University Wire
May 2, 2001
Tent 'city' crops up in support of Harvard sit-in
By Andrew S. Holbrook, Harvard Crimson
SOURCE: Harvard U.


It's a quiet night in "tent city."

Shortly after one o'clock in the morning, few people are stirring in
the shelters that have turned the Yard into a camping ground. The
doctor has retired for the night, although the mayor is still
holding court. Most of the night's campers either have gone to sleep
or will not be coming until later in the night, after they've
finished studying. Pitched under signs reading "Welcome to Hypocrisy
University" and "God Supports a Living Wage," there are around 80
tents now, from simple ones-tarps draped over clothesline hung
between trees-to large, fancy pavilions with awnings. Most of the
tents were put up over a week ago in support of the Progressive
Students Labor Movement (PSLM) sit-in for a "living wage."

At its peak two weekends ago, the tent city housed 110 people,
according to its organizers. But now, they say, only about 60 people
come each night, so many of the tents stand empty night after night.

Some are just for show, symbolic gestures of support for the
protesters who have been sitting in Massachusetts Hall demanding a
wage of $ 10.25 an hour for Harvard workers. One woman rounded up
six tents and pitched them all in the Yard, though she only sleeps
in one. Another man rented tents from a local outdoors outfitter and
dropped them off for other protesters to use.

A few of the protesters have brought spouses and families and the
atmosphere in the Yard has been not unlike a family picnic, complete
with food brought by sympathetic restaurant workers from the area.

To most of its residents, the camp-out in the Yard has become a city
under cover.

The tents are numbered and assigned plots around the area in front
of Massachusetts Hall, which has become known by the protesters
as "Justice Avenue," "Unity Boulevard" and "1025 Mass. Ave." It has
town meetings and its own self-styled mayor, Rhys Burmann.

Burmann, who leads tent city's town meetings, has no official
connection to the University, but he has a good friend who sat
inside Mass Hall and he said he has a strong belief in the
protesters' cause.

By and large, Burmann says the system he implemented -- including
nightly check-ins and check-outs and security patrols -- has been
successful.

Aside from a brief episode of drunken rowdiness last weekend, the
camp has been peaceful. And with trashcans lining the Yard's
pathways, the area has remained comparatively clean.

"One thing I'm proud of ... is the place has been impeccably clean
and impeccably organized for this many people in one place," he
says.

About half of the tents are occupied by their owners, Burmann
estimates. The rest are donated and occupied by other protesters
who, in return for living in the tent city, help the living wage
campaign occasionally by drawing posters or running errands.

The residents of the tent city have developed their own security
procedures. After one tent was stolen last weekend, some of the
occupants fixed their canopies to the ground with special corkscrew
stakes. They have fire-extinguishing equipment and maintain regular
security shifts that patrol the area with flashlights.

The residents have also drawn up a list of "tent city rules,"
prohibiting alcohol and weapons and warning occupants not to light
candles in their tents.

Most of the residents have little direct connection with the living
wage issue at Harvard. Some of them come from surrounding
communities and are active on other issues, such as public education
and world trade, but not living wage issues-until now.

"It's a community effort," Burmann says. "It's not just Harvard.
It's not just PSLM."

Michael Greger, a general practitioner in Jamaica Plain, calls
himself the tent city doctor. He spends his nights in tent number
73, where he has posted a sign with a red cross outside reading "the
doctor is in."

After the violent protests at the World Trade Organization meeting
in Seattle last winter, a network of activist physicians sprang up
across the country. Greger is a member of one of these groups, the
Northeast Action Medics Association, which has sent doctors to
Philadelphia and Quebec for protests in those cities this year.

Greger says he supports the living wage cause and was especially
attracted to the excitement of being a medic at a local protest.

"It's great to have the living wage right in my backyard," he says.

"I couldn't help but come out."

Most of his time has been fairly routine so far -- "usually it's
tampons, band-aids, Tylenol work," he says -- and he has also tended
to some locals who came to him for medical attention, including a
case of bruised ribs from someone who fell off a bike.

Monday night brought the first urgent protest-related medical
situation: one of the protestors sitting in Mass Hall had an asthma
attack and needed an inhaler. Gerger fished one out of his supplies
and a police officer took it to the protester.

"I was so excited I brought my supplies," he says. "I feel great to
show that extra solidarity."

This solidarity is shared by the entire city.

After a day of protesting, Ken Tivey, another Yard resident, sets up
his tent. Tivey works in the Economics Department and is a member of
the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers. He says he
takes lunch breaks from Littauer to come to the noon rallies in
front of Mass. Hall.

The night before, he says he sat next to a law school professor who
had come with his wife and three young children -- the family had
a "great time," he says.

"Maybe we could market it in some way: people come from around the
world to sleep in Harvard Yard," he quips.

(C) 2001 Harvard Crimson via U-WIRE

LOAD-DATE: May 2, 2001