May 22nd, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
Folks:
We hope your summers are are off to a marvelous start. Below are a few announcements/reminders:
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May 22nd, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
Dear Take Back NYU students!
Here’s a copy of the email we sent to Mr. Sexton, hehehe:
“Dear John,
We are writing to send our most sincere preemptive congratulations upon hearing of the decision you will be taking to cut your wages to $1 a year.
We think it’s wonderful that you are going to show your solidarity in this way. Here in Catalonia, as in your country, we are feeling the pinch of the Capitalist system, and, unfortunately, can only look o
n with rage and disgust as our university presidents continue to earn astronomically high salaries.
The tension on the street grows as we watch a minority of high-earners living in luxury on the back of deepening poverty for the majority. Our movement is strengthened by the indignance caused by the evident widening gap between rich and poor, a gap that thrives on starvation, misery and death. We are moved to act by the sight of a select few feeding parasitically upon the weak and the defenseless in the name of profit. The silent majority: we see babies dying of preventable disease, children orphaned by wars and women sold into sex-slavery, the suffering of these people forms an intrinsic part of the system which puts $850,000 into your bank account each year. We can only be proud of the decision you will make to face up to these injustices.
Best wishes,
Comisión Internacional of The Barcelona Student Movement”
May 13th, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
Our preemptive congratulations to New York University’s John Sexton on his expected announcement that the president will take a symbolic salary in the amount of $1 per year until the current fiscal crisis in 
academia ends. As the largest private university in the world, this move will send a strong signal to the NYU community, as well as colleges and universities around the country. NYU is committed to do everything in its power to remain a vital institution in the intellectual life of New York City. This sacrifice demonstrates the university’s outstanding commitment to research, learning, and preparing the next generation of scholars and leaders.
“If we are to maintain both the extraordinary academic momentum of recent years and the financial stability of our University, we will have to be particularly nimble and creative, ” writes Sexton. This announcement serves as proof of the creativity, innovative thinking, and commitment to learning that has made NYU famous throughout the world.
This is not merely a symbolic action, and the president’s $850,000 contribution is only the most visible in a groundswell of material support to be shown by administrators and stewards of the institution. In response, Provosts, Vice Presidents and Deans are likewise expected to unanimously announce temporary salaries of $22,000 per year. This amount is equivalent to what the university’s estimated cost of room, board and transportation in calculating stipends to teaching assistant in the New York City area. In order that this move does not disrupt the vital business of our university, these administrators will retain their subsidized housing in Manhattan and work-related expense accounts.
We expect an outpouring of response from the university community. In times like these, the collective good must take precedence over individual interests. If there ever were an Ivory Tower, it has long since been dismantled. However, this does not meant that we should abandon idealism when the severity of the situation calls us to action. The Faculty Senate will follow the lead of NYU’s top administration to urge all making over $100,000 to tighten belts for a short-time in the interest of the university.
NYU’s administration is currently being asked to come to consensus on this initiative; participation is entirely voluntary. While the University cannot compel its staff and faculty to join this movement, it urges community mindedness in these hard times. With the expected announcement of the Transparency in University Governance Initiative, salaries, expenses, and costs will be held to public scrutiny. This initiative incentivizes and acknowledges the contributions of exceptional individuals. It also allows participants to rest assured that their sacrifices are being put to the best use.
These are brave moves in the face of a dire fiscal crisis. John Sexton must expect criticism in the world of higher education for this announcement. As the largest private institution of higher learning, NYU has long been seen as a bellwether and trendsetter for academia around the country. NYU is confident that it has the clout within the private university system to weather disparagement from vested interests outside our university. In time, we expect Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Brown, and other private universities currently laying off staff and cutting teaching positions to follow our lead. With so many jobs threatened and loss of funding for research, it is only fair that university presidents at other schools sacrifice as well. Decades of presidents’ salaries at levels upwards of half a million dollars may be appropriate in free-flowing economic times. During these times of austerity, however, such salaries are better reinvested in preserving the place of the university in American life.
PLEASE! Take a moment of your time from your busy finals and graduation celebrations to send an email to John Sexton congratulating him on his groundbreaking decision. He can be reached at john.sexton@nyu.edu.
May 1st, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
Just after 12:15 pm this afternoon, several black-clad figures were seen standing on the roof of the Silver Center. The iconic purple NYU flag, usually seen fluttering from the flagpole on top of Silver, had vanished. In its place, draped over the side of the building, was a banner that read:
“FUCK TUITION HIKES.”
The banner hung for over half an hour before it was taken down.
A celebratory cheer to those mysterious black-clad figures who pulled off this latest hijinx: may there be many more to come.
TO THE END OF THE COMMODIFICATION OF OUR EDUCATION!
Apr 27th, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
another benefit party, featuring electrotrash dancin’, footage of anarchists burning shit down and spitting on cops projected onto walls, muffintov cocktails, and otherwise militant sweet things. and beer!
proceeds go to both nyu and new school legal feees.
cover: $5-10 sliding scale; no one will be turned away for lack of funds. there will be mad beers for mad cheap, also.
see y’all there!
Apr 23rd, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
photo: louise pedigo
Apr 22nd, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
or, TAKE BACK EVERYTHING.
“I used to walk out of services with a crowbar and we’d open up abandoned buildings…” - Frank Morales
Apr 18th, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
When: Wednesday, April 22 at 8:30
Where: Kimmel 912
As students and faculty, we ARE this university - physically, intellectually and financially. Through a student and faculty run Socially Responsible Finance Committee, we can take part in how NYU invests itself - regardless of the administration’s conservatism and secrecy. NYU undergraduates, graduate students and professors are invited to participate in a roundtable discussion with an SRI professional to discuss how we create a student and faculty run Socially Responsible Finance Committee at NYU. We will be meeting with Charles Sandmel, a certified financial planner and NYU parent, to discuss sustainable and responsible investing, and to figure out how we can realize this at our university. This will be a preliminary planning meeting for what we hope will become a broad coalition effort to bring sustainable and responsible finance to NYU.
Come one, come all!
Apr 16th, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
FIRST join fellow student activists at the New School to rally against police violence and the unchecked power of the New School administration. Meet outside 55 W. 13th St. at 6PM.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=88434096978
THEN join Reverend Billy from the Church of Life After Shopping as he EXORCISES THE DEMONS OF CORPORATIZATION FROM NYU! Meet outside Kimmel at 7:30.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=31464334963
See you there!
Apr 16th, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
Once again, the images speak for themselves.
Students from the group Colby United are trying to spread the word about an incident of joint security and police violence against two students of color at their school. Last Sunday, two Colby students were brutally detained by campus security officers, one of whom was maced while being detained. Despite the clearly overwhelming use of force administered by security guards at the scene, at least 11 different police vehicles arrived to ‘handle’ the situation. Sporadic incidents of police violence continued throughout the night after the two students’ arrest.
The use of force against students betrays a dangerous arrogance by university administrators, and physical violence by representatives of academic institutions should be rejected in every instance. Take Back NYU! supports the efforts of Colby United to change the culture and policies that could lead to incidents such as the one described above.
We also continue to support our friends at the New School, who suffered their own attacks by police and security officials this weekend. We offer solidarity to students at both universities as they continue their organizing and struggle.
