Students for an Ethical Participatory Education has taken a more aggressive approach to get the attention of Eastern Michigan University’s administration, and are hoping to incite an answer regarding the university’s contract with Adidas.
“We don’t know what the administration is waiting on,” said EMU student and SEPE member Jacob Anderson. “They have been stalling, so we are trying to put the pressure on them a bit.”
SEPE is a supporter and affiliate of United Students Against Sweatshops, and its members have passed out fliers that said, “Cut Adidas! It’s been 22 months since PT Kizone, an Adidas subcontractor in Indonesia, shut down without paying legally-mandated severance to its 2,700 workers.”
SEPE members said they requested a meeting with EMU’s administration after Adidas representatives visited campus earlier this month and explained their company’s stance and reasons for not paying the factory workers.
After a period of non-confirmation from EMU’s administration, SEPE has led flash mobs and a protest march on campus.
The most recent flash mob took place at the Undergraduate Symposium luncheon Friday in the Student Center. Campus police arrived in the Student Center and told the SEPE members they had
to vacate.
“People approached us and asked us to leave,” said Josiah Seng, EMU senior and leading SEPE member. “As we were trying to gather and leave, campus police approached us and told us we had to go, and it’s not an issue of freedom of speech.”
Members of SEPE said Walter Kraft, EMU’s vice president of communications, scheduled a meeting with the student group after their demonstration Friday.
SEPE members said bold moves are important to gain interest within the student body.
“We got a lot of attention and handed out quite a few fliers,” said EMU student and SEPE member Heather Charles regarding the flash mob at the Undergraduate Symposium on Friday.
She said the audience provided mixed reactions for their demonstration at the symposium luncheon.
“One person did yell, ‘Shut up,’ but we got some claps at the end, too,” Charles said.
The protest march Tuesday involved dozens of students and SEPE members. They carried signs and chanted throughout the Student Center, Pray Harold and ended in Welch Hall, where they conducted a sit-in at EMU President Susan Martin’s office.
EMU sophomore and psychology major Lydia McMillion said the protest march was a success.
“I think we sparked a lot of interest and received a lot of attention,” she said. “We have been trying since October to get the administration to cut its contract. We’re currently just trying to close this deal.”
SEPE conducted their initial flash mob March 14 inside the Student Center’s food court during the lunchtime rush.
EMU freshman Summer Dunn witnessed the first flash mob while she was eating lunch and finishing homework.
“It grabbed my attention, and I thought it was cool,” she said. “I first heard about the scandal in a political science class when someone came in and talked about it. I think it matters.”
Some EMU students were not swayed by SEPE’s message.
“Everyone likes Adidas, it’s very well received on campus,” said EMU senior Greg Henry, who also witnessed the flash mob in the food court. “I definitely think this is something EMU should not act on.”
Henry said, “Comparing first-world standards to third-world standards is like comparing apples to oranges.”
