.499
I'm not saying these
things don't exist or

00:12:54.499 --> 00:12:56.750
bad political leadership
at the state level,

00:12:56.750 --> 00:12:58.520
which also very well
may be the case.

00:12:58.520 --> 00:13:00.305
But to a degree,

00:13:00.305 --> 00:13:01.549
both the administration

00:13:01.549 --> 00:13:02.824
and the political
leadership

00:13:02.824 --> 00:13:05.389
in a state system
are following

00:13:05.389 --> 00:13:07.069
the rules that
are set up by

00:13:07.069 --> 00:13:08.629
the key players
in the game

00:13:08.629 --> 00:13:10.670
by the credit
rating agencies.

00:13:10.670 --> 00:13:12.319
In order to, here to

00:13:12.319 --> 00:13:15.380
these rules of
credit and debt.

00:13:15.380 --> 00:13:19.145
During the winter of 2021,

00:13:19.145 --> 00:13:21.590
our collective ran
multiple workshops

00:13:21.590 --> 00:13:23.015
to help campus groups,

00:13:23.015 --> 00:13:25.489
mostly from public
universities,

00:13:25.489 --> 00:13:29.060
uncover the university's
total indebtedness,

00:13:29.060 --> 00:13:31.294
an annual debt
service payments.

00:13:31.294 --> 00:13:33.304
But also to
reveal the harm

00:13:33.304 --> 00:13:36.260
this debt obligation was
causing to students,

00:13:36.260 --> 00:13:39.094
to their education and
to campus employees.

00:13:39.094 --> 00:13:40.714
We developed a toolkit

00:13:40.714 --> 00:13:42.380
for conducting
dead audits,

00:13:42.380 --> 00:13:43.610
for organizing our

00:13:43.610 --> 00:13:45.590
campuses and
for generating

00:13:45.590 --> 00:13:47.585
publicity through
social media

00:13:47.585 --> 00:13:48.979
and press releases.

00:13:48.979 --> 00:13:51.410
We stressed that the
purpose was not to

00:13:51.410 --> 00:13:54.425
engage in a year long
wonky research project,

00:13:54.425 --> 00:13:56.089
but rather to use

00:13:56.089 --> 00:13:58.399
this opportunity
to pull together

00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.259
a campus team and gain

00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:03.244
enough information
to be dangerous.

00:14:03.244 --> 00:14:06.485
That is, to educate and
agitate one's peers,

00:14:06.485 --> 00:14:08.299
current and former
students and the

00:14:08.299 --> 00:14:09.440
public about

00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:12.305
the growing debt crisis
in higher education.

00:14:12.305 --> 00:14:15.379
On April 15th, 2021,

00:14:15.379 --> 00:14:17.180
tax day, we held

00:14:17.180 --> 00:14:19.909
our first university
debt reveal party.

00:14:19.909 --> 00:14:22.490
The next segment,
you'll see a snapshot

00:14:22.490 --> 00:14:24.995
of the publicity
generated for that event.

00:14:24.995 --> 00:14:26.690
And you'll hear
from revelers,

00:14:26.690 --> 00:14:28.309
including Rich Levy,

00:14:28.309 --> 00:14:29.960
a retired
political science

00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:31.399
professor at Salem State,

00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:33.709
as he discusses some
of the debt reveal

00:14:33.709 --> 00:14:35.045
findings and how

00:14:35.045 --> 00:14:37.500
teams conducted
their audits.

00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:44.599
Hey, folks, I'm Rich

00:15:44.599 --> 00:15:47.029
from Salem State
University.

00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:49.204
I want to talk about
the follow up.

00:15:49.204 --> 00:15:51.589
On April 15th,
we had a debt

00:15:51.589 --> 00:15:55.819
revealed on which
26 universities have

00:15:55.819 --> 00:15:58.430
collected and
shared data and

00:15:58.430 --> 00:16:01.144
basically a confirmed
that universities,

00:16:01.144 --> 00:16:02.629
our campuses are really

00:16:02.629 --> 00:16:04.339
buried in a
mountain of debt.

00:16:04.339 --> 00:16:05.899
Chart below doesn't show

00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:08.029
the amount of debt per se,

00:16:08.029 --> 00:16:10.655
but it shows the
annual debt payments,

00:16:10.655 --> 00:16:14.209
the total debt for
campuses right

00:16:14.209 --> 00:16:18.469
now across the US,
there's $151 billion.

00:16:18.469 --> 00:16:20.314
And as you can see,

00:16:20.314 --> 00:16:21.529
in the biggest systems,

00:16:21.529 --> 00:16:24.589
California is 900
plus million dollars

00:16:24.589 --> 00:16:27.365
a year just in debt
service payments.

00:16:27.365 --> 00:16:31.654
So this is really a
significant factor.

00:16:31.654 --> 00:16:34.249
Dead Revealed Day also
helped us revealed

00:16:34.249 --> 00:16:37.925
that the average
unweighted debt service,

00:16:37.925 --> 00:16:40.609
what campuses pay
as a proportion of

00:16:40.609 --> 00:16:43.279
their annual budget for

00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:46.369
public universities
is about 5%.

00:16:46.369 --> 00:16:49.310
And for very
limited sample

00:16:49.310 --> 00:16:52.174
of private
universities about 4%.

00:16:52.174 --> 00:16:54.004
Can I get the next slide?

00:16:54.004 --> 00:16:55.880
Just what that means in

00:16:55.880 --> 00:16:57.949
concrete numbers was in

00:16:57.949 --> 00:17:00.590
analysis is benign
state universities

00:17:00.590 --> 00:17:02.225
in Massachusetts.

00:17:02.225 --> 00:17:04.970
This is what a
full-time undergraduate

00:17:04.970 --> 00:17:08.045
pays on an
average per year.

00:17:08.045 --> 00:17:09.709
When we started
doing this and

00:17:09.709 --> 00:17:11.210
we found Salem State,

00:17:11.210 --> 00:17:13.549
the average is $3,310,

00:17:13.549 --> 00:17:14.959
were totally blown away.

