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A group of New School students, perhaps numbering 75 or more, are continuing their occupation of a dining hall at the university's Graduate Faculty building at 65 Fifth Avenue. Taking over the room last night, the group announced, "We liberate this space for ourselves, and all those who want to join us, for our general autonomous use. We take the university in explicit solidarity with those occupying the universities and streets in Greece, Italy, France and Spain."
They've hung up some banners, issued a "communique," and at least one student is wearing a beret. According to the manifesto, this is "a response to specific conditions at the New School, the corporatization of the university and the impoverishment of education in general." But that's not all:
It is not just this university but also New York City that is in crisis: in the next several months, thousands of us will be losing our jobs, while housing remains unaffordable and unavailable to many and the cost of living skyrockets...Be assured, this is only the beginning...with this occupation, we inaugurate a wave of occupations in New York City and the United States, a coming wave of occupations, blockades, and strikes in this time of crisis.Looks like we're gonna need more banners. According to the Times, the protest "echoes dissidence among many of the school’s faculty members, who in the past week have cast votes of no confidence in [New School President Bob] Kerrey’s ability to lead the school." The students demand Kerrey's resignation, as well as other officials' termination; they want the next president, EVP, and Provost to be elected by students, faculty, and staff; and they want to stop the the school from "tearing down" 65 Fifth Avenue.
Graduate student Marcus Michelson tells the Times, "This is about starting a dialogue. And to do that you have to be seen as an equal. People just don’t give equality away, you have to take it." But an unidentified school official who stopped by the nascent autonomous zone grumbled, "You are going about this the wrong way."
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They are sooooo in trouble!
I think I'm going to stop by later - I hear they've got a kick ass drum circle going on.
Gold, John. Gold.
I'm barricading myself in my bedroom in sympathy. I will be issuing occassional "communique" through this blog. This is going to be the mother of all self-imposed "time-outs." To the corner!
next up is the black power salute as a sign of solidarity, since they are raiding history books for "inspiration"
Spoiled brats: TRANSFER!!!!
Their hall passes need to be revoked.
glad their parents' money is being put to good use
i think this is gonna go on their PERMANENT RECORD!!!
Oh god, where is my taser?
Get a f'n job instead of complaining about OTHERS who don't have one/lost theirs.
After you've removed your thumbs from your asses, go to school somewhere OTHER THAN NYC. This fixes your 'cost of living' problem.
Not looking out for number one is NO EXCUSE for playing victim. The economy is bad for everyone, not just you and your avoidable housing situation.
Oh, whats that? You want to go to school and live in New York City and you want someone to help you do it too? Go emo yourselves.
Latest academic reputation rankings have New School edging out University of Phoenix this year! Way to step up kids!
I'm happy to see that this is happening. And very happy to see that the students are addressing the dumping of the New School's radical legacy under the idiot Kerry.
Oh dear. My brother in law is transferring to the new school in January. Who knew?
Which school is he going to? I am sure if it's not Lang he'll be fine.. I am pretty sure that most Parsons students are already loaded with work without any time for a sit in during finals week unlike..
#7: Are you threatening me? I no need hall pass! I need olio for my bunghole...
don't these kids have finals or something?
Sit-ins are old school.
As a New School Masters student let me say they should be protesting the elevators, those are some oppressive elevator lines at NSU.
At least they took over the dining hall. Smart thinking. Hopefully they took over the pantry as well. But then again how long can one survive on grilled cheese sandwiches?
so I understand the impulse to "wittier-than-thou" your way through blog comments, but how clueless are you people?
This is a pretty straightforard student occupation with an international solidarity twist. A totally reasonable response to the current situation which, if I need to recap, is that our economy has been trashed by people who stole billions and billions of dollars from us, resulting in the loss of (so far) hundreds of thousand of jobs internationally.
This is the result of capitalism. A small group of people who skim as much profit as possible off the labor and resources of other people. Capitalism sucks for people.
Sadly, there's no language left out there to deal with this anymore. A little anarchist/libertarian socialist revolutionary convo makes perfect sense in this situation. We need massive social change.
But instead of cheering them on you're mostly making "silly students" jokes.
What comforts you have--the 5-day work week, a living wage, no child labor, social security, civil rights--are the results of social protest movements.
Time to move.
You know why you should stop this nonsense and go back to class? Because you write things like "anarchist/libertarian socialist revolutionary convo."
