Take action now: E-mail Notre Dame President John Jenkins or call him to support free speech and worker rights!
Students join HEI hotel workers to picket in Arlington, Virginia, on July 30, 2009. (Photo by Mary Grant)
On Saturday, February 20, student members of the Campus Labor Action Project (CLAP) at the University of Notre Dame peacefully gathered to protest university endowment investment in HEI Hotels and Resorts, a company that has been accused of violating workers’ rights. Students planned to distribute leaflets to call attention to layoffs, heavy workloads and alleged anti-union intimidation against HEI workers to raise awareness that Notre Dame should not invest in companies that do not respect workers’ rights and dignity as defined by Catholic social teaching.
However, due to Notre Dame’s strict rules preventing freedom of speech Notre Dame police stopped the students and took down their names. They then confiscated their leaflets and did not allow them to continue their protest! Apparently, in order to pass out information of any kind, even factual information, students must get the flyers or leaflets approved through the Student Activities Organization, as well as have approved the date and location of the distribution. This is gross violation of a students’ right to free speech.
In order to demonstrate to the university that student voices will not be silenced, United Students Against Sweatshops is asking all its supporters to express your feelings by emailing or calling Notre Dame’s President, John Jenkins.
CALL-IN TO NOTRE DAME PRESIDENT JOHN JENKINS:
Number to call: (574) 631-3903
Sample message:
“President Jenkins, I am deeply troubled with Notre Dame’s lack of concern for social justice in its investment policies, specifically with its relationship with HEI Hotels and Resorts. We demand that you listen to the voices of Notre Dame students and HEI hotel workers who are calling on the university to live up to its Catholic values!”
To learn more about the campaign by HEI hotel workers, see: HEI Workers Rising
