This morning, eleven Stanford University students began occupying the lobby of their president's office demanding humane conditions for the workers who make clothes and hats bearing their school logo. Specifically, the student activists are asking President John Hennessy to take a constructive role in fighting sweatshops by joining the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) by the end of today (if you're reading this on the East Coast, note that he still has a few hours). The WRC was founded by students and labor rights seven years ago as an alternative to the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a far more industry-influenced monitoring group; the WRC, which has 169 collegiate members, has succeeded in improving conditions for some workers, and many observers agree that the competition has improved the FLA. "We know President Hennessy has the moral integrity to take this step," said Bethany Woolman, a sophomore who was occupying the presidential lobby. "But we know he needs the support of students to do it."

A rally of about 100 students assembled outside the building to support the sit-in, addressed by a woman who'd worked in a sweatshop in Saipan (a U.S. territory where garment industry abuses are egregious). The Stanford students also want their university to sign onto the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), a system devised by the WRC for better protecting garment workers' rights, and enforcing universities' existing codes of conduct. As wonky as it sounds, the DSP's practical approach has caught fire among students. Last week, the University of Washington avoided a sit-in by signing on to the DSP. I recently reported on sit-ins over this issue at University of Southern California and the University of Michigan.

This is the Stanford's second sit-in over labor rights this spring; in April, students went on a hunger strike demanding that Stanford's living wage policy cover more campus workers. The administration met most of their demands but has been remarkably unresponsive on the sweatshop issue. Might last year's $105 million donation to the Stanford Business School by Nike CEO Phil Knight be complicating Hennessy's decision just a wee bit? (Nike is a major manufacturer of collegiate apparel and Knight is a dogged opponent of anti-sweatshop reformers.) It wouldn't be the first time that Knight-ly generosity has informed university policy; seven years ago, the University of Oregon backed out of the WRC after threats from big donor Phil. Stanford's administration hasn't called me back yet, but when they do, I'll let you know what they have to say about this. Meanwhile, a few cops have joined the party and are expected to arrest the students in a couple hours.

Comments (52)

1. Praise be for idealistic student activists and the genuinely independent investigative reporters, like Ms. Featherstone, who commemorate their efforts to achieve a far more just world for a far greater percentage of our world's inhabitants.

   Posted by lewwelge at 05/22/2007 @ 5:54pm

2. It's good to hear about more student activism and hope they succeed in their endeavor.It's a worthy cause.

   Posted by i'm nobody at 05/22/2007 @ 6:07pm

3. here are a couple of suggestions for the students:

   1. Don't buy the school products if you disagree with where and how they are made.

   2. Go to a different University if it bothers you so much.

   3. Start your own business to provide these items to the University.

   Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/22/2007 @ 7:00pm

4. 11 students in the President's office....100 students at the rally.

   Just curious, what IS the student population of Stanford?

   Posted by Mask at 05/22/2007 @ 7:41pm

5. "Moral Integrity" from the President - Blood from a turnip.

   Dubya -

   A drunkard who would not give money to sober people. He said they would only eat it, and buy clothes and send their children to school with it.

   Always doing the wrong thing at the right moment.

   His tears dry quickly, especially when shed for the misfortunes of others.

   By multiplying ironies, he evades commitments.

   A dog that bays at the moon while pissing on graves.

   Saving us from the blessings of civilization.

   The sick stayed well and the healthy became blind.

   Posted by New Dawn at 05/22/2007 @ 8:14pm

6. here are a couple of suggestions for the students:

   1. Don't buy the school products if you disagree with where and how they are made.

   2. Go to a different University if it bothers you so much.

   3. Start your own business to provide these items to the University.

   Posted by LVLIBERTY1 05/22/2007 @ 7:00pm

   Here are a couple of suggestions for "Liberty":

   1. Don't persue the Nation if you disagree with where and how its posters' opinions are made.

   2. Go to a different board if it bothers you so much.

   3. Start your own board to provide these opinions to the world starving for your opinions.

   Posted by New Dawn at 05/22/2007 @ 8:16pm

7. Ah, a new dawning of poetic prowess. Thank you.

   Posted by lewwelge at 05/22/2007 @ 8:35pm

8. Posted by MASK 05/22/2007 @ 7:41pm

   I found it....hehe.

