Solidarity with the Student Protestors. Stop Evicting the Students!

Student Protestors at NYU - Bob Burdalski

Dear friends working for a better world,

I found the below posted news articles on a variety of websites including NYC Indymedia, Take Back NYU and Ustream Video. As I am a freeschool community volunteer, I think this is not only a beautiful example of how Students are taking over their universities to peacefully use civil disobedience to demand financial accountability....but more importantly I think these below articles are important educational tools for people aspiring to use Civil Disobedience to urge financial accountability from their schools. However, Civil Disobedience is only as powerful as the support of those willing to help the brave activists who use it for social justice. As a Freeschool Community <> volunteer and Board Member and a volunteer with the Peace Communities Progressive Coalition volunteer, I stand in Solidarity with these Students and I urge those in decision making positions to comply with the NYU Student's list of demands found at the bottom of this report and to immediately stop evicting NYU Students from their dorms in the middle of winter. This report covers the period of February 18th, 2009 through February 22nd, 2009.

For more up to the minute news on how you can support the Take Back the NYU movement please visit their website at: http://www.takebacknyu.com

This report was originally published the Peace Communities Solidarity Blog found at http://www.SaveThePoorBrownChildren.org

Please circulate this far and wide.

Love for the people,

Solidarity for a better world of free schools, free healthcare and equality for all people,
-T. Love
black man f.l.u.f.f.

I will also post updates on these evictions and audio details of this injustice on my personal podcast and online radio show found at BlackManFluff.org

http://www.blackmanfluff.org

Statement from Noam Chomsky sent to Take Back NYU!

Feb 22nd, 2009 by Take Back NYU!

I would like to express my support for the actions of the students who are calling on their universities to end their participation in the brutal oppression of Palestinians by divesting from corporations that participate in and profit from these crimes, in violation of international and US law.

Noam Chomsky
Faculty, MIT Linguistics and Philosophy

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LET PROTESTERS LIVE! Tell NYU to let NYU Students back into their dorms!

Feb 22nd, 2009 by Take Back NYU!

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

NYU is taking immediate steps against protesters, at risk of its public image and the well being of its students. Right now, several protesters in university housing are being evicted from their residences. This is not OK. Dissent should not displace people. Please contact NYU Housing to insist they allow students to stay in their dorm. We’ve provided a form letter, but, as always, feel free to write your own or change ours:

Phone: 212-998-4600

email: housing@nyu.edu

NYU President John Sexton: john.sexton@nyu.edu & CALL 212-998-2345
John Beckman, NYU Spokesperson: jhb5@nyu.edu
Office of the Provost: provost@nyu.edu
Office of the Vice President: evp@nyu.edu

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been informed that several of the student protestors who partook in the occupation of the Kimmel Marketplace have been evicted from campus housing. These students showed tremendous bravery and dedication to their ideals in standing up to the NYU administration and, for their efforts, they are being turned out of their homes in the dead of winter. I am appalled by the calloussness with which NYU has handled this situation and the contempt that it has shown for its students.

It is abhorrent that the administration at NYU has gone to such lengths to silence dissent. NYU has shown, once and for all, that it puts its own fiscal interests before the interests- and even the safety- of its own students. The student body at NYU and the people of New York City and the world at large will not stand for the eviction of student protestors. I support the student occupation of the Kimmel Center and demand that those protestors who have been evicted from campus housing immediately be given full access to their homes.

Signed,

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Live video by Ustream

February 21, 2009 04:45AM Download Article (PDF)

Official Statement from Take Back NYU! Regarding the Kimmel Occupation

This protest is just a beginning to what is to come.

By Take Back NYU!

From 10 pm on February 18th 2009 to 2 pm on February 20th, students of Take Back NYU! occupied the Kimmel Center for University Life in a historic effort to bring pressure on NYU for its administrative and ethical failings regarding transparency, democracy and protection of human rights.

From 10 pm on February 18th 2009 to 2 pm on February 20th, students of Take Back NYU! occupied the Kimmel Center for University Life in a historic effort to bring pressure on NYU for its administrative and ethical failings regarding transparency, democracy and protection of human rights.

During the occupation students rallied hundreds of supporters to the streets of New York, drew national and international press coverage, and sparked a long-needed discussion about the NYU community. For these reasons and more, Take Back NYU! believes the occupation represents a historic moment, and by many measures a success.

However, we also recognize that our occupation was not a full success. When we succeeded, we did so because the passion of our movement shone through the smoke and mirrors cast by the NYU administration. When we failed it was only because we underestimated the lengths NYU will go to in order to deter any real criticism of its policies.

The administration demonstrated their steadfast commitment to ignoring its students. Members of Take Back NYU! didn’t even see the face of NYU negotiator Lynne Brown until 26 hours into the occupation. Throughout, the administration only gave disingenuous offers of discussion without negotiation, which the students readily rejected. NYU’s refusal to negotiate contrasts sharply with good-faith negotiations made by other universities during similar occupations.

