from Take Back NYU
Students of New York University, declare the successes of this occupation.

The administration demonstrated their steadfast commitment to disregard for its students. There was no single attempt to negotiate with the students. The administration disingenuously presented the students with negotiation, which the students readily accepted. Once in the negotiation room, the administration revealed it had lied to us in order to remove us from the room. Their intent was never to negotiate, but instead to remove negotiators from the space and present them with a non-negotiable punishment.

The administration’s refusal to look students in the eye or attempt to hear our voices clearly reaffirms the need for changing university policy. An administration so unaccountable for their actions and so secretive in their operation, pushed multiple democratically elected students senators to reclaim the Kimmel Marketplace in the name of real democracy. We are appalled that the university put Public Saftey Officers at risk use of the guards as a tool to silence voices in solidarity. Several students and one security guard were injured when Public Safety was ordered to refuse the entry of food and hundreds of supportive students into the reclaimed space.

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

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. Onward.

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NYU Uses Force and Violence

During the Kimmel Center occupation, NYU several times initiated violence with both demonstrators and occupiers alike.

Video at NY1 shows the mayhem outside, where NYPD night-sticked, pepper-sprayed and tased demonstrators during the midnight rally. NYU remains silent on the use of violence against students expressing their support for the occupation, while at the same time trumpeting its concerns about minor property damage inside the occupation. This once again shows where the administration’s priorities lie.

Similar for the inside. Every student participating in the occupation has a story about NYU initiating force against them - be it during attempts to reach the occupation with students in solidarity, or when trying to exit the building. During both efforts to enter the building during the occupation, NYU positioned its largest guards at doors, and had them use fists, elbows, knees and feet in their attempt to shut down a peaceful protest.

Initiating the use of force against students cannot be accepted. NYU’s reaction during the occupation is profoundly disappointing considering their stated commitment to dialog and progressive politics both. We hope this event is a bell-weather in encouraging NYU to reconsider how it interacts with non-violent protesters.

The real story of the occupation will be told by the voices and bruises of Take Back NYU! members who participated, not by the frustrated public pronouncements of our administration.