   6689...so 100 at the rally would be about....2% of the students. 11 in the Prez' office would be 0.175%.

   Posted by Mask at 05/22/2007 @ 8:46pm

9. So, we go from 11 students protesting and making demands that somehow spurns New Dawwn to connect a dot with Bush drinking 40 years ago...I am not sure how this gels but given this site, I am sure it does somewhere....

   ...but I think Liberty is correct...it would be better and more effective if the 11 wore sandwich boards outside the book store or where ever, asking all not to purchase the hats...and then make your case where it is felt..in the wallet...

   ...instead of drawing eye rolls and yawns from the other two hundred million or so who don't pay attention to attention getting schemes...

   Now if you get the Univ to stop making those purchases from that company, and they in turn stop buying from the manufacturere in Saipan, then those workers will no longer be taken advantaged of...so then the students can have a union shop make the same $12 hats for $ 25 and everyone is happy..except the Saipan workers,.... I am not sure where they go.....

   ...maybe for drinks with Bush?

   Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 9:55pm

10. Dawn's light reveals wonders of freshness.

    Neophilia beats necrophilia every time.

    Posted by lewwelge at 05/22/2007 @ 10:26pm

11. right, hold the poorest hostage. Sounds like a plan from hamsterland

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 10:50pm

12. hey isn't a variant of that being used to hold the troops hostage?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 10:51pm

13. Nice of you to offer a solution , Will...typical.

    ..instead of 6th grade musings about hamsters, where even your ardent supporters must tire of by now,

    ..try a new approach..consider the reality that those people in Saipan may indeed lose their jobs if the well intentioned students have their way...what is your solution?

    Offer something viable and real..

    You are the resident economic pro here , especialy on Asian international business and politics..

    What is your response to a real problem here?

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:04pm

14. No.

    The troops are hostage to domestic US politics.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 10:58pm

    I never said they weren't fribaby. But thanks for clearing that up for us.

    now maybe you'd actually like to take a crack at my thesis

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:06pm

15. What is your response to a real problem here?

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/22/2007 @ 11:04pm

    I support moral integrity. Other than you hamsters, who doesn't?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:09pm

16. I support moral integrity. Other than you hamsters, who doesn't?

    Posted by WILL C. 05/22/2007 @ 11:09pm

    And this means what for a soultion, exactly..

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:09pm

17. I support a real solution...so should you..here is your chance to drop the little one line poetry and lay out for all to se...an idea that may be useable.

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:10pm

18. And this means what for a soultion, exactly..

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/22/2007 @ 11:09pm

    ok i'll spell it out for you. It means you require that the workers are guarenteed humane working conditions.

    just like the kids are asking

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:11pm

19. get with the thread fribaby, my thesis is that the workers in saipan are being held hostage by your assertion that protesting their working conditions will impoverish them

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:17pm

20. ...and REQUIRE humane working conditions, relative to what WE in the US consider humane.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:16pm

    Saipan is a US territory. Maybe you'd like to give us your list of reasons why the people living their should be held to a different standard or set of conditions then the people living here

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:20pm

21. In fact, I'm so twisted I'd like the entire world to enjoy the life possible in Palo Alto!!!

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:18pm

    The world already does. Some of the world are extreamly rich. Some of the world is homeless.

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:21pm

22. Sure , and how does this translate to the company you are dealing with..down to the worker level?

    Any idiot can say..I am not buying these hats unless the guy taht made them is earning a living wage...or humane working conditions...

    good and fine

    now how would you, young Will, ensure that

    1. Those demands of yours are met

    2. Know what it is in Saipan that you are demanding be guarenteed

    3. How would you measure compliance and that it is maintained, muchless even met if the first place?

    Would you visit Saipan or would you take the word of the supplier, salesman ..what?

