On Wednesday, May 8 at 5 p.m., students gathered at the building 26A courtyard and marched toward Founder’s Hall to comment at the Board of Trustees meeting to ask administration to meet their demands.
The rally was organized by Mt. SAC’s Muslim Student’s Association and Students for Justice in Palestine at Mt. SAC. The protest was to call on Mt. SAC to divest from Sodexo and Starbucks, reinstate Raul Chavez’s Equity Center event on an Indigenous perspective to Palestine and the creation of a Middle Eastern, North African and Caucasian student center.
At the courtyard, Joseph Fasheh, a political science major, spoke about his feelings on Mt. SAC’s partnership with Sodexo.
“I was [researching Sodexo] – they run prisons in Australia and the United Kingdom,” Fasheh said. “I don’t think our campus should be affiliated with such a company.”
In an interview with SAC Media, Vice President of Administrative Services Morris Rodrigue said that Sodexo is contracted by Mt. SAC to supply all the food items at Mt. SAC – from the convenience stores to the Eat Cafe at the student center.
Additionally, Sodexo contracts with Starbucks to have locations at Mt. SAC. Rodrigue also added that the campus’s Sodexo contract ends June 30, 2026 and a Request for Proposals to change contracts will take place in 2025.
Along with information around Mt. SAC’s relationship with Sodexo, Rodrigue also disclosed Mt. SAC’s full investment portfolio with SAC Media.
In the Board of Trustees public comment, a protester Melissa said to administrators, “By divesting from Israel, which includes Starbucks and Sodexo, we send a powerful message that we refuse to be complicit in the violation of human rights and international law.”
After an hour of chanting, the students marched toward Founder’s Hall and were briefly stopped by temporary security. The two guards were instantly reprimanded by an administrator close by and the protesters were allowed into the building for public comment.
One of the protest organizers asked everybody to not chant inside Founder’s Hall to avoid being kicked out.
Board Member Manual Baca announced before public comment that the board was prohibited from discussing or taking action on oral requests that are not part of the agenda under the Brown Act, but expressed interest in the topics that would be brought up.
During public comment, 20 speakers brought up divesting from Israel, creating a Middle Eastern, North African and Caucasian student center and reinstating Chavez’s event. Additionally, the Faculty Association expressed dissatisfaction with a growing number of canceled classes due to recent California policies. The board did not comment on any of the public comments.
The next Board of Trustees meeting will be held on June 26, after the end of the Spring semester.
Dafna Golden • May 17, 2024 at 1:21 pm
Students for Justice in Palestine at Mt. SAC is not a legitimate campus recognized club and SJP should not be presenting themselves in association with Mt Sac. A correction should be noted.