We believe that our occupation gave NYU the opportunity to become a leader among universities and to build our community around strong commitments to democracy, transparency and respect for human rights. Instead, NYU said ‘pass’ and chose to stick to its narrow interests at the expense of genuine discussion.

In the course of defending its secrets, NYU put students and its security guards at risk by encouraging the use of physical force to end a non-violent protest. NYPD officers used billy-clubs and mace against demonstrators outside the building. These acts of aggression have gone unmentioned and unquestioned in the course of NYU’s handling of the occupation.

This protest is just a beginning to what is to come. The action made national and international news, and showcased the real power of the new student movement sweeping the globe. Here in New York, a City Council member, Charles Barron, has publicly endorsed our campaign and shamed the University for its mishandling of student protest. Actions at universities around the city will continue in the weeks to come.

No doubt NYU will begin attempting disciplinary action, but no suspensions, expulsions or arrests can contain what began in the last two days. This fight will carry on in the hands of the dozens of people who made it inside, and the hundreds more who came out to support the occupation. NYU showed its irrational need to defend secrecy and its exclusive hold on power, and that alone will drive this movement forward.

For everyone showing support: the real lesson here is that you can act and you can make a difference. Take the lessons from the occupation on to your own struggle, and begin to act yourself.

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February 20, 2009 04:15PM EST Download Article (PDF)

Students Suspended As NYU Occupation Ends

40 hour long action ends with no demands met.

By NYC IMC

The occupation at New York University’s Kimmel Center for University Life has been ended, with some of the last remaining students barred from entering NYU buildings. The school has also kicked students out of their residence halls and said that NYU will provide the students with alternative housing for now.

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The occupation at New York University’s Kimmel Center for University Life has been ended , with some of the last remaining students barred from entering NYU buildings. The school has also kicked students out of their residence halls and said that NYU will provide the students with alternative housing for now. None of the demands the NYU occupiers made were met by the administration.

The action at NYU, which lasted for over 40 hours, followed what had been a wave of student activism over the past couple of months, including student occupations in Greece , Great Britain , and the United States and protests across Europe.

The Take Back NYU coalition, who organized the action and which includes a diverse number of groups ranging from Amnesty International to the NYU chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, were demanding that the university operate in a more transparent, open, and democratic way.

Among the student demands were legal amnesty for the participants in the occupation, compensation for workers at NYU whose jobs were disrupted as a result of the occupation, disclosure of NYU’s budget and endowments, and the creation of a student elected “Socially Responsible Finance Committee” that would look into NYU’s investments into companies involved with the occupation of Palestine. They also demanded that the school give 13 Palestinian students scholarships, as well as donating any extra supplies to a university in Gaza.

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February 18, 2009 11:49PM Download Article (PDF)

New York University Students Occupy Kimmel Center, Continuing Wave of Student Activism

Students demand NYU disclosure of budget and endowments.

By NYC IMC

Following what has been a wave of student activism over the past couple of months, including student occupations in Greece , Great Britain , and the United States and protests across Europe, students from the Take Back NYU coalition have begun to occupy the Kimmel Center for University Life at New York University.

The coalition, which includes a diverse number of groups ranging from Amnesty International to the NYU chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, is demanding that the university operate in a more transparent, open, and democratic way.

Among the student demands are legal amnesty for the participants in the occupation, compensation for workers at NYU whose jobs were disrupted as a result of the occupation, disclosure of NYU’s budget and endowments, and the creation of a student elected “Socially Responsible Finance Committee” that would look into NYU’s investments into companies involved with the occupation of Palestine.

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February 18, 2009 10:37PM

NYU IS OCCUPIED!!!

NYU students and other city students in solidarity have taken NYU.


NYU students and other city students in solidarity have taken NYU.

Keywords: Analysis, Bronx,
****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE******


NYU BUILDING TAKEOVER!!!

At approximately 10pm tonight (Feb. 18), students of Take Back NYU! took over the Kimmel Marketplace. They have blockaded the doors and declared an occupation! They presented their demands to the NYU administration. They read as follows:

DEMANDS

We, the students of NYU, declare an occupation of this space. This occupation is the culmination of a two-year campaign by the Take Back NYU! coalition, and of campaigns from years past, in whose footsteps we follow.

In order to create a more accountable, democratic and socially responsible university, we demand the following:

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 publically affirm its commitment to respect all its workers, including student employees, by recognizing their right to form unions and to bargain collectively. That NYU publically 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.

Along with this, students have issued a

SOLIDARITY STATEMENT

We, the students of Take Back NYU! declare our solidarity with the student [sleepovers] in Greece,
Italy, and the United Kingdom, as well as those of the University of Rochester, the New School for Social Research, and with future [sleepovers] to come in the name of democracy and student power. We stand
in solidarity with the University of Gaza, and with the people of Palestine.