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Occupy Wall Street鈥攖he ongoing movement being held by protesters in the Wall Street financial district of New York City to protest and raise awareness of social and economic inequality in the United States and around the world鈥攈as been happening since the middle of September.

Similar demonstrations are being held in major cities across the U.S. and college students are jumping on the bandwagon to make their voices heard. Outrage over increased tuition and fees, student loan debt, and high unemployment rates are among their concerns.

Occupy Wall Street: An Ongoing Protest

Occupy Wall Street was mainly the brainchild of the non-profit Canadian-based Foundation, an anti-consumerist pro-environment organization which began in 1989. The Internet group Anonymous, which originated in 2003, also encouraged followers to begin protesting. The slogan 鈥淲e are the 99%鈥� was selected to refer to the wealth and income divide between Americans鈥攊t has been suggested that the richest 1% of Americans own the majority of all financial wealth.

Demonstrations and marches protesting corporate greed and social and economic inequality began on September 17 and are still occurring. Some protesters are living in tents while others drop by to show their support when they can. Writers, educators, and even celebrities have joined union members, unemployed Americans, and other protesters.

Student Protesters are Angry about Tuition, Loans, More

Student protests are nothing new, and college student protesters are joining the Occupy Wall Street movement in droves鈥攁nd not just in New York City. The National Student Solidarity Protest, organized by L.A.-based held protests and events at roughly 140 campuses in approximately 25 states.

鈥淲e’re angry about the amount of debt we must attain to go to college and the drastic lack of employment opportunities,鈥� is a quote from Sally Morgan, a graduate student at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

鈥淚 fall into a group of students who come from a strong middle-class background that are now seeing the American Dream of middle-class living slowly slipping away from them,鈥� 19-year-old Brooklyn native Guido Girgenti told 鈥淟ike myself, a large portion of middle-class private university students are now seeing that their self-interest is deeply entwined with the self-interest of working-class students at public universities and community colleges.鈥�

Alyssa Castiglia, a Northeastern University senior, agrees. 鈥淲hen I graduate, I鈥檓 going to have $125,000 in loans, which is $1,500 a month. I ask you, how am I supposed to live off that? I am the 99 percent, and it isn鈥檛 fair that someone who works hard can鈥檛 succeed,鈥� she told the media.

Occupy Wall Street Walk-Outs and Teach-Ins

According to an October 14, 2011 college students across the U.S. handed out flyers, hung informative signs and organized sit-ins, marches, and walk-outs.

Walk-outs are just what they sound like鈥攃ollege students are walking out of class to protest. 鈥淭oday, we are walking out of your class,鈥� a group of Harvard students told their Economics professor, Gregory Mankiw, claims the

鈥淭each-Ins鈥� are also being held for students to hold organized discussions with various professors to give everyone a chance to voice their concerns in a peaceful setting. 鈥淭he whole idea behind the teach-ins is to bring students and their teachers together to start talking about not just the issues, but some answers,鈥� 31-year-old Natalia Abrams, one of Occupy Colleges’ organizers, explained to The Huffington Post. 鈥淭his is all about gaining momentum and building consciousness.鈥�

Student Earning College Credit for Protesting

At least one college student is not only protesting for Occupy Wall Street, he鈥檚 earning college credit for his actions. Henry Perkins, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Alabama, arrived in New York roughly three weeks ago. He asked his professors for permission鈥攁nd 鈥渢hey said to go for it,鈥� Perkins told He connects with his class twice per week via Skype so he can listen to lectures and give students and professors updates from 鈥渢he front lines.鈥�

If you鈥檙e wondering how he managed to let his professors agree to that one, Perkins is enrolled in an interdisciplinary program that allows students to design their own majors. One requirement is an independent project consisting of at least 20 hours spent on a venture of the student鈥檚 choice and a detailed log of the experience.

鈥淔or the independent learning project, I told him he could research and write about the Occupy Wall Street movement鈥� and how it fits into 鈥渢he larger context of civil disobedience within American History,鈥� his professor Catherine Roach explained.

Not All College Students Support Occupy Wall Street Protesters

Despite the hordes of college students showing their support for Occupy Wall Street, there are also students going against the grain because they just don鈥檛 see the point or agree with their angry counterparts.

Robert E. Lee, a 20-year-old junior at Auburn University, told that he believes Occupy protesters have an unwarranted sense of entitlement. 鈥淚 heard one girl on the radio who was upset because she had to pay off her student loans and she thought that she shouldn鈥檛 have to do that,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou deal with it. You pay them off as it goes and then you won鈥檛 have to deal with them anymore.鈥�

Geof Tibbs, a 24-year-old graduate student at California State University, agrees鈥攈e feels the protesters are failing to take responsibility for their own situation, and that many students鈥� frustrations are their own fault. 鈥淵ou should have made better college choices,鈥� he told USA Today. 鈥淚 appreciate creative artists, but if you wanted to get a degree in art and you don鈥檛 want to teach, I don鈥檛 know what you expected.鈥�

Posted on 7 Nov

Melissa Rhone earned her Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Tampa. She resides in the Tampa Bay area and enjoys writing about college, pop culture, and epilepsy awareness.