There comes a time in the life of an institution when its wishes and the wishes of its occupants are tested. Whether this event comes in the form of a riot, a strike, a collapsed building, a death, or a misconstrued signal, its incidence cannot be overlooked and the principles it raises or razes can no longer be ignored.

Yesterday evening, New York University experienced such an event. Students gathered within the third floor of the Kimmel Center for Student Life with the knowledge that their arrests, suspensions, or expulsions would come as quite a surprise to their waking parents on the morning of February 19th Jackal the download.

As NYU witnessed one of those singular moments that have the potential to define a new age of its existence, I was leaving the Kimmel Center after an exciting night of partisan debate with the College Republicans and Democrats of NYU. One of the night’s topics, gay marriage, touched on many events of great importance in the history of this country’s battle for civil liberties and rights. The battle for these rights, including equal representation, the right to privacy, and universal suffrage, took place only because of the efforts of a small group of people being willing to stand up for the righteousness of their positions. Take Back NYU!’s actions tonight, if presented appropriately and constructively to an administration that will surely be looking for a fight in the morning, can do such a thing.

I’m going to start by critiquing what I’m sure is apparent to anyone who has scoured the comments left here on NYULocal, specifically targeting some of the outrageous demands made by the organization that, in the long run, will prove to be regressive and irresponsible.

Firstly, the use of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is an attempt to tie TBNYU!’s exploits to a larger global issue that’s actually totally unrelated to the issues here on campus. The thirteen scholarships and the rebuilding of the University of Gaza, while popular among some internationally conscious circles, will be the first things to be pushed aside by the administration. These demands are simply attention-getters that, if framed as a separate cause, could gather support. As part of this list of demands though, they come off as petty and childish.

Secondly, I feel for it, too, but it is time we all came to the realization that the ban of Coca-Cola products at NYU was overturned by a majority vote of the University Student Senators Council after months of discussion and debate and, for all intents and purposes, is now dead.

While certainly the policy that strikes closest to the hearts of NYU’s students– freezing tuition– stands in direct opposition to many of the other demands TBNYU! lists. The principles of equality and justice for all of NYU’s workers are truly important goals, but there can be only so much leeway in how NYU pays its workers if cheaper-than-average labor is not attained. I say this, not as an advocate of such a policy, but as the bearer of the brutal reality. Either a tuition freeze is implemented, or the university should continue its active fight for fairness and justice in its hiring and salary habits. It is impractical to expect the implication of both.

Now – where do we go from here? What must follow is a regimented and strictly controlled course of action by TBNYU!’s members.

NYU’s willingness to use Bobst as a public library is entirely dependent upon TBNYU!’s willingness to speak to other universities about their own policies on the matter. Despite what many commenters say, this is a policy in place in a plethora of private universities across the country (including my hometown new-Ivy, Rice University, in the library of which I spent many an evening studying in high school). If TBNYU!’s efforts to explain to NYU how to put such a program in place are successful, the policy can realistically be put in place within the next year.

The most enlightening and promising demand put forward by TBNYU! is its proposal to create a Socially Responsible Finance Committee, a board to review the social righteousness of each of NYU’s investments, a policy that, if Sarah Palin can manage to pretend to follow, NYU should gladly take up.

And as a final comment on the way in which this protest occurred and what we can expect from this event, I suggest that there is a middle road to be had. TBNYU! will not succeed today. Its proposals will not be solidified within 24 hours and no administrative body will seek to affect the kind of change their demands suggest anytime soon. However, the administration will not succeed either. Students know the issues TBNYU! raises are major concerns that deserve attention. The student body cannot and probably will not continue to stand idly by as construction in Abu Dhabi continues without proper oversight, budgetary losses accumulate as the recession progresses, and ethically-questionable investments persist even as the rest of our educational peers at other schools encourage and succeed in applying divestment standards.

So tonight will stand as turning point in the complicated relationship our student body has with its administration. If engineered correctly, TBNYU! can inspire a new wave of student involvement in those clubs on campus that have powerful control over the school’s agenda. Town halls will no longer serve as Sexton-bashing galas, school elections will no longer serve as sad examples of democracy, and hearings for a variety of issues close to our generation’s hearts will no longer serve as mini echo chambers, absent of any recognizable student attendance. And if the administration plays its cards right, the role of mediator will be passed onto its student representatives, allowing for dialogue between students in the “system” and those outside of it to take place, all the while with the expectation that appropriate policies and stances make their way to the University Student Senators Council.

To the university, TBNYU! has thrown you a bone, not hit you over the head with it. Such a radical but peaceful step over serious issues warrants a renewed drive for compromise. And to TBNYU!, I suggest a level-headed approach to what comes next. Progress happens slowly, and as this drastic event has already occurred, its aftermath, in order to win anything substantial for the student body, must be calculated and meticulous.

Oh, and lighten up on the spray paint and dancing for awhile.