Maia Ramnath, Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow for Global Histories, Draper Program, NYU

Dear President Sexton,

I am writing in support of the students currently occupying the Kimmel center, and in recognition of the urgency and justice of many of the demands of the Take Back NYU coalition. I was present last night during the celebratory launch of the occupation, and witness also to the peaceful gathering outside the building.

None of these issues is new; the same questions of financial accountability, transparency, fair labor practices, and social justice in use of university resources have facing the NYU community for years. What does it say that it takes a spectacularly “disruptive” action to focus serious attention upon them? I applaud also the students’ conscientious move to place immediate issues in relation a larger world context. If a university does what we say it is supposed to, how could they possibly do otherwise?

As a member of the faculty of the Draper Interdisciplinary Program in Humanities and Social Thought, and a GSAS alumna, I am committed to the belief that education is an active, collaborative process of better understanding and responsibly engaging in the world, in the interest of a more just global society. Therefore I urge you to take seriously the students’ demands and to engage in good faith dialogue with them, not merely as a symbolic gesture but in the interest in taking concrete, substantive steps toward positive change in our institution.

For the ideal of solidarity among students, grad students/graduate employees, faculty, staff and all NYU workers,

Maia Ramnath
Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow for Global Histories, Draper Program
New York University
14 University Place
New York, NY 10003

More after the jump.

Noam Chomsky, MIT

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 particpate in and profit from these crimes, in violation of international and US law.

Noam Chomsky

From a “Former NYU Instructor”:

Dear TakeBackNYU: I support you and your cause. I was an adjunct instructor at NYU for seven years and quit my position in disgust.

My department rented classroom space in a sub-standard bldg. We frequently didn’t have heat during the winter months. I was appalled that my students were paying an enormous amount of money for tuition, yet this was the learning space we were given: Sitting in class through January and February wearing our coats, hats and gloves.

As an adjunct, I was treated horribly by my department head. The consistent unspoken message from day one was: “There are hundreds of other instructors in this city waiting for your job. Bring up your issues or those of any of your students and we’ll replace you tom’w.”

In retrospect, I realize I was foolish to expect NYU to exhibit any integrity in the way it treated me or my students. I accepted my position believing that NYU was an institution of higher learning. It is not. It is a corporation. Students are a commodity to be processed through its system as quickly as possible and at the highest possible profit margin.

I strongly encourage (a) any prospective students to look elsewhere if they want a real education (b) alumni to direct their money to other charitable causes (c) any instructors considering teaching at NYU to redirect their job search to institutions that respect their faculty and students.

Again, I salute you, courageous members of TakeBackNYU.

Lisa Fithian

To the Students and Supporters Who Took Back NYU!

Greetings and solidarity! The struggle for justice is only won, when people like you are willing to put your bodies on the line and sacrifice your liberty for the greater good. You make us all proud!

The University’s reaction and the violence of the police against you is an indication of just how powerful you are. Your original demands of budget disclosure, endowment disclosure, and placing a student on NYU’s Board of Trustees are fair and just. While you may not have achieved all of your goals in this occupation, your long-term strategy, your ongoing commitment to nonviolent direct action and your creative energy and passion have exposed NYU and brought the worlds’ attention to its doors.

As the University chooses to continue its repression through the disciplinary process as opposed to negotiations that might have actually resolved these disputes, I hope you remember all of those who came before you.

Those who worked to abolish slavery and to win the right for women to vote; those who struggled in the fields and those who sat down at the lunch counters. Those who took over their campuses to end the Vietnam war and those who shutdown nuclear power plants or blocked their federal buildings to protest the US war in Central America.

Remember those who crossed the line to end apartheid in South Africa and those who fought for funding against AIDS. Remember those who struggled to save the rainforest and the indigenous people who have retaken their land. Remember those like Rachel Cory who gave her life so that Palestine might live. You are part of this rich history, this legacy of resistance, this struggle for a new world rooted in equality, peace and justice.

Never let them tell you, you were wrong. Never let them tell you, your actions and sacrifice was for naught. Your success cannot be measured by their words, it will be measured by our hearts and by the minds you have reached through this occupation. NYU does not understand the power of our spirit, the power of truth, the power of action, the power of the people to rise up again and again and again.

