In solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, students at a variety of colleges and universities may (somewhat ironically) not be occupying classrooms tomorrow. A website called Occupy Colleges has been calling for a nationwide student walkout at noon local time on Wednesday, October 5 to protest mounting debt and lack of opportunities after graduation for students in addition to the broader anti-corporate concerns expressed in the Occupy Wall Street protests.

The University of Minnesota is not yet on the official list of colleges who have planned a walkout, but several large public universities like the University of Maryland and University of Florida have, and the list seems to be growing quickly. The walkout has been mentioned on television a couple of times, including on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night and on Dylan Ratigan’s program on MSNBC this afternoon. Like the Occupy Wall Street protests, Occupy Colleges’ walkouts are being organized through social media, including a Facebook group and a Twitter hashtag.

It remains to be seen whether this particular arm of the protests will catch fire the way Occupy Wall Street has, but students certainly have reason to protest. Of course, some students will happily take any excuse to skip class. One can’t help but wonder, though, whether more students would be inclined to walk out of their class on a Friday morning than midday Wednesday.

–Eric Murphy