00:17:14.959 --> 00:17:17.090
We couldn't think
we figured it was

00:17:17.090 --> 00:17:20.089
miscalculated,
but it wasn't.

00:17:20.089 --> 00:17:22.250
And then we found
out that we were

00:17:22.250 --> 00:17:24.635
only the third
worst in the state.

00:17:24.635 --> 00:17:28.369
So people pay
from 4300 down to

00:17:28.369 --> 00:17:32.270
1600 per student per year.

00:17:32.270 --> 00:17:35.525
And that's an
incredible amount.

00:17:35.525 --> 00:17:38.630
But what's really
amazing is that

00:17:38.630 --> 00:17:40.309
getting all of
this information

00:17:40.309 --> 00:17:41.330
Tracy was talking about,

00:17:41.330 --> 00:17:43.325
it seems opaque
and impossible.

00:17:43.325 --> 00:17:44.840
This took an average of

00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:46.310
less than two hours for

00:17:46.310 --> 00:17:47.929
groups of people who are

00:17:47.929 --> 00:17:49.789
not experts to do this.

00:17:49.789 --> 00:17:51.995
It's tool for
self-empowerment,

00:17:51.995 --> 00:17:55.025
organized students,
higher education workers.

00:17:55.025 --> 00:17:56.450
It makes it possible to do

00:17:56.450 --> 00:17:57.800
state analysis to bring

00:17:57.800 --> 00:18:01.560
campus together
against austerity.

00:18:01.870 --> 00:18:04.924
And the other thing
to look at is,

00:18:04.924 --> 00:18:08.269
like I was saying,
the schools pay

00:18:08.269 --> 00:18:09.920
four to five as

00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:11.749
an average percent
of their budget.

00:18:11.749 --> 00:18:13.054
What does this mean?

00:18:13.054 --> 00:18:14.719
We came up with
the notion of

00:18:14.719 --> 00:18:16.384
instructional harm.

00:18:16.384 --> 00:18:18.889
And if you go down
to the next slide,

00:18:18.889 --> 00:18:21.019
we can see that as well.

00:18:21.019 --> 00:18:23.855
This is the worksheets
that we use.

00:18:23.855 --> 00:18:26.569
These could be
done and we have

00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:28.459
links to all the sources

00:18:28.459 --> 00:18:30.290
and explanations
and how to do it.

00:18:30.290 --> 00:18:33.035
It literally takes
very little time.

00:18:33.035 --> 00:18:35.900
But for the University
of Illinois,

00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:39.229
for example, or the
ratio is only 2.1%.

00:18:39.229 --> 00:18:41.420
The debt service is
enough to pay for

00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:43.099
all the cuts in instructional

00:18:43.099 --> 00:18:44.615
and student services.

00:18:44.615 --> 00:18:48.830
in 2018-2019 at the
University of Wisconsin,

00:18:48.830 --> 00:18:51.710
it's 3%, which doesn't
seem that big,

00:18:51.710 --> 00:18:52.849
but it's the equivalent of

00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:54.679
the entire budget for

00:18:54.679 --> 00:18:56.720
the School of Education at

00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:58.280
Salem State and the University

00:18:58.280 --> 00:19:00.439
of Colorado, it's 10%.

00:19:00.439 --> 00:19:02.104
At Salem State,

00:19:02.104 --> 00:19:05.690
that means a student
is coming out with

00:19:05.690 --> 00:19:08.344
$12,000  in
student debt

00:19:08.344 --> 00:19:10.730
just for debt service.

00:19:10.730 --> 00:19:13.310
Approximately a quarter
of everything that

00:19:13.310 --> 00:19:16.025
students pay goes
to debt service.

00:19:16.025 --> 00:19:18.260
And while while Salem State, (faculty) track,

00:19:18.260 --> 00:19:22.280
faculty has shrunk
from 350 to 300,

00:19:22.280 --> 00:19:24.544
is now targeting 250.

00:19:24.544 --> 00:19:28.099
Using the funds that
are now used to pay

00:19:28.099 --> 00:19:31.969
debt service would allow
annual reductions,

00:19:31.969 --> 00:19:34.550
in tuition and
maintenance and or

00:19:34.550 --> 00:19:38.179
hiring of a 145
tenure track faculty.

00:19:38.179 --> 00:19:40.129
The institutional harm on

00:19:40.129 --> 00:19:42.200
this is higher tuition,

00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:46.849
restricted classes and
all incredible amounts

00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:48.500
of damage that come across

00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:50.975
in the university as
a result of this.

00:19:50.975 --> 00:19:52.430
In addition to
which I want

00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:54.005
to reemphasize how much

00:19:54.005 --> 00:19:56.029
that you all

00:19:56.029 --> 00:19:59.164
translates directly
into student debt.

00:19:59.164 --> 00:20:01.985
And then just to
conclude briefly,

00:20:01.985 --> 00:20:04.340
this is not hard to do.

00:20:04.340 --> 00:20:06.919
This handy-dandy
free do it yourself,

00:20:06.919 --> 00:20:09.034
worksheet is available.

00:20:09.034 --> 00:20:11.345
I'm not sure if the
link is on here,

00:20:11.345 --> 00:20:12.545
but we'll provide it.

00:20:12.545 --> 00:20:14.540
There's a toolkit that

00:20:14.540 --> 00:20:16.520
gives you advice
on how to do it,

00:20:16.520 --> 00:20:18.800
references and
all of that.

00:20:18.800 --> 00:20:21.124
And what this
means is that

00:20:21.124 --> 00:20:23.209
it allows you to
develop a core

00:20:23.209 --> 00:20:25.730
of faculty and students
who understand

00:20:25.730 --> 00:20:27.079
this stuff can speak

00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:29.690
publicly and help
mobilize students.

00:20:29.690 --> 00:20:32.045
It's not an
intellectual exercise.

00:20:32.045 --> 00:20:34.444
It's organizing
your campus against

00:20:34.444 --> 00:20:35.899
campus debt.

