Footage of a UMass professor speaking at the rally outside the Whitmore administration building.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Students gathered outside the Whitmore administration building on the University of Massachusetts at Amherst campus to protest the decision by school administrators to award an honorary degree to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. Card, who served on the White House Iraq Group, whose purpose it was to "market" the invasion of Iraq to the American people. Although the WHIG's mission was not made public, Card hinted at it's purpose in an September 2006 interview with the New York Times, in which he stated: "From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August."

Undergraduates and graduate students, faculty, staff, and members of the surrounding community, including high school students and members of the local anti-war coalition, all came to voice their opposition and demand that the University rescind it's offer to Mr. Card. Card is expected to be awarded an honorary Doctorate in Public Service during the 2007 graduation ceremony, which is scheduled to take place on Friday, May 25, 2007.

After gathering thousands of signatures in petition against the awarding of an honorary degree to Mr. Card, students gathered on Thursday, May 10th 2007 to hand-deliver the signatures to the Chancellor of the University, John Lombardi. Lombardi, who was not present, instead had Vice-Chancellor Mike Gargano sit-in, who accepted the petition to the cries of over a hundred students who crowded the hallways of the Whitmore building and effectively shut-down business. The demands of the petition stated that the administration had 96 hours to rescind the offer of an honorary degree, or face another protest. The students claim that the administration holds no accountability stood true as administrators remained silent until the protest on Tuesday, May 15th, when they once again gathered outside of Whitmore.

Students who gathered to protest were not surprised to find that administrative officials had vacated their offices and effectively shut down the entire building, which was locked and under police surveillance. Instead of marching the halls of Whitmore once again, the organizers of the protest made the decision to march to the office of the Dean of Students, located in the Goodell building not far away. There, students crowded the secretary of the Dean of Student's office and held a short sit-in before campus and state police were called. With the threat of imminent arrest and a vow to keep the protest peaceful, protesors exited the building and once again marched back to Whitmore, demanding that they be heard. After a short time, the Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs Michael Gargano, accompanied by another administrative official, appeared and agreed to make a statement. He stated "If you have another petition, we are happy to take your petition. The decision made by the University President, the Universty system, and the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts remains the same." These statements were met with even greater protest, as students marched behind the Vice-Chancellor, whom was escorted by an armed officer. Students followed Gargano to the main entrance of Whitmore, where he and another woman were allowed entrance, ducking below the arm of an officer's who was holding open the door. Protestors remained for some time outside the building, chanting "Hey hey! Ho ho! Andy Card has got to go!" and "Shame on you!". Another protest is scheduled to take place during commencement. (less info)