At this point, it’s no surprise that protest-happy students find opportunities to demonstrate their outrage all over campus.
Between protesting the selection of new UNC system president Margaret Spellings and issuing lists of demands regarding race on campus, students at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill also found time to be outraged about the privatization of on-campus bookstores. Pope Center intern and UNC-Chapel Hill student Andrew Garofolo explains why their animosity was misplaced in today’s Pope Center commentary.
According to Garofolo, the 10-year, $30 million agreement to transfer operation of student stores to Barnes & Noble comes with numerous benefits, including an agreement that Barnes &Noble must provide $2 million per year for need-based academic scholarships.
While the protests against this move were grounded in a belief that it would lead to massive layoffs, there has not been a single instance of this. But even so, as Garofolo points out, “If thousands of students are going to benefit from the transition via lower book prices and more scholarship opportunities, we shouldn’t wring our hands over a couple of job cuts.”
In reality, some of these student protesters are probably also the students who are buying their textbooks from third-party sellers or illegally downloading them to save money. A recent survey showed that 44 percent of students don’t use the campus bookstore because of the price premiums.
The benefits of a corporate monolith like Barnes & Noble operating the student stores are likely to help students in numerous ways, as Garofolo concludes, “Reduced costs, more scholarships, and greater convenience are just some of the benefits that privatization provides.”