Browse Cases

Showing 1-25 of 152 results

University of Missouri students protest against racial discrimination and harassment, 2015

Country
United States
Time period
September, 2015 to November, 2015
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
6.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Joy George, 02/03/2019

Before protests against racial discrimination and harassment began at University of Missouri campuses in 2015, tensions had risen for a number of years. For example, on 26 February 2010, two students spread cotton balls on the fields of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center as a racist mockery of enslavement. A lack of substantive administrative action in response to such cases of racial discrimination provoked the ire of the university’s Black students.

New York University students sit-in for NYU to change its Labor Code of Conduct (End Deathtraps Campaign, 2013-2014)

Country
United States
Time period
9 September, 2013 to 1 May, 2014
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Cindy Lopez, 17/02/2019

The deadliest disaster in the history of the Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry occurred in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013 when a sweatshop, Rana Plaza, collapsed and killed 1,134 people. The day before the collapse an engineer expressed concern over a crack in the building. Unfortunately, the factory remained open to fulfill overdue orders and collapsed when generators restarted after a power blackout.

Yale students, New Haven activists win Calhoun College name change

Country
United States
Time period
12 November, 2015 to 10 February, 2017
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ploy Promrat 01/04/2017

At Yale University in New Haven, first year students are assigned to a residential college. These residential colleges function as communities and homes for the students and become an important part of life on campus. One of these colleges was named after John C. Calhoun, a Yale alum and the seventh Vice President of the United States. Calhoun was, however, an ardent defender and proponent of slavery, making the name of the college controversial. With racial tensions rising on campus and around the country, in 2015 student activists revived concerns and called for a name change.

Georgian students protest against prisoner abuse 2012

Country
Georgia
Time period
September 18, 2012 to October 1, 2012
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Juli Pham 23/03/2017

In November 2003, tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets to protest against the contested results of a parliamentary election. This campaign ousted President Eduard Shevardnadze, a hold-over from the former Soviet leadership, and put in place a pro-Western party, the United National Movement (ENM), headed by Mikhail Saakashvili. After the demonstrations concluded, altogether known as the Rose Revolution, Saakashvili’s newly elected administration implemented a zero tolerance approach to petty crimes.

Queer activists pressure National Student Pride to drop BP sponsorship, 2015 - 2016

Country
United Kingdom
Time period
early February 2015, 2015 to 27 February, 2015
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ploy Promrat, 10/05/2017

“Pink-washing” refers to a practice used by entities or corporations to market themselves as LGBTQ friendly and supportive, while  simultaneously committing other ethical violations. BP was a British oil and gas company that came under fire in recent years for various environmental violations, in particular an oil spill, considered one of the most damaging in history. BP spilled approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. The spill had extreme environmental and health concerns.

University of Sydney students uncover and protest discrimination of Aboriginal people in New South Wales, 1965

Country
Australia
Time period
February 12, 1965 to February 24, 1965
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmin Rodriguez-Schroeder, 15/02/2017

In 1965, a group of student students at the University of Sydney who were members of Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) embarked on a two week bus ride through several towns and villages in New South Wales to draw attention to the prevalent discrimination against Aborigines in Australia. This campaign is often credited with directing national and international attention to the ongoing human rights violations against Aboriginal people and leading to the 1967 referendum that approved two amendments relating to Aboriginal rights and status in Australia.

University of Mary Washington students win fossil fuel divestment, 2015-2016

Country
United States
Time period
February, 2015 to February, 2016
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Seimi Park 15/02/2017

In October of 2014, two students at the University of Mary Washington (UMW), Benjamin Hermerding, president of the Young Democrats, and Nate Levin, member of DivestUMW, requested an informal meeting with UMW administration to discuss the school’s investment portfolio. The open question-and-answer session focused primarily on the 5-year plan released by UMW’s Strategic Planning Task Force, which prioritized fiscally competitive investments.

Brown University students convince Brown Corporation to divest from HEI Hotels & Resorts, 2008-2011

Country
United States
Time period
September, 2008 to February, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmin Rodriguez-Schroeder, 08/02/2017

In 2008, students at Brown University’s Student Labor Alliance, a group of about 15-20 members, began a campaign to persuade their university to halt further investment in HEI Hotels Resorts. HEI, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is one of the largest hotel management companies in the US and manages hotels such as Hilton, Hyatt, and Westin.

