MLK Scholars & Friends and Students Organizing Against Racism led tours last Monday along Brandeis' freedom trail, comprised of six locations where students have acted out for change on campus and around the world. Tour leaders explained that while students have had successes pushing for reform, there are still changes that need to be made.

Location 1: Shapiro Campus Center Atrium, site of former Ford Hall



On Jan. 8, 1969, 65 students in the Afro-American organization occupied Ford Hall with 10 non-negotiable demands for the administration, among them year-round recruitment of black students and doubling the number of students in the Transitional Year Program. The students faced expulsion, yet stayed in the building until January 18. They were granted amnesty, but the situation ended without a formal agreement.



Location 2: Pearlman Hall



Students protested the school beginning in 1979 for having stock in companies that had business in South Africa, which government was promoting apartheid. One-hundred and thirty students voted for divestment, and, over the course of seven years, got the school to remove over $250,000 worth of stock from the offending companies. The students built a mock shantytown that started in front of Pearlman and was moved to outside of Bernstein-Marcus. It lasted from February to September 1986 and represented the conditions in South Africa.



Location 3: Peace Circle



On Dec. 4, 1990, the Brandeis Coalition for Peace protested threats of war in the Middle East and asked for peace. Among other statements, the Coalition said "The U.S. is a prostitute for violence, and the U.N. is her pimp."



Location 4: Usdan Student Center



On Nov. 20, 1990, the Community Relations Committee hosted a sit-in at which 40 students protested a letter printed in the Justice from David Bloch '93 which condemned homosexuality. The sit-in was a symbol of solidarity and stressed community and acceptance.



Location 5: Steps to Squire Bridge



From May 8 to 9, 1998, the Heller School for Social Policy and Management organized a visit by the Dalai Lama in which he was awarded an honorary doctorate for activism. The visit was preceded by "Seven Weeks in Tibet," a series of religious and cultural exhibits.



Location 6: Outside administration buildings



On March 7, 1969, 76 students with the support of the student council occupied the Gryzmish administrative building to discuss the 10 demands made by the students in Ford Hall earlier that year and the illegitimacy of the judicial committee, which consisted of five faculty members and put those students on probation without hearing their defense. The students met outside then University President Morris Abram's office, and the occupation ended with four students being added to the committee.