W&M College Socialists

04/06/2021

Here are our new Points of Unity that were crafted and approved by all active members. These points are of absolute equal importance and are listed in no particular order.

04/06/2021

The College Socialists at William & Mary have left the Democratic Socialists of America. This sexual assault awareness month, we are proud to stand in unconditional solidarity with Tara Reade and all survivors. We hope to contribute to the growing tide of solidarity with survivors and the unstoppable force of their many voices. Read our exit statement below:

10/14/2020

Support the William and Mary Worker's Union by wearing a union mask on Fridays. Pick up your mask in front of Sadler from 12-2pm on Oct. 22nd.

Our first Fair Wage Friday is Oct. 23rd!

Pay what you can here: http://ow.ly/lMcp50BStCj

08/20/2020

07/09/2020

We’ve heard that, during the recent Honor Council investigations, the Council has committed serious FERPA violations that infringed on student privacy. The Honor Council has unlawfully revealed unredacted private information of several students including, but not limited to, emails, student IP addresses, emails, medical information, and internet search history. After this breach of privacy, the administration demanded, with the threat of disciplinary action, that students involved delete all the documents they received, even though they are crucial evidence in an ongoing federal investigation surrounding these FERPA violations. We at William & Mary YDSA condemn the administration for their extortion of students and the Honor Council for violating the privacy of students, and we demand that these unethical Honor Council Investigations get dropped. We recognize that the Honor and Conduct Systems we have in place create a toxic campus environment focused on sadistic forms of punitive justice, which contributes to the broader oppressive carceral state by not prioritizing other forms of healing and reconciliation.

Disclaimer: ***You are legally allowed the right to control who sees your educational records. You are also allowed legal assistance in your case. You can contact FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) for publicity, help with writing statements and getting connected with legal assistance at thefire.org, 215-717-FIRE or [email protected]. If you need financial assistance in your case or help finding a private lawyer, you can browse the American Bar Association website for available attorneys at https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/flh-home/flh-free-legal-help/.***

If you believe that your privacy has been breached by the University or by the Honor Council, you should file a complaint with the Department of Education.

You can file a claim by calling the Family Policy Compliance Office at (202)206-3887; by downloading the complaint form and emailing it to [email protected]; or by submitting the complaint electronically.

Before filing a complaint, head over to their website, where there is a checklist of questions to ask while filing as well as the complaint form which is available to download. You can access the complaint here: studentprivacy.ed.gov.

06/11/2020

Our statement of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in light of the recent instances of police violence across the country and William & Mary's long history with colonialism and systemic racism:

We at YDSA W&M stand with the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing protests against police brutality, white supremacy, and the carceral state. As socialists, we believe in building a society without policing and without prisons, and we know that ‘public safety’ is a meaningless phrase in a structurally racist system where people’s basic material needs are unmet. As we have seen in Minneapolis and elsewhere, true change comes when people break from the norms of acceptable dissent and become an existential threat to powerful institutions. Through our prison labor and racial justice committees, we at YDSA W&M are committed to fighting alongside this movement for racial justice in Williamsburg and beyond.
William & Mary is an old and powerful institution rooted in white supremacy and colonialism. From 1693 to today, the racial stratification of its workforce has been immediately apparent to anyone who sets foot on campus, and its many monuments to slaveholders are impossible to miss. William & Mary now says it stands with Black Lives Matter. We call on the college to act on that statement of support and meet the demands of the movement.
It is a time of financial uncertainty, not just for the college, but for all of its students and workers. William & Mary has begun notifying students that some of their classes have been canceled, and notifying non-tenured faculty that their contracts will not be renewed. We at YDSA call on the college to slash funding for the William & Mary Police Department before making cuts to any academic departments. By dismantling policing on campus, the administration can prove both its support for the ongoing protest movement and its care for the wellbeing of its students and workers. Along with cutting administrative salaries, as many other colleges and universities have already done, William & Mary can both meet the current moment and verify its commitment to learning by redirecting policing funds towards academic departments instead of imposing austerity on our education.

06/02/2020

05/29/2020

Thank you to our good friends at the Filipino American Student Association for compiling these important resources from aid funds, to political education materials. Please share, sign petitions, donate, get educated, and stand in solidarity with our Black comrades in Minnesota and beyond.

The Filipino American Student Association at William & Mary stands in solidarity with the Black community, always but especially, during this heavy time. We join all those in grief and outrage against the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the countless more who were mur...

04/22/2020

After William and Mary dining workers were laid off without pay, we had hoped the University would step up to support them, like UVA, Tufts, and many others have. William and Mary, however, has abandoned its workers. Students are having to crowdsource for emergency relief. We are grateful to everyone who has donated to the GoFundMe, but with 60+ dining workers requesting funding, the amount distributed will be limited, and for many, not enough. Join us in asking the university to financially support ALL their workers by signing the petition now.


Petition to financially support ALL workers:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/william-and-mary-support-workers?source=direct_link&fbclid=IwAR1udwAfLpzUdqnaTy3kaqsgqEzcTiCLXMpkX4djZxM-ZuPmM02R4JfFdy0

And sign the w&m workers union's petition to stand in solidarity with campus workers in their struggle for paid sick leave and hazard pay: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXpF6iz9TipjjaCteINWsbwhWxyy27Gt1JYg_SPomUzhfs8Q/viewform

04/20/2020

Huge props to Student Assembly for choosing to stand in solidarity with campus workers. We will continue supporting the organizing efforts of the W&M Workers Union and WM Respond Now until the administration guarantees paid medical leave and hazard pay for campus workers.

Latest NewsStudent Assembly SA debates Emergency Powers Act, formalizes support for student workers’ union By Emma Ford and Kimberly Lores - April 15, 2020 0 20 Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter EMMA FORD AND KIM LORES / THE FLAT HAT At the final meeting of the College of William and Mary’s 327...