NORTH POLE – More than 40 students marched to the North Pole from Red Square this past weekend to a present petition on labor standards to Santa Claus.
“Every year millions of Georgetown students go home over winter break to open presents and no one stop and thinks about where these presents are coming from or who is making them,” said GSC member Maurice Smith (Col ʼ15). “When I heard it was a reclusive obese man running a round-the-clock sweatshop who was responsible for this I knew there was only one course of action and thatʼs why I came out today.”
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The event, organized by the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, raised over 500 signatures and 28 RSVPs on its Facebook event as well as 3 “maybes.”
“In organizing the event we knew we had to raise awareness about Georgetownʼs connection to this abomination. The workers in Santaʼs factory are important members of Georgetownʼs community,” said event organizer Rachel Washington (NHS ʼ15). “We have to divest. There are sustainable solutions,” she added, “Cura Personalis!”
The protesters march evoked mixed reactions from the Washington community on their way to the North Pole. “Well they walked across the street and I had to stop my car because they were in one of those “Yield to Pedestrians” cross walk zones and the police have really been stepping up enforcement on things like that,” said resident Allan Jones on his encounter with the protesters.
On the way to the factory students chanted slogans such as “fair pay, starts today!” “Letʼs divest Iʼm wearing a vest!” and “we should have brought heavier jackets for when we passed into the arctic circle!”
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The students upon reaching the North Pole, unable to locate the manʼs factory, neatly placed the petition on a patch of snow
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“I thought the event went really well,” said GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ʼ14), whose mother never told him Santa wasnʼt real. “Even though we were unable to locate the man, it sends a clear message about student engagement.”