Elis Occupy Morgan Stanley info session
Students protest outside Morgan Stanley's Tuesday night info session. Photo by Tapley Stephenson.
Roughly 50 students lined the sidewalk in front of the Study earlier this evening, holding signs to protest an information session held by the investment banking firm Morgan Stanley.
“Twenty-five percent, is too much talent spent!” the protesters chanted, making reference to the fact that one in four Yalies go into finance or consulting. Their signs included slogans such as “Dreams not dollar$” and “Your career decision is a moral choice,” among others.
Other chants include:
It's not what it seems, don't abandon your dreams
Give change a chance, don't go into finance
Make change, not money
We've got talent, we've got smarts, but our careers are moved by our hearts
They take you in and spit you out. That's what these jobs are all about
In the Study’s penthouse, the chants could not be heard and the Morgan Stanley event went on with quiet music in the background. Representatives of Morgan Stanley and the Study declined to comment. A planned question and answer session was scrapped because of the protest, students present said.
When police asked the protesters to move away from the sidewalk in front of the Study, the protesters crossed the street and held an “alternative info session," where Jennifer Klein, a Yale history professor, and Annie Lai, a teaching fellow from the Law School, spoke to the crowd.
"Think about what kind of jobs would create a genuinely productive economy that doesn’t leave workers secure, that doesn’t leave people without houses, and that doesn’t hollow out neighborhoods," Lai said.
Each of her sentences was repeated using Occupy’s “mic check” system, which ensures that speakers can be heard over a large crowd.
Comments
ilovelovedontyou 6 months, 1 week ago
Well-written article.
cyalie 6 months, 1 week ago
I bet that most of those protesters weren't seniors. It's easy to think idealistically and to judge others until you are faced with graduation a few months down the line and suddenly realize that tens of thousands of dollars of student debt have to be paid off (this is my situation). A top tier education sucks up so much money that many students are forced to go into these jobs for a few years to help their families recover from the financial blow. Besides, can't we be a little more tasteful?—mocking students who are suited up and on their way to a mere info session is stooping pretty low.
Or login with:
OpenID