00:20:35.899 --> 00:20:37.565
And the harm it causes

00:20:37.565 --> 00:20:38.960
an unweighted undermines

00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:40.910
public education itself.

00:20:40.910 --> 00:20:43.939
So understanding
this debt really

00:20:43.939 --> 00:20:45.770
helps for stronger
organizing

00:20:45.770 --> 00:20:48.180
and building power
on campuses.

00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:51.920
JG: In the spring of 2022,

00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:53.720
we engaged in a pilot

00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:55.520
statewide debt
reveal project

00:20:55.520 --> 00:20:56.810
in Massachusetts in

00:20:56.810 --> 00:20:58.280
an effort to scale up the

00:20:58.280 --> 00:21:01.895
2021 debt reveal on
a statewide basis.

00:21:01.895 --> 00:21:03.710
The goals were to build

00:21:03.710 --> 00:21:05.570
consciousness about
the amount of

00:21:05.570 --> 00:21:08.659
debt on the 13th public
university campuses

00:21:08.659 --> 00:21:09.889
across the Commonwealth,

00:21:09.889 --> 00:21:11.510
as well as the overt and

00:21:11.510 --> 00:21:13.294
covert cost to students,

00:21:13.294 --> 00:21:15.320
workers, and
community members.

00:21:15.320 --> 00:21:17.480
But also to build
the power we

00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:19.789
need to increase
public spending.

00:21:19.789 --> 00:21:21.515
Working towards debt-free

00:21:21.515 --> 00:21:23.074
and eventually free:

00:21:23.074 --> 00:21:26.375
public higher education.
One that advances

00:21:26.375 --> 00:21:28.204
racial and social equity

00:21:28.204 --> 00:21:30.259
and prepares our students
with the knowledge,

00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:32.015
skills, and values
they need to be

00:21:32.015 --> 00:21:35.240
active citizens and
community leaders.

00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:38.059
With the financial
and political support

00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:40.729
of the Massachusetts
Teachers Association,

00:21:40.729 --> 00:21:43.190
the largest union
in New England.

00:21:43.190 --> 00:21:44.509
We tried in a very

00:21:44.509 --> 00:21:46.295
short time, just
four months,

00:21:46.295 --> 00:21:47.930
to recruit and train

00:21:47.930 --> 00:21:50.120
12 student organizers and

00:21:50.120 --> 00:21:52.805
team leaders to
find the data.

00:21:52.805 --> 00:21:54.470
But also to demonstrate

00:21:54.470 --> 00:21:56.119
that this
research is quite

00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:57.950
doable in his both

00:21:57.950 --> 00:21:59.539
transformative and

00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:01.639
empowering for
those doing it.

00:22:01.639 --> 00:22:03.889
We develop job
descriptions,

00:22:03.889 --> 00:22:05.629
held online interviews,

00:22:05.629 --> 00:22:07.399
then met with
student organizers

00:22:07.399 --> 00:22:08.780
bi-weekly for

00:22:08.780 --> 00:22:10.954
training, check-ins
and to provide

00:22:10.954 --> 00:22:12.559
assistance with
the debt reveal

00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:14.974
worksheet we
had developed.

00:22:14.974 --> 00:22:16.880
Then work with students to

00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:18.469
standardize the
information they

00:22:18.469 --> 00:22:21.200
collected and to
start outreach to

00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:22.820
campus members as well

00:22:22.820 --> 00:22:24.320
as their state
legislators.

00:22:24.320 --> 00:22:27.859
We held and statewide
April debt reveal,

00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:30.049
the results of
which are posted on

00:22:30.049 --> 00:22:32.180
the Massachusetts
Teachers Association

00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:33.319
website and are

00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:34.369
also featured in

00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:37.580
the September 7th
issue of the nation.

00:22:37.580 --> 00:22:40.010
The analysis and findings.

00:22:40.010 --> 00:22:42.665
So the Massachusetts
pilot have

00:22:42.665 --> 00:22:44.570
increasingly influenced

00:22:44.570 --> 00:22:46.010
the Massachusetts
Teacher's

00:22:46.010 --> 00:22:48.035
Associations
political work,

00:22:48.035 --> 00:22:50.705
including our
current campaign

00:22:50.705 --> 00:22:51.980
for millionaires tax.

00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:53.915
There'll be on the
November ballot.

00:22:53.915 --> 00:22:56.389
If this passes,
this will provide

00:22:56.389 --> 00:22:57.890
tremendous new funding

00:22:57.890 --> 00:23:01.234
for education and
transportation.

00:23:01.234 --> 00:23:04.159
Everyone, My name
is Tyler Rysteen

00:23:04.159 --> 00:23:05.690
I'm a junior at

00:23:05.690 --> 00:23:07.280
Framingham State
University

00:23:07.280 --> 00:23:08.855
majoring in sociology.

00:23:08.855 --> 00:23:12.440
This really struck me like

00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:13.850
this is a problem that

00:23:13.850 --> 00:23:16.369
is affecting the students.

00:23:16.369 --> 00:23:17.599
This is affecting me.

00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.135
This is affecting
everybody I care about.

00:23:20.135 --> 00:23:22.160
We need to make a change.

00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:23.585
We need to do something.

00:23:23.585 --> 00:23:26.044
But that's really made
me think about how

00:23:26.044 --> 00:23:29.315
the higher education
system is funded,

00:23:29.315 --> 00:23:30.890
who funds it and why it's

00:23:30.890 --> 00:23:33.214
funded and why it
needs more funding.

00:23:33.214 --> 00:23:34.910
Because something
we'll talk about

00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:36.949
more in this
presentation is about

00:23:36.949 --> 00:23:39.289
how the government isn't

00:23:39.289 --> 00:23:40.399
giving these schools the

00:23:40.399 --> 00:23:42.155
funding that they used to.

00:23:42.155 --> 00:23:46.549
And that is a large
reason why students are

00:23:46.549 --> 00:23:48.619
paying this
copious amount of

00:23:48.619 --> 00:23:51.949
debt every year to
our colleges debt.

00:23:51.949 --> 00:23:54.079
It's not for our books,

00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:55.400
it's not for
our classrooms.

