Macalester students: We protest college ties to Wells Fargo

Some Macalester College students say they're upset with President Brian Rosenberg, saying he has refused to cut the college's business ties with Wells Fargo.

They're apparently demonstrating at noon today outside Weyerhaeuser Hall on the eastern side of campus.

According to a press statement by a student group that calls itself Kick Wells Fargo Off Campus, Mac refused to move its business to a community bank. The statement says the campaign is linked to Occupy Homes MN’s efforts to fight foreclosures by Wells Fargo, among other banks. It says the college uses Wells Fargo to run its purchasing-card system, and that the decision comes after students spent a year campaigning, trying to persuade administrators to dump Wells Fargo.

The rally also comes after four Macalester students were arrested last month in a demonstration near Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

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I've got a call in to the college's administration for comment.

Update: Spokeswoman Barbara Laskin emailed me:

Yes, we have our purchasing card system with Wells Fargo.  We are not severing ties with them.