Students filled a classroom and even clogged the doorway at a Feb. 18 forum on the protests in Egypt.
City College organizations Education for All (EFA) and the Socialist Club held the forum, which aimed to show the protests from a different perspective, according to speaker and EFA member Wayne Scherer.
During the event, attendees were shown a video from the perspective of the people behind the political protest in Egypt.
“It is important to see beyond what is displayed in the mainstream media,” Scherer said in an e-mail interview. “This video in particular gave us the first real account of leaders that organized this successful revolution: the student youth!”
Students at the forum clapped and cheered during a scene showing a group of Egyptian protesters breaking through a police barricade that had prevented them from entering Tahrir Square.
The forum was held in the classroom of professor Justin Akers, advising faculty member for the Socialist Club. In an e-mail interview, Akers said various students attended the forum: not just club members but individual students interested in the events occurring abroad.
“It showed that there is a lot of interest in the issues and that students want to discuss, analyze, and understand critical issues of the day,” Akers said. “It shows that students are trying to understand for themselves how to make the world a better place.”
After the screening, club members spoke about ways in which City College students can relate to the events abroad.
“It’s valuable (for students) to get inspiration from revolutionary counterparts in other regions of the world and to learn from their strategies,” Scherer said.
“To have a student-led movement garner popular support and overthrow an oppressive government and violent police system that is supported by the world’s strongest superpower … that’s mind-blowing.”
Jovani Sandoval, a student who attended the forum, said he was concerned about how people like him can effect change.
“I think it’s up to us as a whole group,” Sandoval said. “It shouldn’t just be a student and teacher involvement, it should be everyone, even people outside of our school, like our parents, cousins, and aunts.”