You are leading the most recent wave. So know that all of us out here who believe another world is possible that we are with you, we are watching and we add our energy to your call! To NYU– stop disciplining and start negotiating! To the students.Take Back NYU and keep the movement moving!

in peace and solidarity,

Lisa Fithian

Michael Letwin, Former President, Assn. of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325

To NYU Administration:

I am writing to express my support for the student occupation of the Kimmel Marketplace that has been occurring since Wednesday night. They will not leave the building until their demands are met.

The Take Back NYU! campaign has been a constant presence on campus for two years, attempting to voice their demands through all means available. Their demands, though many and varied, are united by the desire to empower students to take part in the governance of their University.

Thus far, the NYU administration has refused to address their presence or their request to negotiate. The administration’s failure to address the students’ demands reflects the fundamental factors behind the demands themselves - the lack of democracy, transparency, and student say in how their administration is run.

I urge the NYU administration to immediately negotiate with the its students.

Michael Letwin
Former President, Assn. of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325

Lisa Maya Knauer, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Dear President Sexton and NYU Administrators,

As an NYU alumna (GSAS 2005), I am extremely ashamed of the actions of the university administration regarding the student protestors at Kimmel. As a full-time faculty member who is also concerned with issues of university transparency, and has been frustrated by the peremptory actions of my own university administration, I applaud the students’ initiative and many of their demands as they are focused on issues of university governance. I am especially disturbed at the university’s manipulative and deceitful actions by holding out the carrot of negotiations — and then slapping the student negotiators with the stick of dismissal. The university’s decision to suspend students smacks of police state tactics. Instead of treating this matter through the normal disciplinary procedures, the university has carried out a pre-emptive strike and suspended students without regard to due process. At a minimum, the students should be re-instated, moved back into their dorms and given their rights to due process through the appropriate university disciplinary hearings.

Of course, this action does not come as a complete surprise. Unfortunately NYU has a long history of opacity regarding its internal operations and belligerence towards student activism. I was an organizer of the graduate students union, GSOC-NYU, during my time at NYU, and remember well the university’s efforts to prevent the union from succeeding. A few years later, when GSOC went on strike because the university would not negotiate a new contract, I watched with dismay as the university used strong-arm tactics to effectively break the graduate union.

I urge you to change course, to reinstate the students, and to proceed through normal disciplinary channels.

Sincerely,
Lisa Maya Knauer
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Vince Libasci, NYU

Hey TBNYU!

I’m a fellow NYU student in solidarity. I’ve been talking with other interested students who passionately call for change and we feel this is just the beginning. The lies of the NYU Admin, and the violence used against our peaceful protest will not stop us and will not be tolerated. We feel the next step is to disrupt NYU’s machinations and show them to their face we will not be abated.

We need to get these ideas out, spread the word, and show that this is just the beginning. They can’t tell us to back down quietly when they won’t even negotiate. Get back to me and we can work out logistics. There is a huge support base here at NYU and around the city, don’t let them intimidate us!

Vince Libasci

Claire Lewis, Gallatin, NYU, Class of ‘10

Ms. Brown,

Your statement grossly misrepresents the facts and I think you know it. I think the University’s response to this peaceful protest has been absolutely despicable. To not only suspend students but render some homeless, without first going through the disciplinary procedure is cruelly disproportionate to the nature of the alleged “violations” and quite obviously unfair.

I hope you realize two things. First, the whole world is watching, and you look terrible. I’m currently studying in China, and foreign classmates saw the articles in the NYTimes and all were horrified at the administration’s response. “I thought your country was a place where students were *encouraged* to voice dissent with peaceful civil disobedience…” (this coming from some students who were alive during the Tiananmen Square massacre). If we’re trying to build a global university, we need to be very careful about our reputation abroad. We had an opportunity to show that we are a school where passionate debate and peaceful protest is encouraged, where administrators care about students concerns, where students don’t have to occupy a building in order to get a meeting with the higher ups. Over the past few days, you have irreparably damaged our image.

Second, your response proves exactly WHY organizations like Take Back NYU!, that seek to empower students and give us back our say in things, are needed so badly at NYU. Take Back NYU! went through all of the “legitimate forms of protest”, gathered petitions and student group support, wrote letters and emails, attended town halls, even elected a Senator to the University Senate on a Take Back NYU! platform, and were at best, ignored, and at worst, belittled and mocked by President Sexton and other administrators. Despite some students’ philosophical issues with the occupation, Take Back NYU!’s primary demands of budget/endowment disclosure and student representation on the board are not unreasonable, and have wide student support. When the administration so flagrantly disregards students concerns and opinions, it says a lot about what kind of institution this is.

