You Weigh In
Feb 25th, 2009 by Take Back NYU!
- Who has a say in NYU’s allocation of funds? Who should have a say?
- What does tuition go to? What are the other ways the university raises money? What are the implications of each?
- How much information is already available to the public? What is missing?
- Should corporations and/or universities make their budgets public?
The exchange of ideas is an important function of universities. In order to bring this function beyond the classroom, we want you to comment. Constructive criticisms are encouraged. For this post, insults and threats will be moderated.
I’d like to learn more about the ideas and philosophies behind Take Back NYU!
What should I read? Whose classes should I take?
The schools with higher tuition than NYU which can be found here: http://www.campusgrotto.com/most-expensive-colleges-for-2008-2009.html. Which private universities reveal their budget and endowment?
As much as it would be excellent for more financial transparency at NYU, the fact of the matter is that with a two billion dollar endowment and revenue exceeding two billion dollars (http://www.nyu.edu/about/budget/), in a university with such a global presence, there’s going to be money flowing in so many different directions that publicizing such information would only encourage more student dissent. The university is NEVER going to make this information public. It would only cause more problems on campus, severely interrupting the education of thousands of students.
And it would be lovely if we could donate money to the poor, innocent people in Gaza whose lives have been turned upside-down in recent events; however, this is unrealistic at NYU in this economy. We’ve already lost millions and millions in endowment because of the market, and there are so many needs on campus that we have to meet before we can throw money at people half way around the world. You want more of students’ tuition going directly toward their education, but this is just giving money away. It’s a bit contradictory. And at a university known for its large Jewish population, including in alumni with deep pockets, NYU would be hit even harder in the long run if it gave some of their money to the Palestinians.
the answers to these questions are already addressed in numerous other posts on TBNYU’s web site (yes, this web site right here)!
i think it would be more productive to encourage discussion of the methods through which students can most effectively make changes relating to the topics you bring up.
for instance, is it productive to brand the organization pushing for transparency with ‘radical’ imagery and oppositional language? i think that maintaining the appearance of professionalism and integrative potential would be more productive. why would the administration want to engage with a group that appears to be anti-administration?
the image of a raised fist and the presence of TBNYU graffiti on campus doesn’t make administrators see the group as a legitimate academic or political organization.
civil disobedience is a powerful tool, and it is most effective when used by individuals and groups that appear focused and rational.
sidenote– a number of my emails to tbnyu over the past week have gone ignored. obviously the flood of email and commentary has been massive for you guys, but some kind of feedback to show that you are indeed listening to outside opinion would go a long way toward gthering popular support.
The socially responsible investing demand is fundamental at a university with a global presence. Students have a right to not have to pay for war, genocide, and labor abuses. For example, Textron makes cluster bombs that kill more children in the Middle East conflicts than any other weapon, there are internatinal treaties banning them, and a whole ton of mutual funds and indexed funds own Textron shares. NYU, with a $2.5 billion endowment, can pressure fund managers by creating social capital, incentives to invest in more ethical industries. For example, Muhlenberg College (where I attend), also wants to divest from Sudanese arms trade and the genocide in Darfur which, as well as Textron, is funded by our shares in State Street’s mutual fund. If we organized with other institutions (like what happened against Dow Chemical (napalm), nuclear weapons, apartheid in S. Africa…etc.) we can really encourage better behavior from the global actors who rely on these horrible things. That’s how higher education institutions can make a difference now, as opposed to just encouraging students to vote for president every four years.
Here’s what I see as the take-aways from the past week or so -
Civil disobedience is not some magic spell that makes things better when you do it. It has the twofold purpose of raising awareness and sympathy of the issue and inconveniencing the powers that be to the extent that it’s easier to bargain than to put up with the inconvenience. (Or else to martyr the protesters.) The second force is largely a non-starter here; with such a paltry number of people involved, NYU can easily tell the assembled to break it up and go home; there’s nothing TBNYU! can do with such limited support that would inconvenience NYU that much without breaking criminal law. With that in mind, I feel like TBNYU! really needed to use the protest largely as a publicity stunt, and while the protests have caught the attention of the country, the general reaction falls much harder along the lines of “dang spoiled rich kids” than “oh, man, NYU really needs to do whatever it is those people wanted.” More than anything else, failure to manage the press the event got, I think, was TBNYU!’s greatest failing in the whole endeavor. The absurdly long list of unconnected demands that reach all over the place can’t be easily summarized in a headline - “NYU students protest for… transparency? Gaza? Soft drinks? Not getting in trouble for protesting?” Whatever consensus decision-making process led to such a disaster of a demands list needs to be re-examined. The demands list, however, was only the tip of the iceberg of the greater problem - TBNYU!’s failure to present itself as a serious movement. A single YouTube video - the most widely circulated one - shows protesters on the inside becoming comically confrontational with bored-looking NYU security, swearing and crying brutality where none obviously exists before squandering their discussion time. The video culminates with the cameraman rooting through things he apparently believes will be confiscated, producing the take-away quote from the whole event - “They probably drink corporate water.”
“They probably drink corporate water” would not be the phrase that’s on everyone’s lips now if TBNYU! had devoted any thought whatsoever to how they came off as an organization. From the whole food fiasco to a variety of naive or outright clueless comments made to the press to having “we don’t really get in trouble” as the number one demand of the protest, TBNYU! came off as a bunch of spoiled, clueless rich brats that had no idea what they were doing, regardless of the actual level of spoiled-rich-kid-ness of the protesters. (Since finances were one of the many things being protested about, I would assume that at least some, if not all, of the protesters were not, in fact, rich little brats, but that’s not the image the group managed to project.)
