Newark, DE - On May 24, over 150 angry students and community organizers gathered outside of Sallie Mae’s annual shareholder meeting to show support for a small activist contingent that attended the shareholder event. Students travelled from all over the country to protest, including organizers from Florida and New Jersey. The initial demand was to hold a discussion with Sallie Mae CEO Albert Lord. The protesters slammed Sallie Mae for being one of the top profiteers from the current student loan debt crisis.
Student debt has recently surpassed total credit card debt in the United States. “Sallie Mae is a racist, oppressive institution that enslaves students in massive amounts of debt for the benefit of the one percent,” stated Michael Sampson, a Dream Defender from Tallahassee, Florida. Chants from the rally included, “Sallie Mae, you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side,” as well as, “Let us in,” and “Hey hey, ho ho, student debt has got to go.”
Better repayment options and an end to predatory practices were among the demands stated by protestors. The contingent that attended the shareholders meeting presented the company with over 45,000 signatures supporting the protester’s demands. However, Lord continued to refuse to meet with the demonstrators. The action was organized by the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) along with the United States Students Association, and was attended by many other organizations such as SLAP-UCF/Orlando, Gainesville Area Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Montclair State SDS, Dream Defenders and Fight Back Florida.
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Response to For Crying Out Loud
CiscoKid: Nope, you're wrong. They're not protesting what they initially agreed to repay, they're protesting the outrageous fees that SM charges for any deferrals or forbearances you have taken along the way. Those fees alone can cause your original loan amount to increase by DOUBLE or WAY more. That's a bit different from signing on for a disclosed 9.75% interest rate (which is highway robbery as it is). SM has huge profit margins while taking on little to no risk - the loans are federally guaranteed against default. Doesn't sound like a true free market to me!
Oh, for crying out loud!
These highly educated, intelligent young people are protesting against "predatory practices" and demanding "better repayment options." Did the geniuses not read and understand the terms of the loans before they signed the contracts? If Sallie Mae's practices and repayment options were unsatisfactory, then why did they borrow from them in the first place? Sounds like they are protesting having to repay what they borrowed. Borrow money from me, then call me greedy when I demand that you keep your end of the deal and pay it back. Brilliant!
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