    And the hardest part..what if you were told that the guys making the hats live in a hut with a dirt floor and work 12 hour days with only 3 breaks and one meal? And say, you said that those conditions are abhorent...and then you find out, that in that country...he is middle class...and you not buying hats he makes, you cause him to lose his job....

    Where is the moral intergrity in that senario? Or the real solution..

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:21pm

23. liKe isaid before firebaby, get with the thread. the students are protesting the inhumane working conditons. But I can see that as you are a hamster, you could confuse the former with the same stundent group coming out for a living wage for stanford employees.

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:26pm

24. I never said they weren't Wilber. But thanks for clearing that up for us.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:24pm

    if you knew it existed then why were you wishing for it? Is it because you're twisted?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:28pm

25. Will C, I think the workers in Saipan should earn the exact wages their labor market and skill set determine. Just like here.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:27pm

    That's great friebaby? So how do you feel about the inhumane working conditions?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:29pm

26. And conditions should be humane, by the standards of the workers.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:29pm

    Great now how do you suggest we get management in impliment the standards the workers would like to work under?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:31pm

27. now how would you, young Will, ensure that

    1. Those demands of yours are met

    2. Know what it is in Saipan that you are demanding be guarenteed

    3. How would you measure compliance and that it is maintained, muchless even met if the first place?

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/22/2007 @ 11:21pm

    It's called the US Department of Labor. It's an enforenment arm of the executive branch

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:35pm

28. The inhumane working conditions? I've experienced them. They are unacceptable. But I had to accept it until I was able to advance. How about you?

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:33pm

    they are unacceptable but you had to accept them...

    That would make them acceptable.

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:37pm

29. Great now how do you suggest we get management in impliment the standards the workers would like to work under?

    Posted by WILL C. 05/22/2007 @ 11:31pm

    By sending you to Saipan.

    You have no answers that are real, Will...you rely on the DEPT of Labor..thje GOVT..should have known....well, how are they doing Will, if the students are making an issue out of the conditions and the very govT Dept you are relying on..

    A forget it...waste of time..I knew before I stsrted that you would show youraelf tpo be useless...

    I noticed you are appearing here later...lose the stud pounding /sawdust creating position?

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:40pm

30. So you're saying the conditions in Saipan are acceptable because the workers haven't quit?

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:40pm

    I beleive I've been saying they are inhumane..

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:42pm

31. You have no answers that are real, Will...you rely on the DEPT of Labor..thje GOVT..should have known....well, how are they doing Will, if the students are making an issue out of the conditions and the very govT Dept you are relying on..

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/22/2007 @ 11:40pm

    At this moment the department of labor isn't doing anything Maasch Couldn't you tell that by all the student protests?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:44pm

32. Frei,

    See the patten here with Wilber? (Great name, by the way, except the horse had wit and common sense...of course, we are dealing with the other end of the horse here when Will is involved)

    Never a glimmer of reality based solutions to any real life problem..and what does he do? HE TYRNS TO THJE GOVT!!!...the very same Dept that is FAILING in the first place!!!!!!!

    He is definately a Hillary man..I am sure he can't wait to lick her balls "come" Nov.....

    He is all yours, Frei...

    Sigh...Should have known...nothing there ...ever...one liners of nothingness and useless to everyone...

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:46pm

33. At this moment the department of labor isn't doing anything Maasch Couldn't you tell that by all the student protests?

    Posted by WILL C. 05/22/2007 @ 11:44pm

    which brings us back full circle...no solutionj from you...a waste of effort even in the post here..this has gone on too long for me...

    I am off to watch a John Wayne rerun...Liberty Valence..

