Lincoln Annex Parents and Students Chant Together to Show They Refuse to be Silenced
Article and photos by: Emily Lockatell
“Cancer can’t wait,” says Doctor Steve Libutti, director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and senior vice president of oncology services at RWJBarnabas Health. Libutti along with the other executives at the Rutgers Cancer Institute plan on establishing a new cancer pavilion dedicated to cancer research by purchasing the Lincoln Annex School on Somerset Street in New Brunswick for the location. Despite the fact that the community has displayed an overwhelmingly negative response to this project, RWJBarnabas Health and the New Brunswick Board of Education continue to support this proposal. The community took to the streets to march in peaceful protest.
Even local Rutgers students join in the fight to save Lincoln Annex, marching alongside the school’s parents, students and other supporters.
“It is pretty unsettling to know that something so corrupt as this is happening under the Rutgers name. It is even more frustrating that we have to outwardly protest in order to make sure it does not happen. I personally think RWJBarnabas is not as concerned with cancer research as they are concerned with a cash grab,” said Rutgers University junior Jonathan Cattuna.
Protesters prepare to march through the streets of downtown New Brunswick hoping their voices and their message will be heard and acknowledged.
One sign stands out above the rest, stating clearly that these protesters do not intend to let their students’ education be commodified.
A Public Safety officer helps to protect protestors from oncoming traffic.
A protester breaks out a snare drum in order to boost morale, motivating people to chant, and to draw attention from onlookers and increase awareness of the movement
Protesters take over major roads in New Brunswick in an effort to prevent being overlooked
The march even passes by the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in their travels
Protesters take on the Rutgers campus on their way to the Board of Governors meeting on College Avenue
Protesters march through the gates leading to their charge on campus grounds
“As a Rutgers student I am disgusted that those on the board of DEVCO and RWJBarnabus Health are not ashamed of the fact that they are willing to send primary school students to a warehouse just to make a profit,” said junior Gentiana Kujaj. “They definitely are taking advantage of undocumented families thinking that these individuals could not successfully fight it.”
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The protestors gather in front of the steps leading up to Winants Hall on Rutgers’ College Avenue campus where the Board of Governors meeting took place
Parents and students of Lincoln Annex take the opportunity to voice their opinions.