O Please, this the the NEW School. Not exactly what I call the proletariat, or intellectual, for that matter. Only dump rich kids would waste their money and time to go a 3rd rate private school just to live in NYC, you don't see us CUNY students sitting in. Well, Parsons OK, I guess, at least their degree can get a job after graduation, but the rest, please.
Okay "emmagold": how is this going to start that dialogue on a societal level? Why should I or anyone else care that they are sitting-in at a dining hall?
I support their efforts to demand change within the university.
But if you want to change the culture of greed that got the economy to our current situation, then go stage a protest on the steps of the stock exchange or in from of the SEC or in front of major corporate headquarters or on the Mall in Washington.
And my problem with "anarchist/libertarian socialist revolutionary convo" is that without compulsory government, we're even more fucked than we currently are. Many people feel that it was the lack of regulation by the government which fostered many of the practices that got us just where we are today. We need massive social change, I agree, but tearing the world down and starting fresh just isn't an option in the real world.
And if you can't find the language, then I suggest you try harder.
I respect these kids for not just sitting in their dorm rooms, and I hope this helps them create change in the university, but if you want to change the world, you've got to take your protest to the world.
Only dump rich kids would waste their money and time to go a 3rd rate private school just to live in NYC, you don't see us CUNY students sitting in.
A promised CUNY occupation is next. That's why the NYPD are currently busting heads and making arrests over at the New School.
I know two New School students with full and partial scholarship and they are not rich. I've know other New School students who were rich. But the students occupying the school, rich or poor, wearing a beret or not, are courageous.
first things first -- I'm not a student and don't even have a masters much less a doctorate. I'm a slave wage too.
second, no self-respecting anarchist believes in a world "without government", just a government run by the people that respects civil liberty above corporate profit. You know, workers collectives and a shared economy. When it's been tried, it's self regulating because it's government in support of the population, not eating off of it.
Unfortunately, when it's been tried it's also been eventually crushed by military force. Luckily you can't keep a good idea down.
Change from below doesn't tear down anything -- it rebuilds from the bottom. The point these "kids" are trying to make -- clearly from the banners and even this gothamist report -- is that this is one protest of many.
The other protests you're talking about have happened (i've been to many Wall Street actions) and will continue to happen. People just don't hear about them because, um, you have to find good sources of news.
Like the factory workers who demanded to be fired with severence, we're going to see a lot more of this, I just want to see it in perspective and give these people credit for actually speaking out about something that needs to be said more often, not laughed at.
Oh, and in general, laughing helps revolution.
Trust fund brats in Che Guevara t-shirts.
Who needs real life when there's college?
From within the occupied New School in Exile, 65 5th Avenue, New York City:
We have been in occupation of the Graduate Faculty building of the New School University since 8pm Wednesday the 17th of December. More than 100 of us have taken over a student building, including our only library, which the administration has marked for demolition without creating any equivalent new space on campus. We have opened the building as a student-run autonomous space, in protest against the administration of President Bob Kerrey who recently received a vote of no confidence from the majority of faculty in this school. Details of our multiple grievances against Kerrey, his vice-President Jim Murtha, and treasurer of the board of trustees Robert Millard are laid out in our first communiqué. This morning we have an update on our situation. At around noon today New School security moved to block our access to the fire exits, preventing us from allowing in our fellow students of the Inter-University Consortium to whom they had refused access to the building in a violation of the Consortium agreement. When they failed to remove us, the NYPD were sent in to violently evict us from the fire exit and one of our fellow students was arrested. The police entered the building at the same time as President Kerrey arrived and offered to speak with us, we responded by refusing to negotiate with him and repeating our demand that he immediately resign. He left and took his police with him. At the moment our security has returned and our numbers have doubled, but we expect future incursions on our space and encourage all who support us to come to the Graduate Building at 65 5th Avenue and 14th street.
Signed,
The New School in Exile
Lol. Yep, that's my school. Thousands of faux-revolutionary hipsters in perpetual search for something -- anything -- to advocate for or rebel against. Logic be damned. ¡Viva la self-righteous indignatión!
Hey, on the bright side, maybe I'll get lucky and my final will be postponed.
Get used to it. We are entering a time where the expression of dissent will be coming from diverse quarters of society. You may not identify with some college kids that you consider privileged. And neither do I. But I definitely do support their action. Hopefully this is just the beginning of people speaking out and demonstrating their outrage at the wanton criminal thievery of corporate America, especially the financial sector. Rather than criticizing these kids, why not find your affinity group and organize speaking out and acting up in this crucial time?
seriously, why not? i hope CUNY is next.
