Following in the ideological footsteps of last year's New School occupiers, NYU students have barricaded themselves within the Kimmel Center cafeteria in an effort to force the school's administration to adopt "democratic, accountable and socially just" policies.
Take Back NYU -- the student group running the show -- has been active for a couple years now. Their demands include: budget transparency; 2110 union recognition; fair labor practices; scholarships for 13 Palestinian students; tuition stabilization; and, finally, "that the general public have access to Bobst Library." Interesting....
Media coverage abounds and NYU Local has an embedded reporter live-blogging the proceedings.
19 February 2009
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lynne Brown- Office of the Senior Vice President (senior.vp@nyu.edu)
To:
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:47:23 -0400
Subject: NYU STATEMENT ON EVENTS AT UNIVERSITY'S KIMMEL CENTER
New York University is pleased to report that the students who sat in the Kimmel
Center's cafeteria and disrupted services have peacefully exited the building.
Robust dialogue is a customary, normal, and expected part of the interaction
between students, faculty, and administration at NYU. But it is not appropriate
for it to take place while there is an ongoing violation of university rules.
Despite the protesters' stated principles that the protest was to be
non-destructive and non-violent, the protesters, despite specific warnings to
stay off the Kimmel Center balcony, broke the lock to gain access to the
balcony. The protesters also injured an NYU security officer during a scuffle.
These actions dishonor NYU's commitment to free exchange of ideas, reasoned
debate, and legitimate forms of protest.
From the outset, the University made clear to the protesters that they were
violating the University rules and engaging in improper activity. Nonetheless,
the University offered to sit down and have a dialogue with the students if they
left the cafeteria early the night of February 19.
The 18 students who stayed through the night of February 19--after rejecting the
University's offer to leave the building--have been suspended pending the
outcome of the university's disciplinary process.
No students who were participating in the demonstration in the Kimmel Center
cafeteria were arrested by the New York Police Department.
None of the students' demands was met.
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