Occupy Richmond begins organizing on VCU campus

Jessica Dahlberg
Contributing Writer

Students gathered behind Hibbs Hall on Friday, Oct. 7 for an awareness rally for Occupy Richmond. The main purpose of the rally was to get contact information from students who were interested in participating and to set up committees for the larger Occupy Richmond rally slated to happen Oct. 15.

The committee names are issues that students feel the government needs to address. Such titles as media, sanitation, medical and environment were written on white poster board and taped to the wall with a sheet of paper underneath for other students to write in their contact information.

“The committees are for volunteers for various jobs to keep the fluidity of the movement,” said Josh Kadrich, a VCU alumnus.

According to Kadrich, there will be a global occupation of cities worldwide to show a symbol of solidarity to the Occupy Wall Street Movement on Oct. 15.

The participants in the Occupy Movements are protesting against issues like social and economic inequality, corporate greed and the influence of corporate money and lobbyists on the government. The movement started on Sept. 7 at Liberty Park in New York City.

“The Occupy Richmond rally is all about acting locally and thinking globally,” VCU student Julia Arnone said.

The Occupy Richmond movement is a leaderless movement with no one making decisions for the group as a whole. Instead, the decisions are made by a general assembly by a show of hands and a grand majority.

“The whole movement is an evolutionary process to show solidarity against the issues,” Kadrich said.

The grand majority will decide what the group is most passionate about, and what issues they want to address as a whole at the Occupy Richmond rally.