#28 If these kids are protesting corporate America why don't they refuse to accept any more money and support from their rich corporate businessmen daddies?
These are just spoiled attention seekers.
I went to this school. I think it's fine that they are protesting the way the school is being run. But the idea that they are going to bring about social change is completely deluded. These kids, and a lot of the kids I went there with, wanted so desperately to live in the 60s when there was "revolution in the air".
I've protested before, I can't say I am not guilty of it. I marched in Washington before the occupation of Iraq and I was part of a silent protest when John McCain spoke at my commencement. Not to mention I wrote the editorials for the school paper and had no problem attacking bad teachers by listing the criticisms to write on their "report cards" most likely to get them fired.
But this is a dream come true for these kids. As ridiculous as their "greater goal" is what it's really about is satisfying a desire to be "part of something". To say, hey the world was screwed up and I was on the front lines! They want the cops. They'll accept being beaten up and trying to escape tear gas. In the end it's about romance. The cause is lost on most of them anyway, especially if their thoughts mirror that of emmagold's.
I enjoyed who pointed out the Che Guevara t-shirts. You know how many of them even know what he's about? Try virtually none. They would protest him in a second. You know why? After He and Fidel took over Cuba aside from being assigned to the death squad Che got the task of going to art schools and other schools to convince kids that their ideas are selfish and misguided and that they should all become lawyers and help the collective.
The beret mention in the article is hilarious.
Probably all of these kids who are hoping to start a chain of protests in regards to the economic crisis are the same ones who took radical stances behind Obama because he was going to bring about change, completely ignoring his total lack of an economic plan until it was him and McCain when ironically enough, he took Hillary's economic plan AND supported Nafta. They can't have it both ways.
But as far as kicking back against the politics in their school, more power to them, they just need to think.
Comment above by face99 is the most insightful on this page. I currently attend NS, and everything he says echoes my impressions.
I just can't wait to see how this plays out... will the administration be forced to call on the ‘fascist’ NYPD??
Friends,
The NYPD (whom we in no way describe as fascist) have already been called. They have arrested one of our friends, but now all is calm. No matter who pays our tuition, parents, loans, etc. 68% of the New School's budget last year was from tuition and 68% of the budget was not spent on the students. President Kerry and his team have mismanaged what was once a reputable institution. An institution founded to save scholars from the horrors of the World Wars. All we seek is a voice in the planning of this school that we so love. A voice that we do not believe is possible with Bob Kerrey and his team running our university.
Best,
The New School in Exile.
omigod Scottr tell us more! WHATS HAPPENING INSIDE???
\
CNN DOESN'T SEEM TO GIVE US UPDATES AND WE NEED TO KNOW!
man it must be intense in there. don't let your MacBook overheat. i heard self-righteous feelings of grandiose importance voids the warranty.
sorry. that was over the top.
you kids have to be kidding me, though.
was it coincidental that y'all did this during/after finals week?
Things inside are very calm right now. We are discussing plans for this evening and enjoyig each others company.
I know that most posts on this site have been mocking us, and I am sorry about that. We are doing our best. We are trying to get what we want out of our education and honestly, I don't know why some of you have such a problem with it.
Go ahead, if you will, mock us. We're just doing our best.
Best wishes,
The New School in Exile.
it's just the misguided energy of youth that we're mocking.
@scottr
I agree with those ideas you've just outlined. However, I think this is a ridiculous and incredibly counterproductive way to effect the change. I mean, seriously, Kerrey was on his way out anyway -- is it just impatience that's driving this??
Not only that, but I'm also confused & slightly troubled by the demands you failed to mention above, namely, dictating what the university must do with their own money. This isn't some charity, man, it's a business, plain and simple. People pay tuition, to get degrees, in order to maybe get better jobs & standards of living after graduation. If the university spends its money badly, or slacks off in quality, we're free to take our money elsewhere (due in no small part to living in a great country that values liberty and freedom from coercion).
You can't just take over a lobby and expect to start running the school's budget! How many among you have even taken an accounting class?
Yes, and clearly the energy expended to mock is a far more mature, focused effort.
And expending the energy used to mock those mocking makes you a moral superior and potentially superhuman. Your horse must be a high one.
Thanks contrabalance,
Your posts also seem loaded with good sense. The funny thing is I heard Kerrey was on his way out too (I don't really pay attention but I see the occasional update on facebook, which is how I found my way here) so it's interesting that this action "had to be" taken. You have a facebook by chance?
Good job students.
