Under the guise of an activist conference, students turned the science tower into a representation of a hobo camp this weekend. The gathering, which brought together members of campus groups from several schools, spread over the entire first floor of the Exley Science Center. Students filled trash receptacles to overflowing and placed backpacks and other hobo paraphernalia around the building. Many also dressed the part.
“This was a big success,” said Matt Hutchinson ’05, an activist organizer. “A lot of the people we work to help are homeless, and living the hobo lifestyle for a few days really gave us a new perspective on our work. For instance, I think we’re going to start a new campaign to make pizza boxes more edible and newspapers better insulated.”
Other students were less impressed with the situation. Many complained about the amount of trash on the ground. Others were bothered the pungent odor that accompanied the activists. “Never in my time at Wesleyan have I seen this many dirty, dirty kids in one place,” trendy boy Paul Smith said. “Dreadlocks, unwashed clothes, lack of seasonal footwear. Fucking hippies.”
Most students approached the issue from a neutral standpoint. “I think the hobo idea has a lot of potential, but they could have cleaned up after themselves. It just gets me that EON couldn’t figure out how to recycle the mountains of paper products that they discarded over the course of the weekend. I guess recycling isn’t really an activist priority anymore.”
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