I am also very curious as to whether they even petitioned the administration before doing this. It does seem as though they just woke up and decided to protest. Civil disobedience is supposed to be a last resort. You don’t start with it.

And then to ask for amnesty first… to me that completely undermined their purpose. Their first demand should have been their number one goal, not a selfish plea to avoid the trouble they caused. I think they missed the point of civil disobedience; you are supposed to accept the punishment. Martin Luther King Jr. did not write his letter from the Birmingham jail because he had no where else to stay. A willingness to sacrifice yourself and accept punishment shows the strength of your belief in your cause.

First of all, the injuries sustained at the protest. I love how everyone is commenting that a security guard was injured. I was there and I can tell you that I don’t personally know if I believe that any security guards were “really” hurt. I think that they may have taken her in as a precaution so she couldn’t sue. There were many students who suffered injuries caused by the security guards and police as well. But in spite of all of this, I witnessed a security guard shaking hands with one of the students and talking to him because they know each other from a dorm. Neither group wants to be fighting the other one. It’s a shame that the administration has declared that the security force should fight their battle for them. They refuse to take matters into their own hands and discuss the issues with the students. THEY have created an unsafe situation at the school.

Secondly, majority of the students protesting are not at NYU as trust fund kids. They are working hard for their education and will continue to pay off loans for years to come. It is not mommy and daddy’s money, as it clearly is for many of the people blogging about this. And if it is your money, then why don’t you care how it is being spent? I know that many of you have said that lower to middle class kids should simply go to a cheaper school, but that is exactly what causes the huge gaps in our economic classes. The name NYU, the prestige of this university, the doors that it opens for its students through internships, jobs, and networking cannot be found at any other school. Who is to say that only the rich should be privileged enough to gain access to the opportunities that this school has to offer? Why is it that a hard working, extremely intelligent, dedicated individual is not worthy of the same educational experience simply because they are not wealthy enough? All that does is make sure that the wealthy stay in control, even if they are not the majority in the country.

Lastly, NYU should have seen this coming. They have been aware of TBNYU’s issues for a long time now. They were also aware that they do not listen to the voices of their students. These are facts. What they now need to consider is the fact that these students have done exactly what NYU has taught them to do. This school shapes leaders. As a student here, I have been taught the importance of moral and ethical behavior which I have seen stressed by all of my professors and the administration itself. It is no surprise that these students who have been taught to stand up in the face of injustice have finally decided that enough is enough. These are not unintelligent losers, they DID get in to NYU, so respect them at least that much. They may have different beliefs than you, but they are not stupid, and stating that they are is ignorant and ridiculous.

If money was such an issue for NYU students then they would have looked at the financials before they went there. And the Gaza Strip thing: a pathetic attempt to illustrate their “selflessness”, even though they are being completely self-centered, meaning they are acting like their voice matters. It doesn’t.

Also, I love how there’s the classic Ivy League condescending school conversation on this board: “Jeez, they’ll let anyone into Brown these days.” “sorry that dartmouth and vassar rejected you”

Haha. You guys over at NYU must really try hard to make yourselves look this stupid.

Sorry, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

http://www.nyunews.com/2.6167/1.644812-1.644812

“The NYU student body’s affluent tilt shows in the number of students who submitted a FAFSA, which is required of all students seeking aid. Out of the nearly 4,000 students in next year’s entering class, only about 2,300, or 58 percent, did so, Hall said.

Hall said that the mean family income of those who demonstrated need through the FAFSA was $82,200 and the mean family income for those who did not demonstrate need was $199,200. Students whose families don’t bother applying for aid presumably have even higher incomes, but NYU does not have access to their financial records.”

As for the Gaza thing… I don’t know. I do agree with you, that was a little extreme.