Forum Post: Occupy Gains Traction In the Ivy League

Princeton’s football team is having a miserable season. 1-9 tied for dead last in the Ivy League, tied with the perennial cellar dwelling squad from Columbia. To improve next season, Coach Surace might just want to recruit some of those gutsy “occupy” Princeton folks who took on the likes of JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs - the banking equivalents of Ray Lewis and Ndamukong Suh.

These “occupiers” dressed in business attire and politely chatting up the recruiters, seemed no more than innocuous and wide-eyed prospective employees. However, once the sessions began, they performed the now-famous (or infamous) call and answer style protest which has become a trademark of the occupy movement. The message was simple: a career on Wall Street is not the only career path worthy of a Princeton student. Bright young minds should not waste their talents on an industry that gives nothing back to the larger community. The fringers were lockstep with Princeton’s hallowed motto: Princeton in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations. Will this confrontation affect next quarter’s profits? Probably not. Will they directly put an end to undesirable, unethical, and – ultimately – unwise lending practices? Again, probably not. But maybe this event, coupled with nagging frustration across the country will signal tipping point to the prescient among the Wall Street gang. Its beyond the fringe, it’s soon to be Ivy League graduates – future government leaders and business titans.

In the worst job market in decades they are willing to say “no”. No to a certain six figure salary and a platinum American Express Card. No because they stand for principles. Will JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs find other candidates to work a 20 hour a day looking for some momentary statistical anomaly in the forex market that when leveraged 100 times will yield a nice return on investment – you bet. But maybe, just maybe, if the courage shown on Princeton’s campus is exported to other leading colleges, attitudes might just change. And the Occupy Wall Street movment will in fact have accomplished something real and lasting.

The Corporate Observer.com