NYU 18 Suspended, Protest Sparks Campus Debate
2.23.09 / Dana Farrington / The Indypendent
On Friday, Feb. 20, the student occupation of New York University’s Kimmel Center for Student Life ended, and the repercussions began. The university suspended the last 18 students who remained in Kimmel Friday morning, and non-N.Y.U. participants were told that their information would be given to the NYPD for trespassing.
Judicial hearings begin on Monday for some of the NYU 18, who face possible expulsion for their role in the building takeover.
HOW IT STARTED
The takeover began Wednesday around 9:45 p.m. Students from NYU as well as The New School, Columbia and Hunter College pushed tables and chairs against the doors and one member of the group began reading their demands over a megaphone. To draw a crowd without spreading word of an occupation, activists had blasted email listservs inviting people to a “dance party” meant as a gesture towards reclaiming private space for public use.
At the time the students decided to barricade the multiple doors into the dining hall, two faculty of the Office of Student Activities were inside, according to a student protester. When the students began pushing tables and chairs against the doors, the faculty left the room. Two N.Y.U. Public Safety Officers pushed through initially, but also soon walked out. N.Y.U. Public Safety Officers guarded the doors for the next 40 hours without attempting to enter the room until Friday morning. NYPD officers were on the premises at least 30 minutes before the barricades went up.
Banu Quadir, a student organizer with Take Back NYU! (TBNYU!) had been part of the occupation from the beginning and stayed until a group of what she reported to be 30 to 50 security officers and administrators finally pushed through the barricades.
“We called lawyers and figured out what to do. They said ‘cooperate,’ which we saw as probably the best move so that we wouldn’t incur criminal action as well, and folks gave their IDs. We were escorted out in two groups: NYU students and non-NYU students,” she said.
These students along with five others who had been called upstairs 15 minutes earlier to “negotiate” with administrators were handed suspension notices. The four or five who did not leave at this point remained on the balcony in the hopes that security or police would avoid forcing them off of the glass-paneled balcony for safety reasons, Quadir said.
NYU Students React
Outside, throughout the two nights and one full day of occupation, students and community members gathered in support of and in opposition to TBNYU!’s actions. Almost immediately after barricading the door the students’ demands were distributed on flyers and on their website (http://takebacknyu.com). Central to their concerns was budget disclosure and student representation on the Board of Trustees. Despite easy access to the demands and multiple public readings from the students in Kimmel, many students were confused by the purpose of the protest.
N.Y.U. senior B. Han has his own history of activism on and off campus, but he was concerned about the organization of the protest.
“It is also surprising that not many people seem to be aware of what’s going on,” Han said. He later added, “This is really one of the least educated, mass-gatherings I’ve ever seen, to be honest.”
Freshman Jacob Kafka stood among the confused. When asked why he came, Kafka replied that he had hoped to find some answers.
“Well, it didn’t make sense to me and I wanted to see if I could figure out—if it would make sense if I came here and saw it for myself,” he said.
He then admitted that he still did not completely understand how the list of specific demands, including opening the school’s library to the public and sending scholarship money to 13 students attending the Islamic University of Gaza (bombed in the recent Israeli attacks), connected to one another.
Colin Dillon, a member of Take Back NYU! who graduated from the university last Summer, recognized this concern among the students, but argued that the claims were justified.
“I think the relationship is a little bit more straightforward than a lot of people are giving it credit for,” said Dillon.
Universities across Europe have also protested on behalf of students in Gaza when the Israeli military’s offensive began in January. TBNYU! Members see their direct action at N.Y.U. as part of these worldwide protests. Dillon also said that TBNYU!’s push for “an open, transparent, democratic university where the students have power” directly relates to students in Gaza whose school was damaged in military action “and that in a very, very concrete way people there are being denied access to education […].”
Counter-Protest
Beyond arguments about whether or not Gaza should have entered the list of demands, some students stood across the street from the protesters holding signs to demonstrate that TBNYU! did not represent their views. Nolan Pacchiana, an N.Y.U. sophomore, and his friend stood outside of Kimmel at 1am Friday morning for an hour, physically shivering from the cold, with signs that read, “Hippies, Go Home!” and “Get out of Kimmel, We Want Our Quesadillas” (referring to the popular food choice served at that dining hall location—Kimmel is one of the five campus dining hall locations).
“Unfortunately, I think currently what they’ve got going is just a hodgepodge of mixed-matched demand that they think just suits the activist agenda. None of it really makes sense,” said Pacchiana, who also argued that if students do not agree with university policy, “then they can go somewhere else.”
There were community members that came out to support the students’ efforts. Some spoke to the crowds that gathered on the sidewalk, and others remained silent, holding signs in solidarity. Like Jan Norden, a member of a Socialist organization called the Internationalist Group and a member of the Teamsters Union, who came to stand outside of Kimmel with the crowds on Thursday night to support the students. He agreed with the demands and saw cohesion among them in a way many N.Y.U. students did not.
“I think it’s very important that students here, especially at a university like NYU, which is relatively privileged—I mean, you have to pay a lot of money to get into NYU—the fact that they don’t see it in isolation from what’s happening in the rest of the world I think is a very encouraging sign,” said Norden.
When asked about the organization of the event, Norden had a suggestion:
“I think that a building takeover like this is a good idea, but they can’t do it in isolation.” He added that participation from city unions and working people would help support the students’ demands.
A press release posted on the university’s homepage on Friday, mentioned that Thursday evening, Feb. 19, “the University offered to sit down and have a dialogue” on the conditions that the students leave the cafeteria.
The students refused to leave until the university confirmed their amnesty for the protest, a concession made after the New School cafeteria takeover in December. Neither this demand nor any of the others were met at N.Y.U.
