It didn't have music, supermodels or a catwalk, but that didn't stop human biology senior Dave Mitchell from strutting his stuff in a "fashion show" Thursday afternoon in the Union.
Mitchell joined other members of Students for Economic Justice in performing anti-sweatshop fashion shows at various campus locations.
Students for Economic Justice, which is the MSU chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops, is working to get the university to join an international labor monitoring organization called the Worker Rights Consortium. The students are unhappy with the practices of the Fair Labor Association, which currently monitors work conditions at plants that manufacture MSU clothing.
"This has been an ongoing struggle for about four or five years," said Tommy Simon, a member of Students for Economic Justice. "We're trying to call attention to this."
Throughout the day, students read scripts out loud and took turns pretending to showcase clothing made in sweatshops, with the intent of educating others about clothing companies that use unfair labor practices in their plants.
"We all worked together on it," Mitchell said after his performance, which involved modeling MSU-themed athletic wear by shadow boxing and doing push-ups.
Mitchell said MSU President M. Peter McPherson has been stalling talks about switching to the consortium, so the group will continue to hold educational events such as Thursday's fashion shows.
McPherson and other university officials were unavailable for comment Thursday.
"We're increasing pressure with President McPherson," Mitchell said, noting that there are more than 100 colleges and universities affiliated with the consortium.
"All these universities are taking care of this, but MSU is behind," he said.
Cherie Beaudrie, an Olin Health Center staff member, watched a portion of the show while waiting in the Union.
"I had no idea what was going on, she just handed me this flier," she said, nodding toward one of the performers.
Although Beaudrie couldn't comment on reasons behind the performance, she said she didn't mind the entertainment.
"They're making it interesting, at least," she said.