I urge you to rescind the disciplinary measures and grant all students involved full amnesty. If not for the sake of some of the brightest, most passionate students at NYU (whom you will be proud to call NYU alumni when they go on to be leaders in their communities and careers after graduating), then for the sake of our school’s reputation.

When the students reclaimed NYU, I was proud to say I go to NYU. After your response, I’m ashamed to be an NYU student.

Sincerely,

Claire Lewis
Gallatin ‘10

Maggie Craig, NYU

rock on! you know i would be there if i could- let me know if there’s any
way i can help over the internet. otherwise, i’m sending positive vibes
your way. Stay strong!

maggie

Brian D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York

Hey,

I just wanted to say how inspiring the occupation of NYU is for some of us. There has been an effort for financial transparency at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that I have been involved in (and been the unwilling media contact for), and it is amazing to see the good these occupations have been doing. I can only hope that we can find some way to do something as useful.

In solidarity,
Brian D.

Jen, York University, Canada

Thank you for this message. Students and workers at York University in Canada just finished a 85 day strike which shut down our university. We were ordered back to work by our government and do not have a contract. It is humiliating, but at least we feel although we are part of a global movement to fight the managerial bureaucracy that runs universities.

In solidarity,
Jen

Anthony C. Alessandrini, Assistant Professor of English, Kingsborough Community College-City University of New York

Dear President Sexton:

I write in support of the non-violent and creative actions of the students who are (as I write this) currently occupying the Kimmel Center for University Life. As an educator, I recognize the justice of their demands, and find a great deal of hope in the fact that these demands include feelings of concern for larger issues of social justice, as well as feelings of solidarity for their fellow students in other parts of the world, in particular Palestinian students living under occupation. The issues that they raise in their demands are precisely the sorts of issues that universities should be addressing, and so while some might view the actions of the students to be “disruptive” of campus life, in
fact, they are completely in step with what the goals of a university should be: to inspire inquiry and concern for the wider world.

As someone who was a graduate student in the program in Near Eastern Studies at NYU from 2002 to 2004, I also recognize that many of the students’ demands (especially those involving financial accountability, labor issues, and the use of university resources) are similar to those that NYU students have been demanding for years. It is time for NYU, as an institution, to finally see the light, and to begin to yield to these completely reasonable demands for financial accountability and socially
responsible investment, of the sort that is second nature at many similar institutions throughout the world.

I am heartened to hear of the actions of these students, and was very impressed by their articulations of their demands. At the very least, they deserve to be taken seriously as interlocutors; they should not be the object of police actions or institutional punishment. I hope that NYU will at last begin to listen to their demands, and take steps towards becoming the sort of institution that it has the potential to become. I am in full support of and in solidarity with the students’ actions, and hope that these students will be seen for what they are: a credit to their university.

Sincerely,

Anthony C. Alessandrini
Assistant Professor of English
Kingsborough Community College-City University of New York

Daisy Torres, Cornell University alum

Hi,
I felt compelled to email the group as I saw the audio and then read some of the posts. Be careful. I was involved in a sit-in at Cornell in 2005. It used to be commonplace at Cornell. It was the first sit-in at the university since 9-11. I did not expect Ithaca P.D. to come into the building. Initially we had interaction with just CU P.D. We had students outside supporting us and keeping an eye that things didn’t get out of hand with the police. The group of 8 would have been taken downtown but tons of students laid out on the pavement and blocked the police cars in.

I would advise to be careful during the night. I worry for you all that NYPD will bust into the place.

Don’t lose hope.
Best wishes!

Cuidense/take care,
Daisy Torres ‘05
Cornell University

Claire Lewis, New York University

FUCK YEAH!!!! I <3 you all and am so proud of you. Take Back NYU!? Um, y’all just did…

American student, St Andrews University, Scotland

Hey
I’m an American student at St Andrews Uni in Scotland, and, as you know, we are currently under occupation. We would just like to send you a statement of support and hopefully establish some kind of contact. Good luck!! Hope to talk to you very soon! There are some admins here right now, haha, so we may have some bad news very soon. Later!
In solidarity,
Occupying Students

Geeti, New School, NYC

Good on you! Keep fighting the good fight; we are in solidarity with you at the New School.

