[Corporations] National Higher Ed Strategy Meeting - NOTICE & APPLICATION

Thu Jul 20 16:08:03 CDT 2006

calling students, faculty, and campus workers . . .

NATIONAL MEETING FOR CAMPUS ORGANIZERS
DEMOCRATIZING EDUCATION NETWORK
SEPT 22-24, 2006, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Greetings,

   Two months from now, over the weekend of Sept 20-22, 2006, we will 
gather in Chicago some 40-60 campus organizers from a score U.S. 
colleges universities, to compare experiences, recent advances and 
setbacks, and to plan coordinated action for the coming year.  You, or 
people you work with on your campus, could be one of those organizers.

   Please take five minutes to read through this invitation.  Contents 
include information regarding the Democratizing Education Network and 
Liberty Tree, an initial meeting agenda, initial travel and lodging 
logistics, and so on.  At the end is a short application due August 1st. 
  Lodging is covered, and we hope to be able to help with transportation 
(donations for transportation scholarships gratefully accepted). 
Please call or email immediately with any questions.

We are looking for participants from many campuses. Maybe you, or some 
people you work with, would be ideal for this meeting.  We are looking 
for participation from diverse campus communities, including especially 
communities of color, undergrads and grads, and staff and faculty. 
Gender balance is also a priority.  The idea is to bring the campus 
communities together, and get ready to fight for higher education, and a 
democratic society, in '06-'07.

    For Education for Democracy!

    Carl Williams, Ben Manski, Pabitra Benjamin
    Liberty Tree Fellows ~ Democratizing Education Program
    Education at LibertyTreeFDR.org
    608 257 1606

p.s. ~ The next Democratizing Education Convention - less oriented to 
planning actions, and more oriented to networking, skills, and issues 
workshops, will occur in the Spring.

- - -

A.	ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIZING EDUCATION NETWORK

On October 20, 2005, several hundred undergraduate, graduate, campus
labor, faculty, and community organizers, hailing from nine states and
two Canadian provinces, met at the first Democratizing Education
Convention at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In addition to 
holding skills workshops, policy briefings, and comparing notes, the 
convention created a new network of higher education organizers, the 
Democratizing Education Network (DEN).

Since that convention, the DEN has served as a resource for campus 
organizing drives across the country, and has inspired a series of new 
student union organizing drives, campus solidarity actions, and a 
renewed Tent State University movement.

The Democratizing Education Network accepts as its constituent
organizations any campus or community organizations dedicated to the
complete fulfillment of the goals detailed in the Democratic Higher
Education Charter.

Democratizing Education Network:
  http://www.libertytreefdr.org/event.php?event_id=95
  http://www.DemocratizingEducation.org

Liberty Tree's Democratizing Education Program:
  http://www.libertytreefdr.org/democratizingEducation.php

B.	ABOUT LIBERTY TREE

The Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution is a 
non-profit organization rooted in the belief that the American 
Revolution is a living tradition whose greatest promise is democracy. 
Our central purpose is to build on the accomplishments of earlier 
American movements by launching a new stage in the struggle for 
democracy.   Among our three chief program areas is our Democratizing 
Education Program.  For more information, see:

Liberty Tree:
  http://www.libertytreefdr.org/

C.	MEETING AGENDA

	Friday, Sept 22
		4pm – Check-In
		6pm – Dinner
		7:30pm – Campus Reports & Discussion

	Saturday, Sept 22
		8:00am – Breakfast
                9:00am – Organizing Updates & Discussions:
			 Militarization
			 Affirmative action
			 Student unionism
			 Campus labor
			 Tent States
			 Academic freedom
			 Internationalism in education activism
			 The GATS and higher ed
		Noon – Lunch
		2:00pm – Coordination for the Coming Year:
			 The Network
			 Survey of upcoming crises, events
			 Coordinated action(s)
		7:00pm – Dinner
		9:00pm – Social

	Sunday, Sept 23
		9:00am – Breakfast
		10:00am – The Democratizing Education Convention
		1:00pm – Goodbyes and Check-Out

D.	LODGING

	We will be staying at a conference center in Chicago.  The facilities 
are dorms, and we will be meeting on-site.  Lodging will be covered for 
retreat participants; however, should you or your organization be able 
to pay for your lodging, we can apply the savings toward travel 
scholarships for others.

E.	TRANSPORTATION

	Liberty Tree is prepared to provide some limited transportation 
assistance for participants who need this assistance.  If you or your 
organization is able to make a contribution to help others attend the 
meeting, that would help a great deal.

- - - -

APPLICATION – CHICAGO DEN MEETING PARTICIPATION
Return to Carl Williams at Williams at LibertyTreeFDR.org by August 1st

NAME:

EMAIL:

PHONE:

ADDRESS:

CAMPUS:

STUDENT/STAFF/FACULTY/UNION:

AFFILIATIONS:

PLEASE PROVIDE BRIEF ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1.	Why do you want to participate?

2.	What is your campus organizing and other organizing background?

3.	What will your participation add to the retreat?

4.	Will you be on campus next year?

-- 

Ben Manski

Co-Secretary, Four Lakes Green Party of Dane County
http://www.FourLakesGreenParty.org

"We, the generation that faces the next century, can add the solemn 
injunction 'If we don't do the impossible, we shall be faced with the 
unthinkable'."  ~ Petra Kelly