They're right to take a stand on this, and I believe it's more symbolic of the anger at the current assault on working people. Sure, many of these students will join the bourgeois echelons of society much like many of our parents did after the revolution of the 60s passed them by. But that's no excuse to sit idly by why people suffocate your voice.
I am a graduate of GPIA, New School (2005), and frankly, I felt the same way many of the above posters have stated, that many of the NS students are over-priviledged "kids" with trust funds. Screw that! You are bold, courageous and have character.
Face99,
I also attended graduate school via Milano and totally support your comments. This is one of the unique facets of the New School, however. You have the "University in Exile" folks who are still studying in the programs upon which the university was founded mixed with those of us who study/ied Nonprofit Management, HR, Organizational Change Management, clothing design, graphic design, Trombone, music composition, etc etc etc. It's a lot of needs to meet, and I have seen an enormous change in the way the school has been managed since Kerrey took over. It finally feels like a unified campus, as opposed to 7 different colleges all competing for attention and resources. There's a unified identity, even if the "exile" folks don't like that it means the university is being run more like every other college campus in the US- like a business. This isn't the 50's anymore.
Also, if there's anything that they need to be protesting, it's the god-awful cafeteria they inflict on you in that building. Blech.
They're right to take a stand on this, and I believe it's more symbolic of the anger at the current assault on working people.
okay i'll give you that, but do you think most of these kids know anything about working for an honest living? did you at 19? i know i sure as hell didn't.
working people don't care when professors rail against the inhumanities working people face. working people are too concerned about being able to feed their families to give a professorial fuck.
nor do they take too kindly, i presume in most cases, to kids enjoying the luxury that is--unfortunately--a higher education
Maybe I should stroll over there, I'm a few minutes away and have possible plans later on tonight so have some dead time to kill. Think they'll let me in if I flash my alumni card? haha
Hey face99,
Yeah, I do have facebook. The funny thing is, a couple weeks ago I got a message from a student protest group, announcing "something huge" was being planned to shock the powers-that-be. I never asked further, but it's funny to think that this thing was being planned for at least a week longer than the whole Kerrey scandal.
And if you're in the area, keep your head up. Apparently there's been little scuffles with police and bigger ones with the security guards, from what the grapevine communicates.
Also a flash update from their blogspot, and I quote:
!! FLASH UPDATE !! (noon)
Students have just expanded the occupation to control one sidedoor exit at the occupation, and President Kerrey just showed up a little before noon. NYPD police have showed up and begun trying to arrest people at the side entrance (13th st.) of the building. Witnesses report at least two people were dragged out onto 13th street and there was as least one person confirmed arrested.
They better not be scuffling with the security guards over at the UCC! They were my boys! I watched sporting events in their once lobby over there. haha
Bummer that things are getting violent, that means they've even lost the morale high ground at this point. I'd still like to go sniff around though.
Regardless, I am gonna head over to that area soon and grab a slice from Two Boots or something and hopefully by then my evening plans will have kind of materialized.
If you're in the area I'd be up for meeting for pizza and conversation. Search for ryan william walker on facebook.
I love that we're beginning to "take over" the protesters forum. Oh, the irony of life.
First of all, the reason things are bad is b/c minorities took out loans that they cant pay back. Guess whose fault that is? I dont think mortage brokers put a gun to your head and make you sign a piece of paper. And if you are too dumb to know what you are signing, guess who's fault that is? Yours.
And I think I can speak for 99% of New Yorkers when I say WE DONT GIVE A FUCK. Now most of these cute little hipsters arent from NY, so they dont know how NY operates. People have too much other shit to do. Nobody gives a fuck that 100 people are in a dining hall downtown?
Really? 100 people in a dining hall? Shit. Ive never seen anything this crazy in NY before. Get the fuck over yourselves.
"If the colleges were better, if they really had it, you would need to get the police at the gates to keep order in the inrushing multitude. See in college how we thwart the natural love of learning by leaving the natural method of teaching what each wishes to learn, and insisting that you shall learn what you have no taste or capacity for. The college, which should be a place of delightful labor, is made odious and unhealthy, and the young men are tempted to frivolous amusements to rally their jaded spirits. I would have the studies elective. Scholarship is to be created not by compulsion, but by awakening a pure interest in knowledge. The wise instructor accomplishes this by opening to his pupils precisely the attractions the study has for himself. The marking is a system for schools, not for the college; for boys, not for men; and it is an ungracious work to put on a professor." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
that cafeteria is one of the countless spaces that cost the school too much to make, looks too fancy and is useless. about time someone put it to good use.
stop remodeling brand new computer labs for brander new ones!
