Occupy AUC…But When?

Last week we published a signature CairoScene satirical article about the AUC protests. The  post garnered 314 likes, 17865 views and, somewhat surprisingly, countless critical comments  from  riled up students who had seemingly missed the day sense of humor / not taking yourself too seriously / sarcasm was being taught (perhaps they were protesting). So we were delighted when Ahmed Ezzat  - an activist and passionate defender of campus causes, ani nsider - decided to comment as follows: 

“Oh god no! I was very disappointed in those who reacted against the short movie about Islam in a way that took the movie from unknown into the most popular on the planet, those who where too mad about relating aggression to Islam so they went and burnt a place to prove.. that they are?  Now you guys come and attack them for writing this piece? Seriously you well educated people? Well let me tell you sthng, I have spent years and years of activism and fighting on campus, got beaten, had a case fired against me and was about to get kicked off AUC because of how serious I take this… but I laughed my ass off when I read this piece! Ever heard of sarcasm?  This is what people read, laugh and share up to 80 times on Facebook in minutes… they made you laugh, and they gave you a sweet funny platform that you could actually use to even tell more people about what’s happening and what it “really” is; but no you just attack and you don’t use your brains for one single moment of how to turn this into a perfect tool of making more students aware.  Every student at AUC knows very well where do I stand when it gets to student rights, where we stand and how people perceive us, but seriously chill.. 80 people read this and they asked about what’s really happening and you’ve reached more people.  Thanks for that Cairo Scene, maybe make them write another piece in 2 weeks that you actually “took the fee increase off” and you finally established the “Tuition Cap” model that will help the returning students financially. See everyone who’ll read my comment will get to know the 2 main reasons behind what’s happening, oh smart me!”

And so we figured, who better to invite to write their own (perhaps more sensible) article on the escalating goings-on on campus than Ahmed Ezzat himself. So, all you too-serious-for-school students, here you go, enjoy… 

Coming soon to your university schedule – Strike Week! Am I making fun of recent events at the AUC? Absolutely not: me and many others have been fighting to introduce activism as a legitimate platform at the American University of Cairo for a couple of years now.

Those who still believe AUCians are shallow minded, spoiled brats and don’t care about their university are probably still using Nokia phones; this campus is becoming politically aware day by day. I still remember exactly one year ago when the “community” joined forces against the administration. You’d look into our main planning room and see members from HUSS, BEC,  Steps and every other group or clique. That means it was a coalition of every kind of person involved with the AUC including those who CAN afford tripled fees, students who depend on full scholarships, students in skinny jeans, students inhijab, freshmen, seniors, alumni, professors, security officers and maintenance staff.

I remember I celebrated my birthday while we slept on campus in front of the Admin building to make sure we’d be the first to approach other students and staff. We even had planning meetings with figures like Dr. Amr Hamzawi, Dr. Rabab El Mahdy (who was part of the movement) and many other strategic and political activists. Yes, it was that serious. We had weekly schedules with a minimum of three possible scenarios on each step we take in order to be ready. We had plans for keeping people around us and making sure the cause was in the spotlight.  We worked out how to mobilise, what to cover internally and what to send out to the media. We even planned out “mistakes” we made on purpose to grab more attention. We stood against corruption in all university sectors. We fought for the rights of each and every member of the community, and we were never afraid. I remember marches of 2,000 students clapping their hands together, speaking up for themselves and marching towards dignity.

It was success in so many ways: wages of workers were pushed up, temporary staff got their contracts, some on-campus services that were overpriced were regulated and a car pooling system became active this semester. But to me the success was that 2000 students stood up for their right and the platform of activism on campus became much bigger.