An organization that claims to be speaking for the student body called Take Back NYU! took over and occupied the 3rd floor of the student center for some 40 hours or so. It was bizarre because all of my classes are just a block away, yet I had no idea this was happening until I walked right by it. There were students on the balcony with big banners, and the street in front was packed with hundreds more protesters chanting, singing, and cheering in solidarity. Of course New York's Finest showed up later last night to pepper spray, tase, or do an old fashioned nightstick-whoopin' on anyone that came within arms' reach. Okay, not that bad, but still pretty strange to see in my own stomping grounds.
I think I may have been a supporter of the occupation had the ringleaders not been such disoriented novices. Here's the list of their 11 demands, none of which were met:
1. Amnesty for all parties involved.2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.3. Public release of NYU's annual budget and endowment.4. Allow student workers (including TA's) to collectively bargain.5. A fair labor contract for all NYU employees at home and abroad.6. A Socially Responsible Finance Committee the will immediately investigate war profiteers and the lifting of the Coke ban.7. Annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students.8. That the University donates all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.9. Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of 2012. tuitionrates foreach successive year will not exceed the rate of inflation. The University shall meet 100% of government-calculated student financial need.10. That student groups have priority when reserving space in buildings ownedor leased by New York University, including, and especially, the Kimmel Center.11. That the general public have access to Bobst Library.
Do you see why I cannot support these people? It's clearly the laundry list of demands that diluted focus from any aspect of the protest. How do I know what these students were protesting when it could have been any combination of 11 things? Moreover, how can they be taken seriously if the FIRST demand is amnesty? The most powerful aspect of civil disobedience is the knowledge that there may be consequences for any actions taken. Henry David Thoreau wrote that famous essay while in a jail cell. Martin Luther King Jr.'s most inspiring letter came from the Birmingham Jail. These students are saying, right away, either they are not responsible for anything they do or they are cowards.
Why should NYU investigate war profiteering? This isn't the UN and it isn't the Hague. This is a place of research and education. The Coke ban lift I totally agree with. It's become something of a fad for American colleges and universities to ban Coca-Cola from their campuses because of the human rights violations the company is known to uphold in Central and South America. But this leads to a nearly exclusive contract with Pepsi-Cola, which is faced with similar allegations of human rights abuse.
I really want to know why NYU should provide scholarships to not one, but 13 Palestinian students each year. Why not 13 NYU students from any nation? There's no reason NYU shouldn't help rebuild the University of Gaza, but there's no reason it should either. If the budget is done well, there should be no excess resources to send to Gaza.
Finally, public access to Bobst Library? That is crazy. I know what kind of people hang around Washington Square checking out the NYU hotties, and I do not want them in NYU buildings posing a threat to my classmates.
So the schizophrenic list of demands and disorganized chaos of the demonstration puts me in a bit of a position. I certainly agree with the protesters on issues relating to a unionized workforce, disclosure of endowment and budget (at least to employees and students), a tuition freeze (temporary if not semi-permanent), and revised system of financial aid. To be fair, NYU is currently going over the financial aid system and has eliminated all merit-based scholarships to make room for more need-based scholarships in an effort to attract more students from middle- and lower-income backgrounds (hey, that's me!). And to be fair to the protesters, many large private universities have disclosed their annual endowment and budget to the public, but NYU refuses such transparency which seems a little suspect. Almost like those Wall Street executives who gave themselves enormous bonuses while their companies crumbled. Of course the financial exec's eventually came clean and allowed public access to their records.
Even though the occupiers failed to get NYU to meet their demands (including amnesty), I hope they have gotten the attention of the University administration, especially Pres. Sexton. I hope NYU will come to realize how powerful it has become and how tarnished its image has become in the eyes of New York City, the USA, the World, and even its own students.