NSU is going downhill in the race for high capacity, at the expense of intellectual rigor.
ps. i love the photoshop twirl effect as an attempt for "anonymity" in such a rebellious act. (people sitting in a cafe)
throwcomputer, I appreciate the comments, I really do... but while I want to agree, I must say that NS (at least my division) has been pulling back their vigorous anything-goes mentality, and next semester were focusing on actually reducing the enrollment free-for-all.
Not defending them, just saying, the administration had the good sense at least to realize there are downsides to an explosion of under-qualified and/or self-righteous Robin Hoods -- one of which may very well be a factor in the current situation.
On another note, I'm off to class. Bob Kerrey has sent out a meek little all points bulletin, curtly canceling the emergency student council meeting that was to be held tonight, ironically enough, to start that dialogue we've been hearing so much about. He cites concerns for safety. Right, like a bunch of emo-nerdistas are gonna what, whine me into submission?
Seems like most of the commenters to this post (and its author) are a bunch of douche bags.
People in this country complain about how everything is going down the drain. Well, maybe if people got off their fat asses and did something about it, like these students are doing at the New School, then this country wouldn't be in such bad shape and the world would be so screwed by the US govt.
It's logical to push for the changes you seek in your immediate surroundings as a stepping stone for larger change. Remember that community organizer on the south side of Chicago with the small 'fro? Oh yeah, what's his name...? OBAMA!
Any expression of dissent and any move against complacency are this country are mocked. No wonder it's so screwed up. We can all thank people like the ones that have posted most of the comments on this blog. U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!!
If you think 'minorities failing to pay loans' was the cause of the financial crisis, you are absolutely fucking retarded.
bobkerrey666, I'll just assume you're under 16 or ‘special’ in some way, so I could at least forgive you for thinking that drivel was pretty clever.
Ever the optimist am I.
Rad name by the way. Totally bitchin.
nice response contrabalance... and the rest of you who spent the last two days criticizing the students as inefective, wanna-be 60s, faker hippies, you're so much smarter and better than them except for the part where they won:
http://www.newschoolinexile.com/
read the agreement yourself and maybe, just maybe, you'll consider the idea that direct action may actually be more useful than indirect criticism from your desk chair.
"huh, social movements for change actually change things? who wudda thunk?!"
Hah, I was about to comment about the genius behind that name. Nice.
You know, I think at this point the biggest story is that Bob Kerrey stopped by to negotiate "something" with them but they refused to even have a brief dialog with him.
I feel that even if you are for the cafeteria takeover that has to jump out as a massive screw-up. Do they have ANY diplomats in there? ANYONE with reasoning ability? It just backs up my claim that what we have are a bunch of kids who are on fire with their achievement and in the process have simply stopped using their brains.
I got this response from one of those inside the building, addressing three of her friends pessimism, "honestly, i really don't feel that you three understand the scope of what is going on here. you aren't here. you don't know what this is like. we have taken control of a building. 80 people have slept in it, conducted their day in it, and will be sleeping in it again. This is as close to an autonomous space that has ever occured in this school." If that doesn't scream being in love with the action and missing the total point I don't know what does.
They fail to understand they have no power. They're a source of amusement. Taking over a cafeteria at the end of a semester before the holidays does not = leverage. They'll be waited out and that'll be that. In the meantime they can daydream about being the "kent state" of the 21st century or something equally grand.
Their snobbish reaction to attempted compromise shows their lack of maturity and planning and foresight and leaves them with no one to blame for this failure than themselves. Silly.
Ever see a kid in the grocery line who gets Mommy to buy a lollipop, through sheer refusal to stop shrieking & whining?
Most of what the protesters got was immunity from reprisal for their temper-tantrum. The rest was a new layer of bureaucratic committees. Well done, enjoy your lollies, kids.
I would interested in seeing a review of all the comments posted about this event to see whether the majority of commenters (also outside of gothamist) were in favor of this protest.
I'm a graduate student at the New School and just finished my first semester in the Creative Writing MFA program. The one problem I noticed throughout the semester was a serious lack of communication from the school administration to the students. It seems the students are now trying to remedy that and other issues by speaking up. It might not be the most constructive method, but at least they are trying something by getting organized and combining ideas and grievances. Good for them.
For all those calling these students spoiled brats, rich kids, etc., that's an old, old story/stereotype and definitely not true in every case. Come up with some new points of view and maybe someone might hear you out.