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:48pm

34. well let's see maasch. you decry the market based solution to the problem (not buying the goods until conditions are improved)

    and that's suprising since you have such a hatred for govenemnt of the people... the only real choice left

    :)

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:48pm

35. which brings us back full circle...no solutionj from you...a waste of effort even in the post here..this has gone on too long for me...

    I am off to watch a John Wayne rerun...Liberty Valence..

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/22/2007 @ 11:48pm

    don;t blame me because you hamsters and the chimps aren;t doing anything. That's your malfunction, not mine or the governemnts

    Posted by Will C. at 05/22/2007 @ 11:49pm

36. (not buying the goods until conditions are improved)

    I used it to highlight the conundrum...and you offered..nothing.

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:49pm

37. don;t blame me because you hamsters and the chimps aren;t doing anything. That's your malfunction, not mine or the governemnts

    Posted by WILL C. 05/22/2007 @ 11:49pm

    OH, perfect lib.....you offered blame...perfect...good night.

    Lost the carpentry job, huh...

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:50pm

38. Frei,

    He is not smart but glib....never a solution, always some kind of blame and drifts into the pet store analogys to hide that fact that he has nothing to offer that is reality based or usefull towards a solution...ie, no real world experience to fall back on...just comic book moral relativisim....a simple issues with hats...go back and re read his posts..just his..they make up maybe a paragraph of words, but remove the rodents names, the questions "answered" with questions...and you have...nothing..and the hats? who knows...maybe the people aready lost their jobs...but hey, they were getting a raw deal anyway..

    He is all yours...the Duke is on...

    Posted by john maasch at 05/22/2007 @ 11:58pm

39. I used it to highlight the conundrum...and you offered..nothing.

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/22/2007 @ 11:49pm

    I offered a law enforenment solution Maasch. I guess you are a little sqishy on that

    Posted by Will C. at 05/23/2007 @ 12:00am

40. OH, perfect lib.....you offered blame...perfect...good night.

    Lost the carpentry job, huh...

    Posted by JOHN MAASCHt 05/22/2007 @ 11:50pm

    well maasch, unless you are sugeesting in all your rambling that you actaully want to do something, then you are doing nothing.

    which is exactly what I said. The truth realy fucks you up deosn't it?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/23/2007 @ 12:02am

41. For instance, argue with his suggestion on reducing poverty and you MUST be pro poverty and enjoy people suffering.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 11:51pm

    Don't you recognise that? I got that technique from you hamsters.

    How does it feel?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/23/2007 @ 12:05am

42. right, the only people who care are the glutonous and bloated.

    you are twisted

    Posted by Will C. at 05/23/2007 @ 12:09am

43. But i suspect it's not from a good place.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/23/2007 @ 12:12am

    On that I have to agree. I got it from you.

    consume like you care.

    consume a little, care a little

    consume a lot, care a lot

    Posted by Will C. at 05/23/2007 @ 12:16am

44. I don't want the workers in Saipan, the US or "commie China" as you call it, to labor in conditions I consider inhumane either.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/23/2007 @ 12:10am

    sure friebaby, but the only guidance you offered for the peole in those conditions was to tough it out until they advance.

    that still leaves the conditions for someone else.

    it's dishonest to say you are against those conditions while leaving them intact

    Posted by Will C. at 05/23/2007 @ 12:20am

45. the problem: when one factory raises its labor standards (and allows workers to unionize etc.), apparel companies will abandon it (i.e. the "race to the bottom")

    the solution: pledge to only contract with companies that order apparel from factories with decent labor standards - this is what Stanford students are asking for

    Please refrain from this patronizing talk about innocent and misguided students. The arguments you all are advancing in opposition to the student campaign are obvious and make me yawn. The student proposals are legitimate. We can test our knowledge of labor markets and the apparel industry (its profit margins within the current scheme of "flexible production" etc.) if you like.

    How did you all get so smug? Does acting smart make you feel good?

