Bankers in the Ivory Tower: Organizing to Reclaim Public Higher Education

In order to keep building the movement against campus capital debt, the harm that it causes, and its root causes, The Other College Debt Crisis is facilitating a discussion of Charlie Eaton’s Bankers in the Ivory Tower: The Troubling Rise of Financiers in U.S. Higher Education. This new book can help deepen our understanding of some of the ways in which campus debt has evolved, both structurally, historically, and in terms of consequences. Eaton presents an important three-part analysis of higher education as well as elements of a possible strategy for change from below—which is key to our approach to challenging not only campus capital debt but the underlying structure which enables it.

Over two years ago, The Other College Debt Crisis began working with union activists across the country to conduct campus debt reveals on some 30 campuses. These came together in the April 15, 2021 Tax Day Debt Reveal Party. We have organized a Massachusetts Debt Reveal which covered the campus debt of all thirteen Massachusetts state universities. Our workshops at the June Labor Notes Conference reached a wide range of labor activists and expanded our movement, including developing links with the wider anti-debt movement in Puerto Rico and with union activists in New York, Florida, Oregon, and Indiana. This has all been useful in beginning to build a national movement. But such a movement, like the movement against student loan debt initiated by the Debt Collective, will be a long-term struggle and can only succeed in collaboration with other related movements.

Please join us in this discussion (even if you haven't had a chance to fully read the book) so we can maintain, build, and deepen links among ourselves and organize a wider and deeper anti-debt, anti-capitalist movement.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15 7:30-9PM EST

Registration is free.