{"id":2630,"date":"2016-04-07T00:32:43","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T04:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjsymuleski.com\/artofthemooc\/?p=2630"},"modified":"2016-04-19T02:06:29","modified_gmt":"2016-04-19T06:06:29","slug":"duke-allen-building-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjsymuleski.com\/artofthemooc\/duke-allen-building-takeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Duke Allen Building Takeover (2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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April 1, 2016, nine students at Duke University started occupying an administrative office to demand accountability for workers’ rights on campus. The\u00a0takeover, modeled on a takeover of the same building in 1969, followed reports of institutionalized racism in Parking and Transportation Services and an incident in which Executive Vice President Tallman Trask hit into a parking worker with his car and drove away. The student occupiers\u00a0have made demands including an outside investigation into Parking and Transportation Services working conditions, accountability for subcontractors, and an increase in Duke minimum wage to $12.53 for all employees (including part-time and subcontracted employees). During the occupation, students outside camped in tents\u00a0to express support. This tent village, dubbed A-ville\u00a0after the K-ville of Duke Basketball fame, established a close-knit community that danced, chanted, and sang to support those inside. A-ville even had its own floutist.<\/p>\n

The name A-ville\u00a0was originally taken up when students began camping outside the Allen Building in support of the 9 students taking part in the sit-in, as part of a call for amnesty for the students. Located on Abele Quad, the land named after the Black Architect who designed much of Duke’s West Campus, the name “A-Ville” turned quickly from “Amnesty-Ville” to “Abele-Ville” once the protest had been effective in securing a promise of amnesty.<\/p>\n

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The occupation has also been an occasion for artistic resistance. Student occupiers decorated the administrative offices with banners, ribbons, and post-its. One occupier set up an alter with crystals. Two occupiers, Amy Wang and Lara Haft, delivered a spoken word poem about their experience.<\/p>\n