For more information contact:

Chris Hermosilla

609.637.7649

hermosi2@tcnj.edu

DECEMBER 1, 2000 – EWING, NJ…Members of an unidentified anti-sweatshop activist group at The College of New Jersey interrupted an afternoon Professional Writing class, denouncing the public relations event the class was planning and threatening severe repercussions unless an alternate event was planned.

Janet Gray, assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the College, entered the classroom with two student activist group members. Kim Pearson, assistant professor of English, repeatedly attempted to remove the interlopers from her classroom, but Gray stood her ground until she had said her piece.

Gray, speaking on behalf of her organization, pleaded the members of the class to reject the college’s proposed summer golf camp because of its corporate sponsorship from Nike, the athletic shoe and clothing company. Gray said Nike is one of the most prominent corporations guilty of using "sweatshops," mass numbers of workers in third-world countries that are denied basic human rights and exploited for profit. Gray said she wanted the class to consider "an alternate image of the College," one that doesn’t promote sweatshop labor, and asked members of the class to help her plan an alternate program.

Pearson reprimanded Gray, not only for her classroom interruption but also for her attempts to impress the activist group’s "leftist political agenda" on the other students. Pearson also reminded Gray of the College’s fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholders’ investments in the College and said the rejection of this large corporate sponsorship would negatively affect the College’s financial future.

Gray said additional members of her organization were interrupting other administrative offices of the College, and added that if the activists’ demands were not met, the College could expect "a public relations nightmare." She did not reveal further proposed actions, stating the group’s complete plan of action had yet to be completed.

Despite the activists entering unexpectedly and uninvited, the students in the class listened to the activists’ pleas. The activists readily answered various questions, but stood firm in their beliefs when approached with criticism. The class has yet to reach a decision on a course of action—whether to pursue the advertisement of the Nike-sponsored event or the planning of an alternate, sweatshop-free event.

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