00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:57.094
It's for their debt.

00:23:57.094 --> 00:24:01.519
I have just had been
so happy to be a part

00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:05.419
of this and it's been
really eye-opening.

00:24:05.419 --> 00:24:07.760
And I hope this
presentation helps you guys

00:24:07.760 --> 00:24:11.474
see how big this
problem really is.

00:24:11.474 --> 00:24:13.825
Gayathri,
I'm a sophomore,

00:24:13.825 --> 00:24:14.889
in UMass Lowell, and I'm an

00:24:14.889 --> 00:24:17.020
economics major
and finance minor.

00:24:17.020 --> 00:24:18.910
I found out about this
project from just like

00:24:18.910 --> 00:24:19.629
an email that I

00:24:19.629 --> 00:24:21.564
received from my
department head.

00:24:21.564 --> 00:24:23.605
When I found out
about this project,

00:24:23.605 --> 00:24:25.150
I was completely unaware

00:24:25.150 --> 00:24:27.085
that campus debt
even existed.

00:24:27.085 --> 00:24:29.320
And it was just so
surprising to find out

00:24:29.320 --> 00:24:32.095
that that can exist on
such a large level,

00:24:32.095 --> 00:24:33.820
especially in
higher education,

00:24:33.820 --> 00:24:34.659
which is a system that

00:24:34.659 --> 00:24:35.620
you think is financially

00:24:35.620 --> 00:24:37.974
stable and build well,

00:24:37.974 --> 00:24:39.490
as an economics major,

00:24:39.490 --> 00:24:41.499
I was really excited to
be able to delve into

00:24:41.499 --> 00:24:42.969
the financial reports and

00:24:42.969 --> 00:24:45.310
budgets and balances
of all these colleges.

00:24:45.310 --> 00:24:46.719
But when I did
so I realized

00:24:46.719 --> 00:24:47.964
that you didn't even need

00:24:47.964 --> 00:24:50.004
an extensive
understanding of

00:24:50.004 --> 00:24:53.410
finances to see how bad
the system currently

00:24:53.410 --> 00:24:55.744
was and how the debt

00:24:55.744 --> 00:24:58.189
that all of these colleges
are in is directly

00:24:58.189 --> 00:24:59.390
affecting the amount of

00:24:59.390 --> 00:25:00.979
student loan debt that

00:25:00.979 --> 00:25:02.540
me and all my friends are

00:25:02.540 --> 00:25:04.475
currently going to
continue experiencing.

00:25:04.475 --> 00:25:07.295
So in recent years,

00:25:07.295 --> 00:25:09.170
we know that the cost
of attending Masters,

00:25:09.170 --> 00:25:10.460
it's public colleges, has

00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:12.725
massively increased.

00:25:12.725 --> 00:25:14.930
And as a result,

00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:16.129
campuses have
needed to raise

00:25:16.129 --> 00:25:17.990
fees yearly in-state
tuition and fees

00:25:17.990 --> 00:25:19.010
that you must have

00:25:19.010 --> 00:25:20.569
increased from
about 5.5 k In

00:25:20.569 --> 00:25:24.440
2001 to about
15.6 K in 2021.

00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:26.120
And this is part
of a broader trend

00:25:26.120 --> 00:25:27.935
because in this
two-year time period,

00:25:27.935 --> 00:25:30.170
average tuition and
enrollment fees across

00:25:30.170 --> 00:25:31.910
Massachusetts public
colleges have

00:25:31.910 --> 00:25:34.219
increased by around 6.5 k,

00:25:34.219 --> 00:25:36.170
even when adjusted
for inflation.

00:25:36.170 --> 00:25:38.000
And this high cost
of attendance

00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:39.305
is putting
students in dead.

00:25:39.305 --> 00:25:41.224
Because despite it
being a wealthy state,

00:25:41.224 --> 00:25:43.310
Massachusetts has
the fastest-growing

00:25:43.310 --> 00:25:44.375
public college costs

00:25:44.375 --> 00:25:45.739
and the second
fastest growth

00:25:45.739 --> 00:25:47.879
in student debt
in the nation.

00:25:49.690 --> 00:25:53.270
Pittsburgh. The
average student

00:25:53.270 --> 00:25:54.455
there is paying

00:25:54.455 --> 00:25:58.970
about $1700 a year

00:25:58.970 --> 00:26:03.469
in fees for the
campuses capital debt.

00:26:03.469 --> 00:26:04.879
Now I just want to state that

00:26:04.879 --> 00:26:06.319
that students who live in

00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:10.444
the dorms pay more than
students who don't.

00:26:10.444 --> 00:26:12.379
So let's say you're a
commuter at Pittsburgh,

00:26:12.379 --> 00:26:13.430
you might have to pay some

00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:15.259
parking fees and
maybe there are

00:26:15.259 --> 00:26:18.719
some few $100 and
Betterment fees.

00:26:18.719 --> 00:26:21.235
All the campuses,
even commuters,

00:26:21.235 --> 00:26:23.440
have between five hundred

00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:24.670
and eight hundred dollars

00:26:24.670 --> 00:26:25.659
in fees they're paying

00:26:25.659 --> 00:26:27.190
related to capital debt.

00:26:27.190 --> 00:26:30.415
Alright, At Framingham,
the average student,

00:26:30.415 --> 00:26:32.170
and this is again across

00:26:32.170 --> 00:26:36.489
dorm students and
commuters, is 2,400.

00:26:36.489 --> 00:26:41.200
Mass Art 4,200, the most.

00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:45.715
Mass Maritime, 3,700.

00:26:45.715 --> 00:26:47.634
So what does this mean

00:26:47.634 --> 00:26:49.599
when your fees
are increased?

00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:51.939
Because campuses need to

00:26:51.939 --> 00:26:54.819
rely on fees to pay for
capital improvements.

00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:57.130
How does this impact
our students?

00:26:57.130 --> 00:26:58.959
I'm going to
turn it over to

00:26:58.959 --> 00:27:01.630
Cass O'Connor
to talk about

00:27:01.630 --> 00:27:05.335
from their perspective.
Hi everybody.

