ACORN receives significant funding from a number of large banks, many of whom received bailout money.  This means that even if the federal government defunds ACORN, tax dollars will still be funneled to this criminal organization through these banks.  CampusReform.org student activists took action!

Here are reports from the protests which have occurred to date:

• Students from the University of Florida protested at the Bank of America in Gainesville, FL.  Not to commit a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, but Bank of America was the first bank to defund ACORN.  Here's a photo from their demonstration:

  

• Vanderbilt students protested at a local Wachovia branch (more available here):
  
  
• The Young Americans for Liberty group at Middle Tennessee State University demonstrated at a Citigroup in Murfreesboro.  Their press release explains:
  
  The activism idea was brought to the attention of the group by the newest website geared for conservative activists, CampusReform.org.
  
  "I look forward to using this brand new networking device to connect with like-minded students all over the country.  Campus Reform is going to be invaluable to constitutional conservatives, classical liberals, and libertarians who are fighting against the current resurgence of flawed collectivist ideology in America. " said Stephen Parvin.
  
  With the recent scandals surrounding ACORN, the YAL chapter at Middle Tennessee State University found it necessary to expose the contributions to ACORN by CitiGroup to the local community. 
  
  "We went in to this expecting resistance from the bank employees.  The Bank Manager would not comment on the issue, told us to turn off our video camera, and refused to sign our pledge." said Stephen Parvin. 
  
  The members of YAL are disappointed with the outcome of Citigroup not signing the pledge.  They intend to keep the pressure on Citigroup as well as bring any future contributions Citigroup makes to ACORN to the public’s attention.
  
  “Even if we look past ACORN’s illegal activities, the fundamental problem at hand is that CitiGroup received $25 Billion in TARP bailout money which is of course tax payer money.  Almost all banks donate some of their own money to various community organizations as a means to ‘give back’ to the community.  Thanks to the unconstitutional TARP funds, these bailed out banks are now essentially donating part of our tax dollars to whomever they feel are deserving, without the consent of the tax payer.  CitiGroup apparently feels that ACORN is deserving of taxpayer dollars.  This action is absolutely immoral and we will not stand for it.”
  
  
• The Youth for Western Civilization group at Washington State University protested their campus branch of U.S. Bank.  The Campus Reform field representative who assisted them described the event in a blog post:
  

  Standing outside of the U.S. Bank branch located in their Student Union Building, a coalition of members from the College Conservatives and Youth for Western Civilization protested the banks ties to the embattled group ACORN today, Friday, October 16.
  
  

  The protest, headed by YWC president Phil Tignino, is just part of a statewide effort to pressure U.S. Bank to stop giving money to ACORN.  U.S. Bank, which has recieved over 6.6 Billion dollars from the taxpayer provided TARP fund, has given over $755,000 dollars to ACORN.

  YWC has had great success getting the word out.  So far they have gathered over 120 signatures on a petition demanding that U.S. Bank pledge to defund ACORN.  Another protest is being scheduled at the U.S. Bank in downtown Pullman.

  The protest today ended in some controversy.  The students were aproached by a member of the administration, and were told that they could not petition inside the Student Union, because it was not a "free speech zone".  Deciding not to press the issue, the students packed up for the day, but are determined to keep the fight going.

  In addition to traditional protesting, YWC has gone high tech in it's fight against ACORN.  It urges students and citizens across Washington to join it's facebook page.  You can also sign the petition online.

• Upcoming updates:  Marquette University's Young Americans for Liberty group protested at a local Wachovia Bank on Thursday, October 15.  Central Michigan University's ACORN protest is still in the planning stage.  Click here for details on hosting your own ACORN protest.