Students press University of Glasgow to divest from fossil fuels, 2013-2014

Country
United Kingdom
Time period
30 September, 2013 to 7 October, 2014
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rebecca Griest 12/02/2016

Approximately ninety-seven percent of publishing climate scientists agreed that climate change was occurring in 2013, and that the primary cause was human activities. If the planet was to remain within safe levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and maintain temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius of warming, four-fifths of the known fossil fuel reserves needed to stay in the ground and not be burned.

Students protest racist social media posts and discrimination at Colgate University, 2014

Country
United States
Time period
22 September, 2014 to 27 September, 2014
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Andrew Steele 11/29/15

On 22 September 2014, almost 300 students, led by the Colgate University Association of Critical Collegians (ACC), a student-led organization fighting to create a culture of inclusivity at Colgate, University, staged a 100-hour campus sit-in in front of the school’s admissions building to protest what one observer described as the discriminatory “treatment of minority students on campus and the university’s lack of diversity.” The sit-in was sparked by bigoted comments made on the anonymous social media app Yik-Yak.

NYU students attempt to remove Chick-Fil-A from campus, 2011

Country
United States
Time period
April, 2011 to March, 2012
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
2 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Andrew Steele 11/23/2015

In the summer of 2012, the American fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A became the focus of an anti same-sex marriage controversy when the restaurant’s owners made public comments in support of traditional marriage. Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Truett Cathy, a self-described evangelical Christian, admitted to the Baptist Press he was “guilty as charged” in his support of marriage exclusively between a man and a woman. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles,” Cathy said.

Garfield High School teachers in Seattle, Washington boycott Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test, 2012-2013

Country
United States
Time period
19 December, 2012 to 13 May, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Kelly 20/11/2015

Standardized testing in the United States dates back to the early 1900s, when the military issued standardized tests of intelligence to potential candidates for the armed services. In the 1970s, public school students began taking “high stakes” tests, in which their scores affected school district funding and the students’ ability to move on to the next grade. The original purpose of these tests was to hold school districts accountable by providing a standard measure of academic comparison across students and school districts.

Nigerian children accused of being witches march for the passage of the Child Rights Act, 2008

Country
Nigeria
Time period
August, 2008 to August, 2008
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Kelly, 08/11/2015

According to 2014 World Bank data, Nigeria is a lower middle income country, where 44% of the population is under the age of 15 years old. In several Nigerian communities, local Pentecostal and Evangelical pastors have accused children of being witches since the late 1990s, including about 15,000 children in the Akwa Ibom state alone. Child witch hunts became more prevalent after the 1999 release of the film, End of the Wicked, which graphically describes the phenomenon of child witches. The film’s creator, Ms. Helen Ukpabio, leads the 150-branch Liberty Gospel Church.

University of Hawaii Students, Faculty and Staff Successfully Campaign for Fossil Fuel Divestment, (2013-2015)

Country
United States
Time period
September, 2013 to 21 May, 2015
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
9.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lewis Fitzgerald-Holland, 1/11/2015

In the fall of 2013, University of Hawaii graduate student and oceanography major Michelle Tigchelaar launched a fossil fuel divestment campaign after witnessing the devastation that climate change was bring to Hawaii’s famed coral reefs. Initially, the campaign was organized by members of the University’s Graduate Student Organization. The campaign launched in September 2013 with a movie screening 350.org’s movie Do the Math. The campaign lost traction in its first year after several members of the Graduate Student Organization graduated in the at the end of the fall semester.

US Students Campaign to Stop Dow Chemical Company From Manufacturing Napalm (1967-1969)

Country
United States
Time period
February, 1967 to June, 1969
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
2 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lewis Fitzgerald-Holland, 21/11/2015

The United States first used Napalm as an incendiary device in Japan
during WWII. It melted flesh and produced horrific wounds. Napalm once
again took on a functional role for the US in Vietnam, and the
government requested bids from chemical manufacturing companies to make
Napalm in 1965. Dow Chemical, based out of Midland, Michigan, won the
contract.

Chilean students protest for free public education, 2011-13

Country
Chile
Time period
March, 2011 to November, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Kelly, 20-09-2015

On 11 September 1973, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinoche came to power and during the 1970s, he privatized Chile’s education system. The central government gave money to some private schools, while the public schools remained grossly underfunded. This commercialization of education began a legacy of educational attainment disparity along socioeconomic class lines—the poor received poor quality education, received jobs that paid meager wages, and remained poor, while the wealthy received high quality education, went on to university, and obtained well-paying jobs that increased their wealth.