00:27:05.335 --> 00:27:06.430
My name is Cassie.

00:27:06.430 --> 00:27:07.929
I'm at Salem
State University,

00:27:07.929 --> 00:27:08.800
as you can tell from

00:27:08.800 --> 00:27:10.495
the posters on this slide.

00:27:10.495 --> 00:27:12.999
So unfortunately,
every student that

00:27:12.999 --> 00:27:15.160
I've ever talked to has
a student debt story.

00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:15.849
They have a story

00:27:15.849 --> 00:27:17.004
about how they're
struggling,

00:27:17.004 --> 00:27:18.744
about how many jobs
they have to work,

00:27:18.744 --> 00:27:20.575
about how they have
to make a choice

00:27:20.575 --> 00:27:23.229
between missing work
or missing classes.

00:27:23.229 --> 00:27:24.940
I got the
opportunity to do

00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:26.170
a few presentations about

00:27:26.170 --> 00:27:27.955
student debt and
a few classrooms.

00:27:27.955 --> 00:27:29.469
And through those
conversations,

00:27:29.469 --> 00:27:30.219
students as well,

00:27:30.219 --> 00:27:32.109
we're talking about just

00:27:32.109 --> 00:27:34.614
how much they're
struggling, how hard it is.

00:27:34.614 --> 00:27:36.145
Everything off
of that is that

00:27:36.145 --> 00:27:37.510
they're unable to
take a break from

00:27:37.510 --> 00:27:38.589
school for a semester or

00:27:38.589 --> 00:27:40.015
a year if they're
struggling

00:27:40.015 --> 00:27:42.295
because their their
loan payments

00:27:42.295 --> 00:27:43.240
will start and
they'll have

00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:44.519
to start paying them off.

00:27:44.519 --> 00:27:46.955
And speaking
of how student

00:27:46.955 --> 00:27:49.474
debt after you're
out of college,

00:27:49.474 --> 00:27:50.749
I believe for Salem State,

00:27:50.749 --> 00:27:52.639
about 1 in 15
students default on

00:27:52.639 --> 00:27:54.589
their student
loans and you're

00:27:54.589 --> 00:27:56.960
not allowed to declare
bankruptcy on that.

00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:58.760
So it's very difficult.

00:27:58.760 --> 00:28:01.910
Perhaps
the clearest example

00:28:01.910 --> 00:28:03.830
of how campus
debt is part of

00:28:03.830 --> 00:28:08.329
a wider anti-democratic
austerity back attack

00:28:08.329 --> 00:28:10.295
comes from Puerto Rico.

00:28:10.295 --> 00:28:12.289
It's not just
the University

00:28:12.289 --> 00:28:13.910
of Puerto Rico
under attack,

00:28:13.910 --> 00:28:17.225
but the entire society
at a systematic level,

00:28:17.225 --> 00:28:19.654
not yet seen
elsewhere in the US.

00:28:19.654 --> 00:28:22.790
In the means for
this over and

00:28:22.790 --> 00:28:25.010
anti-democratic
attack is through

00:28:25.010 --> 00:28:26.840
various forms of debt.

00:28:26.840 --> 00:28:29.450
Puerto Rico
struggles may be

00:28:29.450 --> 00:28:31.039
a harbinger of things

00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:32.989
to come in the US
and elsewhere.

00:28:32.989 --> 00:28:35.509
But it's also
a harbinger of

00:28:35.509 --> 00:28:37.550
the powerful University

00:28:37.550 --> 00:28:40.114
and society-wide
organizing,

00:28:40.114 --> 00:28:43.324
which has achieved
remarkable success.

00:28:43.324 --> 00:28:45.815
Though far from complete.

00:28:45.815 --> 00:28:47.764
The University
of Puerto Rico,

00:28:47.764 --> 00:28:52.340
it has a small debt
around $450 million.

00:28:52.340 --> 00:28:54.304
But it was paying
that debt.

00:28:54.304 --> 00:28:55.580
It was never an issue.

00:28:55.580 --> 00:28:58.474
We were not missing the
payments or anything.

00:28:58.474 --> 00:29:00.259
Our problem with the
depth is the depth of

00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:02.929
the country. Puerto
Rico defaults

00:29:02.929 --> 00:29:05.390
on paying its debts and to

00:29:05.390 --> 00:29:08.240
Wall Street does when Mr.

00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:10.699
Law is written and
signed and that's

00:29:10.699 --> 00:29:12.620
when the federal oversight

00:29:12.620 --> 00:29:13.999
management board is sent.

00:29:13.999 --> 00:29:15.185
But we call them “La Junta”

00:29:15.185 --> 00:29:17.434
because you know that
in Latin America,

00:29:17.434 --> 00:29:21.275
the groups that would

00:29:21.275 --> 00:29:24.230
leave the dictatorships
were called La Junta.

00:29:24.230 --> 00:29:26.480
So that's the way we
call it here as well.

00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:28.985
And it's composed of
bankers of Wall Street.

00:29:28.985 --> 00:29:31.190
So what they do
is they've been

00:29:31.190 --> 00:29:34.130
imposing austerity
measures across the board.

00:29:34.130 --> 00:29:36.575
The University of
Puerto Rico depends

00:29:36.575 --> 00:29:39.005
in part of its funding
from the government.

00:29:39.005 --> 00:29:41.314
There is a law in 1966,

00:29:41.314 --> 00:29:43.609
law number two
that says that

00:29:43.609 --> 00:29:46.249
the countries
contribution to

00:29:46.249 --> 00:29:50.180
Puerto Rico is 9.6%
of appropriation.

00:29:50.180 --> 00:29:51.800
And that is a
law and we've

00:29:51.800 --> 00:29:52.940
always managed with that.

00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:55.730
And if the country has
less appropriations,

00:29:55.730 --> 00:29:56.989
then what our budget
is a little bit

00:29:56.989 --> 00:29:58.654
less or a little bit more.

