Wall Street, social activism, and the economy were fodder for discussion as a panel of faculty members hosted “#OccupyWallStreet: What's it All About?” in the Adamian building on campus. Sponsored by the Department of Global Studies and the Valente Center for Arts and Sciences, the discussion drew approximately 100 students, faculty and staff.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York and has since gained worldwide attention. The public protests, which have spread to other cities including Boston, are focused on issues of corporate greed, the bailout of U.S. banks, and economic inequality.

The panel featured faculty from a number of disciplines and included:

Cyrus Veeser, associate professor of history
Atul Gupta, professor of finance
Kartik Raman, associate professor of finance
Elizabeth Brown, assistant professor of law, taxation and financial planning
Joni Seager, professor and chair of global studies
Liz LeDoux, senior lecturer in English and media studies, director of the Media and Culture Program
Randy Nichols, assistant professor of English and media studies

Professor Seager explained the protests stem from anger over a number of issues including the banking crisis, unemployment, as well as entrenched and growing poverty in the U.S., “These protests come out of frustration that leaders are unable to tackle these problems in a serious way, that’s what brought these people to the streets.”

Professor Kartik shared concern about the spread of the rallies to other countries, “I fear as the protests spread to other countries the issues and problems that need to be addressed won’t seem unique to the U.S. Politicians could use this as an excuse and say, these problems are bigger than the United States, we can’t solve them.”

The interactive session also featured comments and questions from students, faculty and staff in the audience.