The Penn State administrator sat on one side of the conference room table. Members of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) sat on the other.
The physical separation between the anti-sweatshop activists and the Old Main delegate seems in line with the ideological divide that has marked the groups' tumultuous relationship since 2005.
But newly appointed Vice President of Student Affairs Damon Sims made it clear Friday that he wants to reach across the table.
"Everybody seems to have drawn lines in the sand," Sims said. "There's no conversation going on as far as I can tell."
Sims has been at Penn State for less than a month, but his take on the situation was dead on. A collapse in dialogue has led to a back-and-forth approach that isn't getting SLAP/USAS anywhere with President Graham Spanier.
SLAP/USAS encourages Penn State to join the Designated Suppliers Program, an agreement designed to ensure that university apparel is manufactured in factories with safe working conditions and fair wages; Spanier says no.
SLAP/USAS demands a meeting with Spanier to further discuss the adoption of the DSP; our university president sends someone in his place.
SLAP/USAS asks Penn State to act swiftly and keep pace with the nearly 50 other universities that have already approved the DSP; the administration stalls by suggesting via Penn State Live that the program requires more consideration.
Sims' proposed committee -- a collection of SLAP/USAS members, knowledgeable labor professors and administrative faculty who would meet to address the adoption process -- is a step in the right direction, but he is preaching to the wrong crowd. The reason no one is having a conversation in the first place is because his boss refuses to. In fact, Spanier has not once sat down with SLAP/USAS in three years.
One SLAP/USAS leader even remarked that the president often carbon copies her in relevant emails to other officials but has yet to address her directly.
The apathy from Old Main is disheartening. Spanier's neglect of SLAP/USAS is emblematic of both a lack of any sincere interest in these concerned students and an underestimation of Penn State's critical role in the viability of the DSP.
An enormous institution with one of the most profitable licensed apparel markets in the nation, Penn State cannot irresponsibly idle on this issue.
SLAP/USAS understands this and has tried nearly every avenue to reach the president. Public protests are only their most visible efforts.
They've collected faculty and student petitions, hand-delivered informational letters and organized forums to educate the public and catch the administration's attention.
Even their most direct attempt at cornering Spanier, an Old Main sit-in last spring, which led to the arrest of 31 activists, didn't produce an appearance by the president. As protesters were led out of Old Main in handcuffs, Spanier slipped out the back door.
Sims, who is well-versed on the sweatshop issue and played a significant role in the adoption of the DSP at Indiana University, seems more willing to talk.
His experience with moving the initiative forward in other settings is promising.
But now that he's revealed his intention to be a liaison between SLAP/USAS and administration high-ups, he needs to get the other side to listen.
Although it's still too early to tell how effective either Sims' proposed collaborative committee or the DSP will be, one thing remains certain. Until Spanier finds the time to sit down with SLAP/USAS, a productive relationship between the only man who can sign the DSP and the student activists who want him to is impossible.
Alyssa Owens is a senior in journalism and political science and is The Daily Collegian's Thursday columnist. Her e-mail address is alo5014@psu.edu.
