Pat Dollard | Young Americans

21st Century University Protests: Re-Defining “Consensus” As Lazy Anarchy

Listen to this drivel. This dumb-ass kid throws around words like consensus, facilitator, hierarchy, power relationship … and then there is some sort of problem with showing campus I.D.? Duhhhh, you dumb-assed puke! See, this is why kids like this one work so well at a Starbucks. They memorize the made-up words on the menu board and twist and turn them around in various combinations like some Rubik’s Cube and feel as though they really have accomplished something with this new foreign language called … coffee.

What a stinkin’ waste … of student loans and grants, mostly. The rest I’ll deal with when they get my damn order completely fucked up at the fast food joint.

The background story:

NYU Local:

Amidst the swelling crowd at Kimmel’s cafeteria Wednesday night, NYU Local’s Charlie Eisenhood began what has now become a legendary lesson in liveblogging with the prophetic words:

Somebody just asked me if I needed a number for legal counsel if I get thrown in jail. Looks like this might be a bit more than a dance party.

DAY ONE

Just before 10PM,TBNYU! barricaded the doors to the cafeteria and began reading out a list of demands, which included budget disclosure, making Bobst public and giving aid/scholarships to Gaza. Half an hour later, NYPD had a small presence outside Kimmel. According to Charlie’s coverage, TBNYU! members were open to negotiating with administrators from the start.

Before protesters started taking naps around 3.30AM, the occupation seemed somewhat wholesome. Charlie got some great pictures of people dancing, painting posters and playing cards. One NYU Security guard was quoted as saying, “It’s not a barricade, we could tear that down anytime. Get something heavier.”

DAY TWO

Maybe protesters got grumpy from surviving off a slow stream of coffee. TBNYU! announced a rally and press conference slated for noon Thursday. Charlie counted 47 people in the cafeteria and not all of them were from NYU. TBNYU! began negotiations with Bob Butler, executive director of the Office of Student Affairs, at 10.30AM to gain access to the balcony for the press conference (and irritable smokers). The request was denied.

Hungry crowds began gathering outside Kimmel around noon. No quesadillas, but maybe the bare breasts on view were of some comfort? Another 25 people shimmied past security to join in the fun. At 1.50PM TBNYU! upped the ante by breaking the deadbolt on the balcony door. Protesters promptly started hanging banners and screaming over a megaphone. Smokers took a glorious breath of tarred air. TBNYU! revised their “non-violence/no property destruction” statement. Thankfully for Charlie, food finally arrived at around 2.20PM (though sadly vegan).

Rumors that protesters may be expelled or arrested at the end of the occupation started circulating. At the 5PM conference, a TBNYUer proclaimed, “we will not stand for these scare tactics!” Oh, the irony. If scare tactics don’t work, why barricade yourself in a building?

At 9PM, the 33 remaining protesters were joined by 55 more, who through a herculean effort overcame… a doorstop. A security guard was injured in the hoopla.

After midnight NYPD presence was immense; squad cars and police vans lined the streets along Kimmel and Bobst. Anarchists and quesadilla-lovers voiced differing opinions on TBNYU!’s occupation. Eager photographers (guilty) were anticipating arrests at 1AM, which was when Kimmel officially closed.

Just before 2AM TBNYU! members were granted permission to stay the night at Kimmel, but they would not be granted amnesty. This is when, after blogging for 30 hours straight, Charlie went home to get some well deserved sleep. The only person who ended up in a squad car was of Alex Deschamps, a Steinhardt Senior, who decided to mount a No Parking sign outside Kimmel.

DAY THREE

Kimmel did not open Friday morning, and at noon Charlie found out that administrators and security guards raided the 3rd floor and Kimmel was peacefully cleared of all but four protesters, who insisted on loitering on the balcony till removed.

NYU students who stuck around Kimmel till Friday morning were suspended and stripped of campus housing, while the University said anyone who did not identify themselves as an NYU student will be prosecuted for trespassing. No arrests, and no TBNYU! demands met.

The Demands

1.) Full legal and disciplinary amnesty for all parties involved in the occupation.

2.) Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.

3.) Public release of NYU’s annual operating budget, including a full list of university expenditures, salaries for all employees compensated on a semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff wages, contracts to non-university organizations for university construction and services, financial aid data for each college, and money allocated to each college, department, and administrative unit of the university. Furthermore, this should include a full disclosure of the amount and sources of the university’s funding.

4.) Disclosure of NYU’s endowment holdings, investment strategy, projected endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms involved in the investment of the university’s endowment funds. Additionally, we demand an endowment oversight body of students, faculty and staff who exercise shareholder proxy voting power for the university’s investments.

5.) That the NYU Administration agrees to resume negotiations with GSOC/UAW Local 2110 – the union for NYU graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and research assistants. That NYU publicly affirm its commitment to respect all its workers, including student employees, by recognizing their right to form unions and to bargain collectively. That NYU publicly affirm that it will recognize workers’ unions through majority card verification.

6.) That NYU signs a contract guaranteeing fair labor practices for all NYU employees at home and abroad. This contract will extend to subcontracted workers, including bus drivers, food service employees and anyone involved in the construction, operation and maintenance at any of NYU’s non-U.S. sites.

7.) The establishment of a student elected Socially Responsible Finance Committee. This Committee will have full power to vote on proxies, draft shareholder resolutions, screen all university investments, establish new programs that encourage social and environmental responsibility and override all financial decisions the committee deems socially irresponsible, including investment decisions. The committee will be composed of two subcommittees: one to assess the operating budget and one to assess the endowment holdings. Each committee will be composed of ten students democratically elected from the graduate and under-graduate student bodies. All committee decisions will be made a strict majority vote, and will be upheld by the university. All members of the Socially Responsible Finance Committee will sit on the board of trustees, and will have equal voting rights. All Socially Responsible Finance Committee and Trustee meetings shall be open to the public, and their minutes made accessible electronically through NYU’s website. Elections will be held the second Tuesday of every March beginning March 10th 2009, and meetings will be held biweekly beginning the week of March 30th 2009.

8.) That the first two orders of business of the Socially Responsible Finance committee will be: a) An in depth investigation of all investments in war and genocide profiteers, as well as companies profiting from the occupation of Palestinian territories. b) A reassessment of the recently lifted of the ban on Coca Cola products.

9.)That annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students, starting with the 2009/2010 academic year. These scholarships will include funding for books, housing, meals and travel expenses.

10.) That the university donate all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.

11.) Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of 2012. All students will pay their initial tuition rate throughout the course of their education at New York University. Tuition rates for each successive year will not exceed the rate of inflation, nor shall they exceed one percent. The university shall meet 100% of government-calculated student financial need.

12.)That student groups have priority when reserving space in the buildings owned or leased by New York University, including, and especially, the Kimmel Center.

13.)That the general public have access to Bobst Library.