Students Win Gay-Straight Alliance Club at Flour Bluff, Texas, High School 2010-2011

Country
United States
Time period
January, 2011 to 8 March, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 11/05/2015

In November 2010, Bianca “Nikki” Peet attempted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in Flour Bluff, Texas, part of the greater Corpus Christi area. She initially went through the normal channels within the local high school, but the school’s principal, James Crenshaw, denied her request to form a GSA. Crenshaw asked her to change the club’s name and mission and come back for reconsideration. After this initial denial, Peet revised the club’s mission statement. She resubmitted it in January of 2011 and was again denied.

Black Students in Texas Desegregate Del Mar College 1951-1952

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 05/04/2015

From its founding in 1935 until the early 1950s, Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas accepted only white students. In 1951, when NAACP chapter leader Henry Boyd Hall began work to desegregate the college, community college classes for African American students were held at the city’s Solomon M. Coles High School for Negroes. However, these classes were insufficient in several ways.

Chicano Students Walk Out for Racial Equality in Kingsville, Texas 1969

Country
United States
Time period
April 14, 1969 to April 24, 1969
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
2.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 08/02/2015

During the Civil Rights Movement, Mexican-Americans struggled for equal
rights all across the Southwest in America. In Texas, campaigns for
racial equality were led primarily by organizations like La Raza (the
Resistance), MAYO (Mexican-American Youth Organization), PASSO
(Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations), and the Brown
Berets. These organizations struggled for equal rights and privileges
for Mexican-Americans in all facets of society.

Chilean Student Campaign to Reform Education, 2011

Country
Chile
Time period
May 12th, 2011 to September 27th, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmine Rashid 02/20/15

Student governments of Chilean universities assembled to be represented as the Confederation of Chilean Students Federations (CONFECH), the leading organization of the campaign. College students Camila Vallejo and Giorgio Jackson took leadership of the protests and were both integral in creating the "Social Agreement for Chilean Education" (Acuerdo Social por la Educación Chilena), the proposal that was presented to the Chilean government. The students of CONFECH  demanded the following:

White Cape Town University Students Sit-in for Reappointment of Black Professor, 1968

Country
South Africa
Time period
May, 1968 to August, 1968
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Stephen O'Hanlon, 15/02/2015

During the 1960s, apartheid and political repression were near their height in South Africa. The National Party’s apartheid regime severely repressed political dissent and expression, sometimes with violence. Racial justice and democratic leftist movements suffered a severe setback in 1960 with the Sharpeville massacre, when hundreds of political protesters were injured and killed. Due to lack of public means of challenging the regime, The African Resistance Movement initiated an unsuccessful and unpopular bombing campaign in 1964.

Pitzer College Students Win Fossil Fuel Divestment 2012-2014

Country
United States
Time period
November, 2012 to April, 2014
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
9.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Stephen O'Hanlon 07/02/2015

The Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement began in 2011 at Swarthmore College when Swarthmore Mountain Justice founded the first divestment campaign. The movement slowly grew throughout over the next year until 350.org launched their Do the Math nationwide speaking tour, which sparked rapid growth of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement around the country. Pitzer and Pomona College students who attended a Do the Math event at UCLA in November 2012 founded the Claremont Colleges Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign later that month.

Black students, community, allies begin desegregating Jackson, Mississippi, 1962-1963

Country
United States
Time period
October, 1962 to 18 June, 1963
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson 26/04/2014

Jackson was the largest city in Mississippi in 1960, with 250,000 residents, 50,000 of whom were black. Medgar Evers, a field secretary for the Jackson chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began to build up NAACP Youth Councils at colleges and high schools in the area since 1961. Since the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were in other parts of Mississippi, the NAACP was the only consistent nonviolent group in Jackson.

University of Nottingham students occupy to end University support of Israel, UK 2009

Country
United Kingdom
Time period
28 January, 2009 to 6 February, 2009
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Emily Kluver 17/04/2014

In January of 2009, protests broke out worldwide to condemn Israel’s military actions in Gaza. The weekend of the 10th and 11th of January, crowds gathered in cities worldwide for demonstrations of up to 250,000 people. In London, 100,000 people gathered to protest the war in Gaza. A couple of days following these demonstrations, student occupations at universities in the United Kingdom (UK) began to break out, starting with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) on 13 January.