Zach, Graduate Student Organizing Committee, NYU

I spent six months of my life walking a picket line in front of bobst library. You’ve taken the struggle inside. Like many other GSOC folks I’m inspired by your courage and your vision and will do everything i can to stand in solidarity with the struggle you have initiated.

Erich Fromm, New School

What better time then now, to take back what’s been ours all along?

In solidarity.
An exile

Neal Resnikoff, NYU School of Education, 1957; Betty Alfini, NYU Washington Square, 1958

Good demands. Best to you in the struggle. –Neal Resnikoff, NYU School of Education, 1957; Betty Alfini, NYU Washington Square, 1958.

Aidan, Hampshire College, Massachusetts

I’m writing as a student at Hampshire College who was involved in our successful campaign to divest from corporations involved in the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.

I’m heartened by your courage, and wish all of you well in this endeavour. I will be writing letters to the admin in support, and hope that something good comes of your actions.

in solidarity :: aidan

Roy, Brooklyn College

theyoungvote.com as well as the students at Brooklyn College stand in solidarity.

Michael Letwin, New York City Labor Against the War

New York City Labor Against the War stands with you. Free Palestine!

Alexanderia socialist students, Egypt

VIVA the Struggle of the Students…the hearts of the socialist students in Alexanderia University in Egypt is with u…. Power to the people.. and down with tyranny!

Alex, Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University stands with you in solidarity! We have nearly identical problems with our admin/board/faculty/student relations. I can’t speak to my classmates opinion on the Middle East, but I support you in your global endeavors-at least personally. Stay strong!
luv from CWRU

Keith Hammond, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Hi …

I am an academic here in Scotland. Wonderful news that you have occupied …

All the very best of wishes from Scotland,

Keith (Hammond)
Lecturer in Philosophy
Faculty of Education

Thomas Thielemann, Germany

I took part in University occupation in Hamburg (Germany) in 1968.

We fought for similar reasons concerning a conservative structure ofthe university

in that days.Then we spreaded our fight against the vietnam war, and began to learn

what’s capitalism is all about. The youth people like you may start again to understand

the real reasons of the actual worldwide crisis of capitalism.

Your demands or more transparency concerning the university budget and the administration

ar justified. I raccomand you http://vimeo.com/1962208

Hope your fight will be successful

solidarity

Thomas Thielemann

Ali Abunimah

I just wanted to send a message of solidarity and support to you and your colleagues. I admire your courage, as well as the breadth and inclusiveness of your political demands. Students once were, and you are making them again, the conscience of the society.

Yours

Ali Abunimah

Erin, NYU alum

*You* are the people who make me proud to be an NYU alum! Thank you for your courage and your efforts to make the world a better place! Good luck! Take Back NYU!

Erin

P.S. Who should we be contacting besides Sexton?

Joel, NYU alum

I’m an alum, class of 2005, who was involved in the Kick Coke campaign, GSOC student support, anti-war organizing and various other campaigns to piss off John Sexton and company.

I’ve been emailing with a group of folks who were all in SCRC, earth matters and other groups who would like to stop by over the weekend. We’d like to bring food, or whatever you need. Anything specific? Will we be able to get through to you guys? I imagine the security situation is pretty tight. Please give me a call.

Solidarity,

Joel

Alex Grosskurth, Educator, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

Dear Administrators,

I have recently learned about efforts by NYU students to attain a greater say in the issues which affect them at your school, such as democratic governance, transparency and responsible investment. As a fellow educator, I urge you to listen to these students’ needs and demands. We must operate on the basis of respect and democracy. Failing an environment where that is possible, these students are making their voices heard.

Please meet with them TODAY and NEGOTIATE with them on their demands. For the future health of your school and community, it is the absolute least you can do.

Thank you,

Sincerely

Alex Grosskurth, Educator

Montgomery County Community College

Blue Bell, PA

Chris, NYU Graduate Student

I’m a grad student in Creative Writing and one of the organizers in Democratic Solidarity Committee, a Palestine solidarity student group that is part of a currently forming student coalition around Israeli divestment. Clara Green is in our group, and we’re working with a number of SCRC/Take Back NYU kids in this new coalition as well. We obviously support the Kimmel occupation and just put a statement of solidarity on our blog: dscnyu.blogspot.com. Feel free to post this on the Take Back NYU site if you wish. Good luck with the sit-in - we’ll be outside at the midnight rally tonight.