    Posted by owencenli at 05/23/2007 @ 02:30am

46. sorry I didn't read all the messages- the previous comment was directed to those who said garment workers in the global south will lose their jobs if stanford joins the WRC and DSP, that the profit margins are too small etc. (nevermind that dozens of schools have already joined both the WRC and DSP and somehow keep their school apparel sales going)

    also, Saipan is exempted from federal regulation so no Dept. of Labor jurisdiction. And it should be really obvious that Latin America and Asia (where the vast majority of apparel is manufactured) is not regulated by the Dept of Labor. That's the weirdest solution I've ever heard.

    A boycott is one tactic among many. I don't know why the commentor who suggested this as an alternative finds a boycott so special. Do you really think the students didn't consider all the possible tactics and decide which would create the most leverage?

    Posted by owencenli at 05/23/2007 @ 02:41am

47. So, we go from 11 students protesting and making demands that somehow spurns New Dawwn to connect a dot with Bush drinking 40 years ago...I am not sure how this gels but given this site, I am sure it does somewhere....

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/22/2007 @ 9:55pm

    Dear Clueless,

    Read the thread title, then read my post again.

    How funny (and predictable) that my post was lost on you.

    Maybe you should look up the word "irony".

    Posted by New Dawn at 05/23/2007 @ 11:34am

48. Hi New Dawn, your post admonishing LVL was uncharacteristic and below you, IMHO. The beauty of this blog is the diversity of opinion. LVL adds a lot to this place, especially if you disagree.

    Posted by FREIHEIT 05/22/2007 @ 10:55pm

    It was neither uncharacteristic nor "below me" (one of Liberty's favorite accusations, incidentally - how funny you chose that accusation). I pick on Liberty and other hypocrites regularly.

    My turning his words around made perfect sense - his response about these well-meaning (if a little deluded) students was flippant and hypocritical in light of how he often talks to people with differing opinions.

    What exactly does Liberty "add to this blog"?

    Blanket statements about the "left"?

    Twisting of scriptures to suit his own ends?

    Accusations of how wrong and ignorant and uninformed those who disagree with him are, even though he is a 30%'er whom the majority of the country left behind long ago?

    I will grant him this - he's better than Rio Bravo or BarryIQ25, for sure. Much smarter, much better at crafting an argument, and even occasionally funny and kind.

    My post stands. Liberty says the students should just go somewhere else if they don't like how Stanford does things.

    I suggested that Liberty could go somewhere else if he doesn't like how the Nation does things.

    BOTH are stupid suggestions, but only one was sarcasm to highlight the silliness of the other.

    Damn, I get tired of explaining this kind of stuff.

    Posted by New Dawn at 05/23/2007 @ 11:43am

49. I suggested that Liberty could go somewhere else if he doesn't like how the Nation does things.

    BOTH are stupid suggestions, but only one was sarcasm to highlight the silliness of the other.

    Damn, I get tired of explaining this kind of stuff.

    Posted by NEW DAWN 05/23/2007 @ 11:43am

    ND,

    Your point in telling me I should go elsewhere is not germaine. I did not say that the writer had no business posting this thread. My central and brief point was that there are other solutions and views to an issue such as this.

    I do not think that is outside your own beliefs to that one can consider other viewpoints.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/24/2007 @ 7:17pm

50. Really pleased to hear that Stanford is doing the right thing by backing Phil Knight and his generous contribution to the university. Mr. Knight made a tremendous gesture to Stanford....a far more signficant offering than the 11 students who sat in front of the Presidents office. It's terrific.

    Posted by tsnhonk at 05/24/2007 @ 7:36pm

51. TSNHONK: Great logic. Too bad there aren't any wealthy slaveowners who can also donate to Stanford. If they give enough, students definitely shouldn't be able to do anything about it.

    Posted by owencenli at 05/24/2007 @ 11:25pm

52. TSNHONK: After re-reading your comment, I'm wondering if you just have a really dry sense of humor and was being sarcastic.

    Posted by owencenli at 05/24/2007 @ 11:26pm