00:29:58.654 --> 00:30:00.770
And also we receive
federal funding,

00:30:00.770 --> 00:30:02.630
but for Pell grants

00:30:02.630 --> 00:30:04.310
that the university

00:30:04.310 --> 00:30:05.855
administers those
grants with those,

00:30:05.855 --> 00:30:07.895
those goes directly
to students.

00:30:07.895 --> 00:30:11.120
And I mentioned these
two things because,

00:30:11.120 --> 00:30:13.010
because we depend on that

00:30:13.010 --> 00:30:16.130
9.6% contribution
from the government,

00:30:16.130 --> 00:30:18.290
when the country is

00:30:18.290 --> 00:30:21.694
under siege paying
this very big depth,

00:30:21.694 --> 00:30:23.870
that it's mostly illegal

00:30:23.870 --> 00:30:25.880
and that has not
been audited.

00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:27.229
We knew that that
was going to

00:30:27.229 --> 00:30:29.840
affect the
university directly.

00:30:29.840 --> 00:30:32.465
We have a very big problem

00:30:32.465 --> 00:30:34.790
also with Middle States.

00:30:34.790 --> 00:30:36.904
The Middle States
Association,

00:30:36.904 --> 00:30:38.585
because they are
our creditors

00:30:38.585 --> 00:30:41.119
so they credit
the university.

00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:43.850
And one of the things that

00:30:43.850 --> 00:30:46.955
they put us on show
cause on 2017

00:30:46.955 --> 00:30:50.000
the entire UPR system
was because they didn't

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:52.700
see a financial
sustainability plan

00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:54.094
for the university.

00:30:54.094 --> 00:30:55.760
That's when everything

00:30:55.760 --> 00:30:57.470
started getting really,

00:30:57.470 --> 00:30:59.090
really intense because we

00:30:59.090 --> 00:31:01.040
were fighting our
administrators saying you

00:31:01.040 --> 00:31:02.270
cannot keep saying that

00:31:02.270 --> 00:31:03.620
you are managing
the budget

00:31:03.620 --> 00:31:04.880
cuts because we're

00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:06.379
going to lose
accreditation.

00:31:06.379 --> 00:31:07.804
And if we lose
accreditation,

00:31:07.804 --> 00:31:09.170
we lose Pell Grants and

00:31:09.170 --> 00:31:10.994
students cannot
study here.

00:31:10.994 --> 00:31:12.879
So that is kind of

00:31:12.879 --> 00:31:14.890
our relationship
to the debt sense.

00:31:14.890 --> 00:31:17.094
Since La Junta got here,

00:31:17.094 --> 00:31:20.755
our budget is being
reduced every year.

00:31:20.755 --> 00:31:22.360
Like the fact
that there is

00:31:22.360 --> 00:31:24.070
a law that it's there.

00:31:24.070 --> 00:31:26.740
It's like nobody's
looking at it and

00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:28.029
they don't want
to respect it

00:31:28.029 --> 00:31:29.860
because the Junta
has power over that.

00:31:29.860 --> 00:31:32.214
That's part of our
colonial status.

00:31:32.214 --> 00:31:36.819
So in 2017, the students
went on strike.

00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:38.739
They went on strike for
around three months.

00:31:38.739 --> 00:31:39.955
It was a very big strike.

00:31:39.955 --> 00:31:41.844
It was a
student-led strike.

00:31:41.844 --> 00:31:43.059
And that is something

00:31:43.059 --> 00:31:44.500
different that I
have to say that

00:31:44.500 --> 00:31:46.060
it's part of the
political culture

00:31:46.060 --> 00:31:47.844
of the university.

00:31:47.844 --> 00:31:51.759
Since the origin of
the university in 1903

00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:55.730
and more so after the 1950s.

00:31:55.730 --> 00:31:57.380
The university has been

00:31:57.380 --> 00:31:58.670
the University
of the masses is

00:31:58.670 --> 00:32:01.475
only one public university
with 11 campuses.

00:32:01.475 --> 00:32:04.040
It is the best university
in the country.

00:32:04.040 --> 00:32:06.814
So there is
competition to get in.

00:32:06.814 --> 00:32:08.090
It is the one with

00:32:08.090 --> 00:32:11.015
the highest index of
graduation as well.

00:32:11.015 --> 00:32:14.179
And it's where
everybody that all the

00:32:14.179 --> 00:32:16.190
minds of Puerto
Rican big minds

00:32:16.190 --> 00:32:17.929
or in the university
one way or another,

00:32:17.929 --> 00:32:22.070
because in a place of
scarcity and precarity

00:32:22.070 --> 00:32:24.289
and crisis that
the university

00:32:24.289 --> 00:32:26.449
has become a hub of
all those things.

00:32:26.449 --> 00:32:28.504
So the university,

00:32:28.504 --> 00:32:30.815
the students
have always been

00:32:30.815 --> 00:32:33.260
leading many of the
social movements in

00:32:33.260 --> 00:32:35.944
Puerto Rico and leading
many of the protests.

00:32:35.944 --> 00:32:37.804
The claims that they were,

00:32:37.804 --> 00:32:39.185
the students
were presenting

00:32:39.185 --> 00:32:41.524
transcended their
own issues.

00:32:41.524 --> 00:32:42.919
One of the claims was

00:32:42.919 --> 00:32:45.469
no increase in tuition
because they wanted

00:32:45.469 --> 00:32:47.674
to increase tuition
so they could keep

00:32:47.674 --> 00:32:52.055
justifying lowering
our our budget.

00:32:52.055 --> 00:32:54.424
The other thing
they wanted,

00:32:54.424 --> 00:32:56.990
they wanted a
citizen's audit of

00:32:56.990 --> 00:33:00.094
the debt because it's
it's ridiculous.

00:33:00.094 --> 00:33:02.539
And La Junta that
is supposed to be

00:33:02.539 --> 00:33:05.704
a financial oversight
management board,

00:33:05.704 --> 00:33:07.759
has not been auditing
to that, right?

