Members of the NYU People’s Solidarity Coalition delivered a petition to a representative for President Linda Mills in Bobst Library on Thursday afternoon. The petition, signed by 3,700 students, faculty and community members, called on the university to remove year-long suspensions for students who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the library last semester.
The 2 p.m. delivery, carried out by eight members of Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, referenced a petition from earlier this month demanding that NYU disclose its investments in companies with ties to Israel, shut down its site in Tel Aviv and remove the New York City Police Department from campus. The physical folder that was handed over, however, only included blank sheets of paper.
“We aimed to communicate to the president that she has created a climate of fear within the university, which is reflected in the anxiety of students who don’t want their names to be used,” CAS professor Andrew Ross said in an interview with WSN. “They don’t trust their own administration.”
Ross said that upon asking to speak with Mills, he was told that elevators to the 12th floor were not available for use and was directed to speak with a representative from her office. On Thursday evening, the PSC emailed Mills a link to the online petition and reiterated student concerns that administrators demonstrated a “willingness to weaponize their personal identifying information.”
Before, during and after the delivery, dozens of students and faculty picketed outside the library, chanting “Unsuspend our students,” “NYU out of Tel Aviv” and “NYPD, PNG.” Prior to the picket, a group of students facing suspension recounted their experiences with university administration and disciplinary measures at a press conference in Garibaldi Plaza led by members of the PSC.
Several speakers claimed their hearings were unusually short and unspecific to individuals’ actions, with some students allegedly suspended despite most of the university’s charges not applying to them. Since the demonstration last semester, at least 13 students have been suspended and more than 20 others are on probation. Students said they were not given information to prepare ahead of their hearing and that they have not been able to access evidence related to the Office of Student Conduct’s claims.
“These disciplinary proceedings have been sham investigations — none of them have been professionally conducted,” Hamza, a suspended NYU Law student who spoke at the press conference, said in an interview with WSN. “It’s been a pretense for the university to shuttle students off campus who they believe are coordinating pro-Palestinian demonstration.”
NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement that the OSC’s disciplinary hearings “had nothing to do with the speech or content of the speech.”
“The consequences came about because of the students’ conduct: knowingly violating University and Library rules despite repeated warnings and attempts at de-escalation over several hours,” Beckman said. “It is improper for a small group of people — some not even in our community — to try to prevent or interrupt other students from entering the library or using it to study for finals.”
Hamza added that while most students’ hearings were around 10-20 minutes long, his hearing — which took place under the law school’s disciplinary proceedings — lasted an hour and a half. He said administrators asked him to detail his association to each claim individually, although he also was not shown evidence. Hamza said he received notice from the law school apologizing for limited preparation time and reasserting his right to peaceful protest under section two of NYU’s student conduct guidelines, communication not received by his undergraduate counterparts.
A representative for NYU’s graduate student worker union — GSOC-UAW Local 2110 — who requested anonymity due to ongoing disciplinary proceedings, said that the OSC had “targeted” members of the union and those on its organizing committee.
Another student who spoke at the Thursday protest added that for many GSOC members, facing disciplinary measures jeopardized their primary source of income and other resources available through their doctoral fellowship. They also referenced a pledge to not engage in any NYU-sponsored events including workshops, lectures and conferences until the university withdraws its sanctions. The pledge was published on Tuesday and has since garnered signatures from more than 150 GSOC alumni.
“The crux of GSOC’s work is ensuring safe and fair working conditions for NYU’s graduate workers,” the GSOC representative said in an interview with WSN. “If this is a precedent we accept for pro-Palestinian activity, it’s one we are also risking with other sorts of issues GSOC workers would care about.”
Yezen Saadah contributed reporting.
Update, Jan. 24: This article was updated with a statement from a university spokesperson.
Contact Amanda Chen, Amelia Hernandez Gioia and Dharma Niles at [email protected].