Civil disobedience is at least as much about PR as it is about bothering the powers that be into compliance, and I feel like the PR side was the greatest failing; most of the sub-failures contributed to making the protesters look unsympathetic. I realize that you don’t have the raw number of people to be able to screen out potential protesters, but anyone who cannot help but curse out NYU security or actually giggle while uttering “they probably drink corporate water” should at least be kept away from rolling cameras.
My two cents.
(Note - I know that you’re trying to keep certain attitudes out of the comments. I really tried to stay on the right side of the line.)
Their ‘08 Financial Statement is right here http://www.nyu.edu/financial.services/cdv/pdf/CFS_2008.pdf
The ‘09 Budget is right here http://www.nyu.edu/about/budget/
I’d say that’s as transparent as you’re gonna get! And don’t forget that your tuition/housing only covers 68% of the budget. So you’re really only “entitled” to know about 68% of the spending.
NYU needs our tuition money to operate, and they need alumni donations also. Regardless of how it feels, we have power when we are here and after we leave. It seems to me that TBNYU is fighting against the administration’s idea that we are customers who should pretend to be a community, by highlighting that our relationship with NYU is not reciprocal: they make the decisions and we pay for them. I say, if the university insists on treating us like customers instead of members of a community, we should let them know customers won’t donate after they graduate. Perhaps a groundswell of commitment to never donate to NYU so long as it remains a draconian corporation shrouded in secrecy would show the administration how we feel in a language they understand.
First things first: living in NYC, it’s tough enough being of a somewhat “countercultural” disposition but coming from NYU. Your display - an embarrassment to yourselves and all NYU alumni - didn’t help things.
Secondly, whatever was gained from the New School occupation was set back into the red by this abortive attempt. I don’t blame the school’s failure to meet your demands, but rather the execution of the attempt itself.
Thirdly, I’d be curious to hear what your method was. How did you go about preparing for this? Please, clarify this, not only for all the hard-working NYU students whom you reflected so badly upon, but for yourselves, and for whichever other universities follow in your footsteps. Help them to learn from your mistakes.
Finally, the criticisms of your demands are not without merit. The Palestinian thing was completely out of left field. And to make your first demand (rather than your last demand) one of amnesty for yourselves seemed completely illogical. But by now you’ve heard the criticisms.
Please, clarify all this, and redeem whatever student protest movement might be bubbling up in the works, as well as the shame you have cast upon your fellow NYU alums.
I truly admire your efforts to get transparency from the administration. But I cannot ignore the fact that your campaign (notably, your “demands” during the occupation) do not recognize past attempts, are almost pedantically unrealistic, and quite poorly articulated. The faculty has, for year and years, been trying to get the administration to release more information about the budget. They have been at NYU far longer than anyone of us has or will be and it seems you have no understanding of the history of the issues at stake. You must also understand that the budget will never be completely transparent - there are things we simply cannot know and to make your cause seem a little more reasonable, you should really recognize this. Lastly, your “demands” were horribly inarticulate. I really applaud most of them, but the last one about Bobst being opened to the public weakens your credibility. Want to know where our tuition dollars to going? They’re going to the endless amounts of journals and subscriptions Bobst buys specifically for its students - these cost thousands of dollars and should always remain a privilege of the students here. If you want to champion free exchange of information, go talk to the New York Public Library. I also think the conduct of some of your own campaign members terribly undermines your core values of free speech and open dialogue. Some of you were viciously cursing and taunting the NYPD and NYU Public Safety guards. Your occupation was offensive because you violated the rights of others to assert your own - never an acceptable situation.
I’m sad that your campaign wasn’t managed better because I would have loved to help fight for some of the good you’re actually working towards!
To most of the above commentators: I’m really interested in your answers the questions this post poses. You’ve made it clear what you think was wrong with this protest and tbnyu!’s demands, but I’m wondering what your alternative vision of this university. Is it a corporation? Private entity that doesn’t need to tell us anything? Okay, fine. So how do YOU answer the above questions? As many have suggested, it’s time for us to move on, learning from the past but looking at the future.
I’d answer myself, but I think that, as someone who is pretty substantially involved in tbnyu!, MY thoughts are well represented on this website. Obviously you all weren’t at the multiple town hall meetings and events we had over the past 2 years where we discussed these issues, so I want to hear your ideas now. One question we like to start with is: What does your ideal University look like?
(James: you’re right, we are slogged with emails, a lot of it from the media, a lot of it solidarity messages from organizations around the globe, some of it helpful criticisms and suggestions, some of it racist, misogynist hate mail. We do appreciate feedback. But even better would be if you joined us, came to some meetings, planned some events or actions. Don’t rely on whoever is reading the emails to speak for you. Come speak for yourself.)
NYU is a private organization. Its not a public entity such as the government. If you disagree on how the money is being spent on your school, you can petition for changes and hopefully they will be met but that’s really up to them. If all fails, you find another school which satisfies you. That’s the power of the free market. If enough people see fault in a product or a service, as long as there is no monopoly, people will go to someone else who better provides that service or product forcing that company or organization to change their ways to attract those people back. : )
Its a noble cause, but you should re-direct your efforts towards our government which is accountable to its people. Ask them the same questions. Ask them to disclose information about Unconstitutional organizations such as the Federal Reserve, IRS, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Education.
Good luck buddies
You want to know what I think?
I think you should all shut up. NYU affords us great opportunities and a well-respected education. I think you disgraced the NYU name with what you did at Kimmel. And if you don’t like the Administration and policies, then transfer somewhere else. NYU is not forcibly keeping you here. You’re free to leave and go to Community College.