Graduate Student Council member Danilo Trinidad Perez-Rivera staged a three-hour, one-person “sit-in” outside GSAS dean Lynne Kiorpes’ office on Wednesday, claiming he was unjustly denounced from his elected role as a student senator. 

Perez-Rivera, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Arts & Science, said the GSC nullified his election result because more students abstained than voted in the most recent election. He said the GSC has not previously upheld a rule regarding a majority abstained vote, and noted that he was the only candidate who fulfilled the campaign requirements — leaving the position otherwise vacant.

The sit-in was staged after GSC adviser Randi Amalfitano did not respond to a petition from Perez-Rivera accusing her of violating election bylaws that stipulate senators are elected by a “plurality” of votes from the GSAS student body. In the petition, he called for Amalfitano to release a detailed vote breakdown, explain how abstentions could nullify an election and certify him as the 2025-26 academic year GSAS senator. 

“So I went, I knocked on the door, told them that I’d been emailing, that if they could please provide an appointment, I’d be more than willing to abide and come back at that appointment time,” Perez-Rivera told WSN. “But they didn’t want to provide me an appointment time, so I just decided to stand out there until somebody replied, and that’s what turned into a sit-in.”

During the sit-in, Perez-Rivera posted a video on Instagram explaining the situation and showcasing the eight Campus Safety officers patrolling in front of him. He said that the next day, NYU’s wellness center contacted him and said that he was “suffering from a mental health crisis.”

“My reaction to it was to laugh because I hadn’t done any of these things to incite calls of public security,” Perez-Rivera said. “All I could do is sit down and ask for a cup of water and chill because any other reaction would have been met with hostility and perhaps impositions.”

The day of the sit-in, Kiorpes told Perez-Rivera that although she has “no oversight or knowledge” of the GSC’s election procedures or bylaws, she will meet with him the next week to discuss the best solution. She also suggested he speak with the Office of Student Affairs, and said that Amalfitano does not oversee election results. 

Perez-Rivera sent an email to Office of General Counsel administrator Mathew Varughese, requesting him to review the election results and push the GSC to adhere to their bylaws instead of “arbitrary or retroactive interpretations not be allowed to override valid democratic outcomes.” He claimed that as a university that receives federal funding, NYU is violating civil rights unless it demonstrates “integrity” conduct.

In a statement to WSN, department director André Fenton said he told Perez-Rivera that the school is currently unable to address his situation because it is prioritizing other circumstances, such as graduation events and federal funding cuts. 

“I believe GSAS will consider the matter in due course after independently considering the evidence and rules and dealing with other rather pressing matters,” Fenton wrote. “I understand that Danilo is waiting for an appointment to discuss the matter with GSAS leadership. I hope priorities will allow that time to be soon, so the matter can be resolved sensibly and with respect for all stakeholders.”

Perez-Rivera also submitted a four-page observation to the university, which detailed the situation and listed concerns related to lack of transparency, arbitrary interpretation of election outcome, disregard for due process and communication deficiencies. The observation also demanded the GSC to publicize election tallies within 48 hours of vote certification. 

“We don’t expect 100% of the student body to participate in these elections because we know that people have better things to do,” Perez-Rivera said. “That’s why we write the rules the way we write them, and we stand by the definitions we provide for words so that this can make sense.”

Contact Amanda Chen at [email protected].