PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

CMU MLK day protest
by KF Saturday, Mar. 13, 2004 at 6:29 PM

Story about the protest at Carnegie Mellon to have Martin Luther King Jr Day as a holiday

Despite the 17 degree weather and the tiny snowflakes that swirled their way through westward blowing wind gusts of 23 mph, Vincent Scotti Eirene voluntarily spent 45 minutes outside at Carnegie Mellon University’s campus on Martin Luther King Day.
“I don’t get cold,” he said.
Cold or not, Eirene, along with three other demonstrators, was there to protest CMU’s policy of not taking the day off on Jan. 19 in celebration of the ideals of the civil rights activist.
Even Arkansas celebrates Martin Luther King Day, said Eirene, suggesting that if a state with a long history of racial tension can do so, then CMU should as well.
What CMU does do for Martin Luther King Day is to cancel classes between 12:30 and 4:30 p.m., a four hour block during which the bulk of the day’s speeches, programs, and other activities take place – though the candlelight procession and keynote address are not scheduled until after the class-free period has ended.


CMU, which does cancel classes on President’s Day and for their own Spring Carnival, argues that students would sleep late into the day and not attend any of the scheduled events if the University were closed, according to Eirene. With the current system, the idea is that students will already be awake, and therefore will attend more of the events associated with the holiday.


Eirene, who has now spent 16 consecutive years protesting on CMU’s campus on Martin Luther King Day, disagrees with that argument. “That’s what you do on holidays,” he said. “You sleep in.”


While Eirene searched his bag for the flyers to hand out to students, two of the other protestors stood in front of Warner Hall, fighting to display their light pink banner - “HONOR MLK – DISARM CMU” read the lightly stained sheet in all capitals - through the heavy winds.
“Switch sides with me!” one yelled to the other, as they struggled to hold onto the tan bamboo handles.
For Eirene and the other protestors, honoring Martin Luther King and disarming CMU – which Eirene notes is the world’s sixth largest military contractor - are part of the same equation.


“The school, with its military contracts, is not authorized to teach anyone about Martin Luther King. Monies spent on the military could best be spent in the bellies of the poor,” he said, noting that King took a strong stand against U.S. foreign policy and would not approve of those military contracts if he were alive today.


“What does this teach the community at large?” he asked while checking to see if there were any more flyers for the other protestors to distribute.


“That’s it,” he said, finding none. “You did too good of a job.”
In addition to the fact that they were able to distribute all of the fliers, Eirene said that he was pleased with student reaction. “As always, students were very interested,” he said. “Unfortunately, they’re not in charge.”


As the gusts of flurry-filled wind continued to pound on the banner, Jonas, a male in his early 20s who was holding up its right side, suggested a remedy for how the time might pass more quickly. “We need some heckling,” he said.
Eirene had his own idea for warmth.


“Who’s buying the O Fries?” he shouted. “They’re vegan!”


After three quarters of an hour of taking turns holding up the banner, handing out flyers, and joking about how cold it was, the four of them decided to head inside Warner Hall, which houses the office of University President Jared L. Cohon.
“This is where it is,” said Jonas, as he parked himself on a heating vent just inside the door.


As they entered the elevator for the trip up to the fifth floor office, they traded ideas on how to address the president.


“I’ll speak in interpretive dance!” said one. “I’ll speak in iambic pentameter!” replied another.
Although he had ventured up to the Office of the President for previous Martin Luther King Day protests, Eirene had never, in 16 years, been able to secure a meeting with a university official.


“We’d like to request a meeting with el Presidente,” he said to the slender, middle-age secretary, mentioning again that even Arkansas celebrated Martin Luther King Day. “There’s a few hundred more [protestors] out there, but they didn’t want to come in,” he joked.


“I’ll be right back,” said Dr. Cohon’s assistant as she went to check to see if the president was available. “As long as you’re not calling security…” Eirene said.
As they waited, Eirene, who allows homeless people to stay with his family at the Duncan and Porter House of Hospitality and Resistance – which he describes as a “sanctuary for the homeless” - spoke to the temp secretary about his experiences in political activism.
These experiences include a long history of peace-based activism that started in 1968 with Vietnam, a total of two and a half years of jail time, and frequent protesting at CMU’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI), which also has defense contracts.


“Where do you go next?” he asked about where the temp agency would place her after this current position with the Office of the President. “SEI,” she said with a laugh.
Well, continued the secretary, “I admire you guys for being out here in this kind of weather. I’m just surprised you all get arrested,” she said in a hushed, startled tone.
After the group’s meeting with an official from both CMU’s Office of Equal Opportunity Services and its Diversity Advisory Council, Eirene was candid about the University’s response to their concerns – “polite bullshit” - and noted that King “would be appalled” by CMU’s military contracting.
But, none of this has discouraged Eirene from continuing his work on the issue.
“We don’t have his message by parades and lectures…but by the way we live our lives,” he said. “We’ve been there for 16 years; we’re definitely going back next year.”

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