CONTACT: Duncan Meisel, 512-657-9124, duncan.meisel@gmail.com

NYU’s ‘Monsters’ On the Loose in Take Back NYU! Street Theater Action

Take Back NYU! campaign for transparency and democracy at NYU hosts a monster mash of NYU’s ghouls at Washington Square Park on Tuesday at 11:30am, featuring ghosts, vampires and ’skeletons in the closet’ to protest the NYU Administration’s secrecy and refusal to respond to student proposals for democracy at NYU.

10/28/08

Student democracy movement Take Back NYU! will host a group of NYU-ghouls, including a Tuition Vampire, the Ghosts of Washington Square Park, and NYU’s Skeletons-in-the-Closet in a theatrical challenge to NYU’s continued refusal to disclose its operating budget or endowment investments, and allow a student on the Board of Trustees.

“Sometimes it really does feel like we’re just being sucked dry by NYU” said Claire Lewis, a member of the Take Back NYU! group. “We’ve asked to talk with the Administration about changing things, but we got no response.”

Under the tagline “NYU’s Secrets Will Come Back to Haunt It,” Take Back NYU! will use the event to begin a drive for students to pledge a refusal to donate to NYU until the school discloses its finances and puts a student on the Board of Trustees. The students will also be handing out candy tagged with the group’s website TakeBackNYU.com, and handing out information about the campaign and democracy at NYU.

“I think NYU needs to show good faith towards its students so that we feel invested in our school” said Banu Quadir, another member of Take Back NYU!. “If NYU won’t come clean with its students, it really will haunt them in the future.”

The monster mash will also include a Frankenstein’s Monster meant to represent NYU’s recent expansions in absorbing Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, and establishing a branch campus in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi – moves that have upset students from all parts of NYU.

“I think NYU’s expansion is dangerous for its students and for the communities surrounding it” said Farah Khimji. “It feels like it’s not even our school any more – it does seem a little monstrous.”

Take Back NYU! began the school year by delivering a letter to the Office of the President containing demands for increased accountability, transparency and democracy at NYU. The NYU Administration failed to meet a request to reply to the letter within one month. The campaign began in 2007 and has grown to include 16 NYU student groups.

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What: Take Back NYU! NYU Monster Street Theater Action

When: Tuesday Oct. 28th, 11:30 pm

Where: East Side of Washington Square Park near Washington Place

Contact: Duncan Meisel, 512-657-9124, duncan.meisel@gmail.com