#OccupyColleges

From MNDaily:

In solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, students at a variety of colleges and universities may (somewhat ironically) not be occupying classrooms tomorrow. A website called Occupy Colleges has been calling for a nationwide student walkout at noon local time on Wednesday, October 5 to protest mounting debt and lack of opportunities after graduation for students in addition to the broader anti-corporate concerns expressed in the Occupy Wall Street protests.

The University of Minnesota is not yet on the official list of colleges who have planned a walkout, but several large public universities like the University of Maryland and University of Florida have, and the list seems to be growing quickly. The walkout has been mentioned on television a couple of times, including on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night and on Dylan Ratigan's program on MSNBC this afternoon. Like the Occupy Wall Street protests, Occupy Colleges' walkouts are being organized through social media, including a Facebook group and a Twitter hashtag.

It remains to be seen whether this particular arm of the protests will catch fire the way Occupy Wall Street has, but students certainly have reason to protest. Of course, some students will happily take any excuse to skip class. One can't help but wonder, though, whether more students would be inclined to walk out of their class on a Friday morning than midday Wednesday.

Here's a list of colleges participating (from occupycolleges.org):

List of Colleges Joining the Wednesday, October 5th – Noon Walkout
Filed under COLLEGES JOINING{2 COMMENTS}
1. Champlain College–will be meeting in Hauke Courtyard
2. College of New Jersey
3. University of Maryland–will be meeting at College Park
4. West Mount College
5. Northeastern University
6. Indiana University of Pennsylvania–will be meeting in Oak Grove
7. University of Colorado Boulder–they are set to “maybe”
8. University of Massachusetts Lowell
9. Bradley University
10. Illinois State University–will be meeting up with Bradley University and Occupying at Bloomington Normal Illinois
11. University of Massachusetts Amherst–will be meeting at Amherst Commons
12. University of Florida
13. Adrian College
14. Texas State University San Marcos
15. Duke University
16. Brooklyn College, City University of New York
17. Chapman University
16. Sonoma State University
17. UCLA–will be meeting at Bruins Walk
18. Santa Monica College
19. University of Texas Austin–will be meeting outside tower in South Mall
20. Lone Star College Tomball
21. Montana State–will be meeting in lawn South of Montana Hall
22. Cal State University Northridge
23. Syracuse University
24. Texas Tech–not confirmed, still a “maybe”