Many members of the Class of '96 had hoped that the reports of Locals 34 and 35 taking out permits to march on the New Haven Green during Yale Commencement were only rumors. Recently, however, we discovered that 34 and 35 are asking other unions to join them in their protest, and that therefore the Administration is developing contingency plans to move the ceremony to the Yale Bowl. I cannot help but see this as a cynical public-relations move on the part of the union leadership, and one that is directly hostile to the Yale students who have been caught in the middle of this struggle all along.
I absolutely support the unions' right to demonstrate, but I question their symbolic choice of graduation day. What practical good is there in demonstrating in front of seniors who will be leaving New Haven? What kind of support do the unions expect to receive from the proud parents who are relieved to be finished paying Yale tuition? The only advantage that they might see is the likely attendance of members of the national press. But is estranging the students worth a sound bitein the national media?
The undergraduate population has been more dramatically affected by the strike than any other group at Yale. Yet as students, we do not have any power over the negotiation process. The Michael Boyles and Bob Protos on College Street seem to think that our lack of representation makes students irrelevant to the whole issue, but they fail to recognize that we are the most enduring union supporters at Yale. The Yale administration does not respond well to intimidation tactics. Why create bad blood between the union and students in order to score a short-lived PR victory? We will all have to work together again when the strike and the news stories are long over.
There are many seniors who sympathize with the unions. We have supported them throughout the strike, and we will continue to do so after graduation. But how are we to feel when these same people plan to disrupt a ceremony intended to honor us and our families? Union leaders must realize that they run the risk of alienating the whole student body by preparing to attack a ceremony celebrating the end of four years of hard work.
I recognize that Local 34 and 35 leadership's desire to get their message across to the Administration. But Commencement is not about the Administration. It is about the seniors and their families, and it is an event that happens only once in a lifetime. Some of the people who will be graduating this May are the first in their families to attend college. Some of them have made immense personal sacrifices to attend this University. Many of them have relatives traveling from all parts of the world to see them graduate, and all of them will have achieved something unique in order to stand where they will be standing on Memorial Day.
How would union organizers feel if 5,000 Yale undergrads showed up at their childrens' graduations and surrounded the ceremony on all four sides while yelling slogans, waving picket signs, blowing whistles, and sounding bullhorns, however legitimate the cause? No matter what people's political beliefs are, they will take personally something that attacks their families.
The message I would like to send to the unions is simple: please, give us our day. We have tried to give you yours by not crossing picket lines for seven weeks now. Please find another day and another way of demonstrating that does not target the students who are caught in the middle. After all, some of us have been your most faithful supporters-more faithful than the faculty and the Administration put together.
Susan Hayden is a senior in Silliman College.
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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