00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:08.810
And we know that many of

00:33:08.810 --> 00:33:10.670
those bonds are
also illegal bonds,

00:33:10.670 --> 00:33:12.560
so it's very problematic.

00:33:12.560 --> 00:33:14.644
That was one of
the main claims.

00:33:14.644 --> 00:33:16.220
We have to say
that that was

00:33:16.220 --> 00:33:17.359
a very tough strike,

00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:19.714
but it was successful
strike as well.

00:33:19.714 --> 00:33:21.244
We got from there

00:33:21.244 --> 00:33:24.020
the first group
to officially

00:33:24.020 --> 00:33:26.300
set down in an
official meeting

00:33:26.300 --> 00:33:28.865
with La Junta where the
students in protests,

00:33:28.865 --> 00:33:31.160
the students on
strike of the UPR.

00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:32.600
So one of the things that

00:33:32.600 --> 00:33:34.580
the university
student-led strike

00:33:34.580 --> 00:33:37.804
got the possibility
to write

00:33:37.804 --> 00:33:39.199
a reformed from the base

00:33:39.199 --> 00:33:41.150
up and presented directly

00:33:41.150 --> 00:33:42.739
to the legislator without

00:33:42.739 --> 00:33:44.854
dealing with the
university structure.

00:33:44.854 --> 00:33:46.970
And with that, this is not

00:33:46.970 --> 00:33:49.189
the only example
of collaboration

00:33:49.189 --> 00:33:51.470
between the
sectors we started

00:33:51.470 --> 00:33:53.780
having in 2000s after the,

00:33:53.780 --> 00:33:54.800
after the strike and after

00:33:54.800 --> 00:33:56.434
Hurricane María
when we came back,

00:33:56.434 --> 00:33:58.564
we started having a lot of

00:33:58.564 --> 00:34:01.504
multi-sector town
hall meetings to talk

00:34:01.504 --> 00:34:04.714
about how our
specific issues,

00:34:04.714 --> 00:34:06.380
like specific issues
from the students:

00:34:06.380 --> 00:34:08.629
like they couldn't find classes
on certain things,

00:34:08.629 --> 00:34:11.119
the tuition was
getting higher.

00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:13.129
And for the professors

00:34:13.129 --> 00:34:14.765
was the salary freezes,

00:34:14.765 --> 00:34:16.159
the number of
adjunct professors

00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:17.750
for the employees that
health insurance,

00:34:17.750 --> 00:34:20.374
all of those things were
linked to one thing,

00:34:20.374 --> 00:34:22.849
the debt and the
budget cuts, right?

00:34:22.849 --> 00:34:25.099
Well, also the University
of Puerto Rico

00:34:25.099 --> 00:34:27.649
is a political
culture in it,

00:34:27.649 --> 00:34:28.805
like I said before,

00:34:28.805 --> 00:34:30.500
but there's always
people that

00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:32.240
are on the fence
everywhere and

00:34:32.240 --> 00:34:33.799
that's where I think
it helps to talk

00:34:33.799 --> 00:34:35.930
about how to bring
those people in

00:34:35.930 --> 00:34:38.569
because that way, we grow

00:34:38.569 --> 00:34:39.739
the movement
people were really

00:34:39.739 --> 00:34:41.990
tired because
austerity everywhere,

00:34:41.990 --> 00:34:43.819
not only in the
university is

00:34:43.819 --> 00:34:45.799
the privatization
of electricity,

00:34:45.799 --> 00:34:47.509
we have power
outages every day.

00:34:47.509 --> 00:34:49.220
So maybe this
conversation might

00:34:49.220 --> 00:34:51.589
get interrupted
at some point.

00:34:51.589 --> 00:34:53.929
It's everything
when people get too

00:34:53.929 --> 00:34:56.000
tired after two
hurricanes,

00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:57.709
after up and then
make people do

00:34:57.709 --> 00:35:00.500
not do not count.

00:35:00.500 --> 00:35:01.819
It's not that they
don't want to,

00:35:01.819 --> 00:35:04.130
but sometimes they
can't get too involved.

00:35:04.130 --> 00:35:05.180
So we started doing

00:35:05.180 --> 00:35:06.800
little things in campuses.

00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:08.750
Something that
really works for us

00:35:08.750 --> 00:35:10.759
to politicize the
people that are

00:35:10.759 --> 00:35:12.544
not very political yet

00:35:12.544 --> 00:35:14.959
are what we call
“Sal pa'fueras”:

00:35:14.959 --> 00:35:16.429
these are teach-outs.

00:35:16.429 --> 00:35:18.169
In these teach-outs, we have

00:35:18.169 --> 00:35:20.390
several levels
of involvement.

00:35:20.390 --> 00:35:24.410
We say we have one now
next week on the 14th,

00:35:24.410 --> 00:35:25.265
and where we say,

00:35:25.265 --> 00:35:26.509
everybody is going
to wear black.

00:35:26.509 --> 00:35:28.039
So everybody has
something black to

00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:30.154
wear students
and professors,

00:35:30.154 --> 00:35:31.669
and we're going
to teach out from

00:35:31.669 --> 00:35:33.350
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

00:35:33.350 --> 00:35:35.389
All classes are going
to be in the quad.

00:35:35.389 --> 00:35:37.970
What we do with
this is that

00:35:37.970 --> 00:35:40.385
when we teach the
classes in the quad,

00:35:40.385 --> 00:35:42.260
we take the time of

00:35:42.260 --> 00:35:44.239
our class to talk
about the debt,

00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:45.905
this situation of
the university.

00:35:45.905 --> 00:35:47.870
What can we do?
How we sit linked

00:35:47.870 --> 00:35:50.435
to our individual worries?

00:35:50.435 --> 00:35:52.339
I'm worried about
my health care,

00:35:52.339 --> 00:35:54.080
about my retirement plan.

00:35:54.080 --> 00:35:56.374
This has to do with
the budget cuts.

00:35:56.374 --> 00:35:58.639
I'm worried that I have
that as a student,

00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:00.409
I have to get three
jobs because I can't

00:36:00.409 --> 00:36:03.005
pay the Pell Grant is
not enough anymore.

