For student activists, it’s hard to point to wins. The structures of the university are made to seem inevitable and enduring, and you’d never know by looking that the Maryland Food Co-op or Shuttle-UM were originally projects of student resistance. As soon as students win anything, it is quickly swallowed into the mythology of the university, leaving only a trace of its origins. But as stable as the university seems, it is and has always been in a constant state of flux, a dynamic project between all affected parties.
Of course, there are tensions between different affected groups: Students want to pay less and still have access to a quality, holistic education,;workers want a living wage and to be treated with respect; the state wants to improve the school’s reputation while also paying less; and administrators just want to be paid more. The state and administrators have been incredibly successful at convincing students that we all share the same set of goals and that students (or faculty and staff for that matter) advocating for their own interests are selfish and not committed to the well-being of the university. Last week, the Student Government Association split evenly on whether to support the state’s proposed 3-percent tuition increase in an act of “thank you, sir, may I have another?” masochistic confusion.
Students themselves are eager to point out the contradictions between wanting to pay less and learn more — as if there were a direct causation there — but no one wants to tell the state it can’t cut our