Chris

hey guys, I am a graduate student in the MCC program at steinhardt. Thank you so much for doing this, you guys are amazing. whats the situation like there in regards to food, fuel etc? do you guys have access to anything, or do you need goods? i can help by bringing you guys energy fuel…

in solidarity ,

neshani

Eric Drooker, NYC artist

Wish I was there with you.
I’m pleased that [you are] not allowing school to get in the way of [your] education.

I’m happy that students are finally standing up to NYU, an institution which has had a devastating effect on my neighborhood. I’m also pleased that attention is being drawn to the current situation in Gaza, another place dear to my heart.

As Fred Douglass said, “Power cedes nothing without demand.”

Keep up the good work, girl.
xxxEric

Michael Lewtin, New York City Labor Against the War

To: NYU President John Sexton; John Beckman, NYU Spokesperson; Office
of the Provost; Office of the Vice President

New York City Labor Against the War denounces in the strongest
possible terms the NYU administration’s deceitful and vindictive
treatment of student protesters who occupied the Kimmel Center.

The administration falsely agreed to negotiate, only to detain and
suspend the students’ representatives. It then forcibly removed the
remaining protesters — some of whom were assaulted by NYU security –
and evicted them from their dorm rooms.

These students’ nonviolent protest rightly demanded that NYU serve its
student body, and that the University be financially transparent and
accountable. It is particularly honorable that they demand that NYU
support the people of Gaza and end all University complicity with the
Israeli apartheid regime.

Their action is in the finest tradition of the civil rights, Vietnam
antiwar and anti-apartheid movements. We are very proud of them.

We therefore join in demanding that NYU administration immediately:

1. Rescind suspensions, housing evictions and all other disciplinary
action against the student protesters.

2. Meet the students’ demands.

Michael Letwin
Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Former President,
Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325

Anonymous, via infoshop:

Dear members of Take Back NYU and other occupiers of space,

Is it cliche to begin with a quote from crimethinc? At this point, I don’t care. I’ve always thought if someone could say it better than I could, I may as well acknowledge that. When I read this morning, to my dismay, that the occupation was over, and none of your demands had been met, this quote from Expect Resistance came to mind…

“Why measure the value of any undertaking by its consequences alone? If a revolutionary effort does not succeed in immediately transfiguring the cosmos, that doesn’t mean it was a waste of time…The point is always what is happening: the process, not the product, the means, not some overriding end- that, for a few minutes or years, something beautiful is happening.”

And it’s true. I’ve thought a lot about what these types of actions mean, and maybe sometimes the victory lies in the fight itself. The idea is that in our side of the “barricades”, we can see the world we’d like to live in, at least partially. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’ve failed. You’ll see your victory in the people you’ve inspired to stand together, by standing together yourselves. You’ll see it in more student occupations that are sure to follow this one. Increasing the viability of student occupations as a tactic in the US is certainly a victory in itself. And, Solidarity means attack, so you’ll see it in the streets of DC on March 19th & 21st, as well as April 24-26th. Because it doesn’t matter if its against war, against the IMF and World Bank or against tuition hikes and war profiteering, its all the same fight.

Thanks to everyone involved in the occupation, you’ll learn the true meaning of your success in the time ahead. Until then…

With Love and Solidarity,
An inspired onlooker

Dear David McLaughlin,

I am informed that NYU offered to negotiate with representatives of the occupiers and then detained them. This is a good Machiavellian tactic in the tradition of Cesar Borgia and shows your true face.

Like Communist China, NYU cut of the internet at Kimmel in a vain attempt to prevent communication with the outside world by the students. However, already people around the world are informed of your action.

NYU by its tough tactics may gain the support of its moneyed trustees, but will lose prestige and respect in the sight of the world for the long run.

I shall make every effort among faculty at my campus to build support for the occupation students and condemnation for NYU.

Know that your administration has disgraced itself in the eyes of students and academics all over the world.

Have a good weekend, proud of your perfidy.

Yours truly,

Val Dusek