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Our ongoing coverage of the NYU takeover continues here and on our twitter feed.
TBNYU held a press conference at 5 pm, but no news came out of it. The two sides seem pretty dug in at this point: The university is refusing to negotiate and warning of academic and/or legal consequences if protesters remain after the Kimmel Center closes at 1 am, while the students are refusing to leave without concessions from the university.
9:30 pm Update: Dozens of students just forced their way past security into the occupied area. Two guards were injured in the scuffle. Video here.
10:15 pm Update: Apparently an ambulance has been called for one of the injured guards, though it’s not clear whether that was a cautionary measure. Take Back NYU has posted a statement reaffirming their commitment to non-violence.
11:45 pm Update: Reports suggest that negotiations are underway, apparently in an attempt to establish terms for an orderly end to the occupation.
12:15 am Update: Liveblogging here, live feed here. NYU’s deadline for the protesters to leave is 45 minutes away, and the students have rejected an offer to walk out and be given probation. Supporters of the protest and assorted gawkers are blocking traffic in front of the occupied building, and the mood among the protesters is raucous and defiant.
12:58 am Update: Ten students reportedly left the demonstration a few minutes ago, which means several dozen are still inside. The live feed has been video-only for about half an hour, and the video just went down. No update from the embedded liveblogger in ten minutes.
1:00 am Update: Take Back NYU website claims 500+ supporters in the street. Says NYU is threatening occupying students with expulsion, non-students with arrest. Live stream back up. Some occupying students leaving.
1:17 am Update: Multiple reports of protesters fighting cops in front of Kimmel. Protest liveblogger calls it “rioting.” Others say pepper spray, mace, nightsticks in use. Washington Square News reported that all NYU students still in Kimmel after 1:10 am would be arrested and expelled.
1:26 am Update: Washington Square News on recent developments…
Protesters, many of whom were masked, unsuccessfully pushed against the barricades, attempting to get into the Kimmel Center. The police sprayed an unidentified substance in protesters’ faces. Two police officers were brought inside: one, a female, rubbing her eye, and the other, a male, also thought to be injured.
1:31 am Update: NYULocal liveblogger has photo of “safe harbor” flyer passed out by NYU, promising to suspend disciplinary action against Kimmel protesters unless there is “a subsequent violation of University policies.” Not sure who the offer applies to, or whether it’s still operative in the wake of the violence outside Kimmel.
1:45 am Update: About twenty protesters remain on the third floor of Kimmel. They’re said to be asking for no action to be taken to remove them tonight. No recent word on conditions outside the building.
1:57 am Update: NYULocal is reporting that the remaining TBNYU protesters will be allowed to stay in Kimmel overnight. NYU will not roust them.
2:01 am Update: New post at Take Back NYU website —
The police pepper-sprayed the crowd earlier and a few supporters in the street were injured. There are still between 400-500 people out there and it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere. We, the students of the occupation, remain firmly against non-violent action and we hope the crowd stands in non-violent solidarity with us. Negotiations are ongoing and we thank you all for your support!!
2:16 am Update: WSN just asked Farah Khimji of TBNYU what the current status of the protester’s demands was. Her response: “At this point, I can only speak for myself, but I don’t know what I want.”
And that strikes me as a pretty good place to end the night. See you all in the morning.
Friday 9:30 am Update: Ongoing coverage, and a recap of events to date, can be found in our Friday morning post.
Our ongoing coverage of the NYU takeover continues here and on our twitter feed.
Most of the Take Back NYU protest’s demands relate to campus governance and accountability — student representation on the NYU board of trustees, disclosure of financial data, fair labor practices within the university. In that list, two demands stand out:
- That annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students, starting with the 2009/2010 academic year. These scholarships will include funding for books, housing, meals and travel expenses.
- That the university donate all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.
A lot of people are asking where these demands came from, and an overnight statement from TBNYU provides a partial answer. Here’s an excerpt:
By demanding investigation into war and genocide profiteers, providing aid to Gaza, and offering scholarshipts to Palestinian students, we are demanding that the University heed our own voices immediately. Through these demands we are also stating our solidarity with the students who have occupied their universities in the United Kingdom and elsewhere demanding aid for war-torn Gaza.
That last sentence is crucial. Since early January, students at more than twenty universities across Britain have staged sit-ins demanding administration action on Palestinian issues. Two weeks ago, students at the University of Rochester in upstate New York held a similar protest. Today’s NYU occupation follows those actions in form, and by making Palestinian issues part of their list of demands, TBNYU is linking its protest to the others in content as well.
By calling for support for Palestinian students and the University of Gaza, TBNYU is sending a message to student activists on both sides of the Atlantic. It is declaring itself to be part of a new international student movement.
Will that movement materialize? Will student sit-ins start to spread in the US as they continue to do in the UK? Too soon to tell, obviously. But the inclusion of the Palestinian demands wasn’t random, it was calculated.
Observers, like commenters here, who claim that it shows a lack of strategic sophistication on TBNYU’s part have it exactly backwards.
Our ongoing coverage of the NYU takeover continues here and on our twitter feed.
About sixty activists from Take Back NYU barricaded themselves into a third-floor dining facility in the Kimmel Center on Washington Square Park last night at about 10 pm, presenting a 13-point list of demands. They occupied the space without incident overnight.
The university barred students from entering the occupied area, but made no move to force the protesters, who included NYU students and others, to leave. Dining services in the building were moved to another floor.
The students at NYU barricaded themselves into the Kimmel dining facility shortly before closing time last night. They’d planned the occupation surreptitiously by Facebook, billing it as a dance party. More than sixty students participated in the initial takeover.
Not long after noon today, about twenty students rushed past university security to join the protest. A little later, protesters broke a lock and gained access to a balcony adjoining the occupied space.
A student is liveblogging the protest here. TBNYU has a twitter feed here. A short statement of justification for the sit-in and explanation of its demands can be found here.
3:30 Update: A new post from Charlie Eisenhood, liveblogging from inside the sit-in…
Here’s what TBNYU and the protesters have requested: a student rep for direct negotiations (and no go-between), permission for a group to travel to tonight student Senate Council meeting, permission for delegation of student Senators to come to Kimmel for talks, permission for food (vegan) to be brought by friends, permission to enter the balcony.
Here’s what NYU granted: Nothing. Zero zilch zip nada. They’ve also closed the 3rd floor “officially” and are only granting access to students with class in the building or students attending a specific event. They also said that Kimmel closes at 1 AM and that TBNYU has no authorization to be here after 1. And they stressed that any breaches of conduct (like breaking the door and entering the balcony) WILL have consequences.
Interesting.
6:00 Update: Coverage continues here.
Our ongoing coverage of the NYU takeover continues here and on our twitter feed.
Students at New York University took over the Kimmel Center Marketplace, a dining facility on campus, late last night.
The occupation website is here, and a list of the students’ demands follows…
Nelson D. Schwartz, “Job Losses Pose a Threat to Stability Worldwide,” The New York Times, February 15:
High unemployment rates, especially among young workers, have led to protests in countries as varied as Latvia, Chile, Greece, Bulgaria and Iceland and contributed to strikes in Britain and France.
Ian Traynor, “Governments Across Europe Tremble As Angry People Take to the Streets,” The Guardian, January 31:
Europe’s time of troubles is gathering depth and scale. Governments are trembling. Revolt is in the air.
Hugo Rifkin, “Student Activism Is Back,” The Times of London, February 16:
For decades, student activism has been in the doldrums in this country. It is hard to think of any large-scale student protests since busloads descended on the capital in the late 1980s in a wave of anti-apartheid rage. But that may be about to change.
studentactivism.net 
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