00:36:03.005 --> 00:36:05.195
This is linked with
the budget cuts.

00:36:05.195 --> 00:36:08.629
So there's definitely
different degrees.

00:36:08.629 --> 00:36:09.965
Some professors
don't come out,

00:36:09.965 --> 00:36:10.910
they don't feel
comfortable,

00:36:10.910 --> 00:36:11.839
but they were black.

00:36:11.839 --> 00:36:13.160
And you see people
wearing black and

00:36:13.160 --> 00:36:14.479
you say at least there's
something there,

00:36:14.479 --> 00:36:16.040
there's some
sort of support

00:36:16.040 --> 00:36:17.960
and they feel that
they're doing something.

00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:21.469
Those little steps
helped bring people in.

00:36:21.469 --> 00:36:23.870
We started organizing
to visualize

00:36:23.870 --> 00:36:27.409
the fact that our main
problem was the debt.

00:36:27.409 --> 00:36:31.474
We organize murals in
all of the campuses.

00:36:31.474 --> 00:36:33.049
And it was interesting
because the process

00:36:33.049 --> 00:36:34.820
of getting the
murals approved...

00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:36.679
one of the chancellors
would say no,

00:36:36.679 --> 00:36:38.164
and we said we were
going to do it anyway.

00:36:38.164 --> 00:36:39.799
So you either
give it to us in

00:36:39.799 --> 00:36:40.879
a good way or
we're going to

00:36:40.879 --> 00:36:42.575
paint the wall anyways.

00:36:42.575 --> 00:36:45.469
What it also helps
our teachers,

00:36:45.469 --> 00:36:47.000
they aren't professors
will assign it

00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:48.680
with the students who
would come at night,

00:36:48.680 --> 00:36:50.480
would oblige projector and

00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.619
do the lines and

00:36:51.619 --> 00:36:53.029
everything and then
paint them in.

00:36:53.029 --> 00:36:55.745
And that is there in
many of the campuses.

00:36:55.745 --> 00:36:58.520
We think that I think
we need to do is

00:36:58.520 --> 00:37:02.855
starting to find creative
ways of resisting.

00:37:02.855 --> 00:37:04.699
Resistance has become so

00:37:04.699 --> 00:37:06.470
overwhelming right now in

00:37:06.470 --> 00:37:08.839
this political
crisis that we need

00:37:08.839 --> 00:37:11.464
to start breathing in
the process, right?

00:37:11.464 --> 00:37:14.434
And trying to,
there's a very nice,

00:37:14.434 --> 00:37:17.165
great quote from
Žižek where he says,

00:37:17.165 --> 00:37:19.340
“Let's be happy while

00:37:19.340 --> 00:37:20.764
we're fighting
for happiness.

00:37:20.764 --> 00:37:21.649
Let's be free while

00:37:21.649 --> 00:37:23.914
we're fighting
for freedom.”

00:37:23.914 --> 00:37:26.390
And I think we need
to learn from that,

00:37:26.390 --> 00:37:28.370
but I know of 2019

00:37:28.370 --> 00:37:30.139
to deal with this
doubt again, right?

00:37:30.139 --> 00:37:31.219
And, and to start getting

00:37:31.219 --> 00:37:33.395
the energy to fight.

00:37:33.395 --> 00:37:35.960
Fighting against
campus debt

00:37:35.960 --> 00:37:37.699
can seem overwhelming.

00:37:37.699 --> 00:37:41.045
It is part of our
larger scale system

00:37:41.045 --> 00:37:43.774
of increasing inequality
in many ways.

00:37:43.774 --> 00:37:46.100
However, progress
starts and

00:37:46.100 --> 00:37:47.839
small and varied ways.

00:37:47.839 --> 00:37:51.005
There's no predetermined
route or method.

00:37:51.005 --> 00:37:54.499
Starting organizing can
be very small scale.

00:37:54.499 --> 00:37:56.660
At Salem State,
we started with

00:37:56.660 --> 00:37:59.180
just five faculty
and one student.

00:37:59.180 --> 00:38:01.684
It took us about
25 hours in total.

00:38:01.684 --> 00:38:04.159
Two years later.
The work we've

00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:06.710
done has influenced
conversations

00:38:06.710 --> 00:38:08.090
within our union with

00:38:08.090 --> 00:38:10.400
campus leadership and
state legislators

00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:12.694
about the structural
debt problem

00:38:12.694 --> 00:38:13.579
that needs to be

00:38:13.579 --> 00:38:15.739
addressed with
state funding.

00:38:15.739 --> 00:38:18.109
In Puerto Rico,
It has played

00:38:18.109 --> 00:38:18.980
a critical role in

00:38:18.980 --> 00:38:21.575
mass organizing
across society.

00:38:21.575 --> 00:38:23.750
In closing, we hope you'll

00:38:23.750 --> 00:38:26.959
utilize the resources
we've provided here.

00:38:26.959 --> 00:38:29.089
If you would like
some support

00:38:29.089 --> 00:38:30.335
and getting started,

00:38:30.335 --> 00:38:32.524
feel free to contact us.

00:38:32.524 --> 00:38:34.744
The debt collective and/or

00:38:34.744 --> 00:38:37.534
the Public Higher
Education Workers network.

00:38:37.534 --> 00:38:41.195
But please take the
first critical step.

00:38:41.195 --> 00:38:43.279
Start something
on your campus.

00:38:43.279 --> 00:38:46.100
Use whatever methods
will work best there,

00:38:46.100 --> 00:38:47.570
from the most simple to

00:38:47.570 --> 00:38:49.280
the most outrageous
and fun.

00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:51.019
And then once
you've started

00:38:51.019 --> 00:38:52.489
contact your colleagues

00:38:52.489 --> 00:38:54.649
in peer institutions in

00:38:54.649 --> 00:38:56.825
your state,
spread the word.

00:38:56.825 --> 00:38:58.670
As educators, let's use

00:38:58.670 --> 00:39:00.290
our academic skills to

00:39:00.290 --> 00:39:03.180
build power for change.