One of the primary criticisms of the Occupy movement has been its apparent lack of a unifying purpose.

Advocates for the Occupy movement disagree, and complain that media coverage has done nothing to show the true intentions of the movement.

In response, five university students who attended the Occupy anniversary in New York City in August decided to host a discussion panel last Thursday to clear up any confusion about the group and movement.
Some of the questions focused on the structure of Occupy.

“I was impressed by how they broke it down,” said Cameron Keener, sophomore political science major, to the audience. “It’s self-sustainable. Anything the movement would need came from the movement itself.”

According to the occupiers, the way big rallies like the one in New York are set up is that protesters split off into “affinity groups” that focus on the grievances they are most concerned about.  The biggest groups were the 99 percent, the national debt and the environment.

Each group had a representative from the lawyers guild who was prepared to bail out any member who was arrested.

“[At Occupy events], the group is not accountable to the leader,” said junior global studies major Angel Cordero.  “The leader is accountable to the group.”

Despite the different ideologies that come together to make up the Occupy group, Keener insisted that everyone in the movement is on the same side.

Sophomore sustainable development major Hugh Harper was also quick to defend the Occupy movement.

“Occupy is not a revolutionary movement,” Harper said.  “It’s a necessary step.”

Story: EMMA SPECKMAN, Senior A&E Reporter