congrats on the local news coverage. best of luck from a former student.

You just accept what the university tells you about “safe harbor”? Are most of the students at NYU such sheep?

All your elected leaders should be as brave and wise as Caitlin.

I’m glad you spoiled NYU kids are protesting for the right cause. Thank God someone is standing up (sitting down) to hear about NYU’s rogue spending and free Bobst access.

Who cares about the shitty stimulus package, or the fact that I’m paying for someone’s $500,000 house mortgage (while they only make $30,000 a year). Or what about the 9 white cops assassinated in Philly just last year, but Sharpton would rather bitch about a goddamn comic.

Way to fucking go fellow students of NYU, we got the finger on the world’s pulse.

I think it is great that the Student Senator doesn’t respect for her own position, or peers, on the Senate. One of the demands of the occupation is the reassessment of the lifting of the Coca-Cola ban. Caitlin is s strong supporter of, and the Senate recently removed. She is in essence saying that since the existing democratically elected body, that she is a member of, didn’t agree with her a whole new organization needs to be created.

What this seems like is a little girl upset she didn’t get her way, and is instead going to throw a tantrum to usurp the existing process to get what she wants. I think this shows even more what little respect she has for the students she “represents” from CAS.

Caitlin is neither brave nor wise. This whole situation is insane.

“All your elected leaders should be as brave and wise as Caitlin.”
How is that being brave and wise when the administration things we are irrational and unreasonable animals instead of smart, committed students?

What is wise about embarassing NYU and its students, and interfering with student services during black history month and for other events where outsiders come to NYU?

What is brave about locking yourself in a dining hall and then asking for food and then criticizing anyone who dares to reevaluate the purpose of such an “occupation”?

We are so much better than this.

When the necessary channels of protest and procedure fail, i.e. student government, that’s when drastic measures become necessary.

also just saw coverage on national news.

I yearn for the Kent State days

That’s all well and good Cooper but the question is whether Boehne belongs in student government if she is already resigned to it’s failure.

“When the necessary channels of protest and procedure fail, i.e. student government, that’s when drastic measures become necessary.”

Who said they failed? What evidence is there of failure? People have voted on some of these important issues and are still working on others. Democratically elected bodies voted. Why ignore majority opinion and views? Students have the opportunity to speak to the administration and through elected representatives make things happen.

If something doesn’t go our away we have to destroy the system? haven’t we learned anything from Barack Obama’s election? If we organize and try to reach out to various groups…change can happen…even on apathetic campuses like NYU.

we should all be there, really. if you don’t like whats going on, it would make more sense to go and talk to the occupiers than to bitch about it on the internet. feel strongly? go tell them.

it’s easy to understand why they feel so self-righteous when their opposition is largely composed of the lazy and inarticulate, and they’re ALL either outside or on the internet. face to face interaction is usually more effective than armchair diplomacy.

if I had a huge problem with the occupation, I would go and occupy it myself. a sit-in on a sit-in.

Now that I have just read this, it is clearer to me than ever that something about this whole situation isn’t right. She’s a student Senator?!?! Really?!?! I would have been angrier about this situation if I had known this before. How can she, of all those involved, not have stuck to working within the system? I don’t understand. I honestly don’t know what else to say. This is outrageous. “Wise”? Give me a break. Mature? Not even close.

The ENTRIE protest could have been handled much, much, much differently. Instead, Caitlin and her cohorts chose to be as flashy as possible so that, after the intial shock, no one would listen to their words. You blew it. If the Administration caves in now, I would be dissapointed. You, Caitlin Boehne, poorly represent NYU and your constituents.

THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE REVISED, CAITLIN LEFT THE OCCUPATION / KIMMEL AROUND 3 AM THIS MORNING. SHE NEVER SPENT THE 2ND NIGHT.

I don’t believe she should be involved with this kind of protest. As a member of a legitimate organization which is supposed to represent the will of the wider student body at NYU, she should realize that sometimes her personal opinions cannot always have a bearing on what the she and the SSC does. She, like it or not, began to represent more than just herself when she took the position as senator, and I agree with Chris above when he said that if she doesn’t believe the process works, she should resign.

Also, democracy, in whatever its form, is a process. It shouldn’t take overnight to make changes. It should be thought out, debated, argued, and eventually hammered out using recognized processes which are agreed upon by everyone. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but at least everyone can agree it was done the right way. If rules were changed at the whim of every protest and irrational group, everything would be a big mess. Anyways, that’s just my two cents.

-Trevor Cano

I spoke with Caitlin until about 2.30am, at which point she said in no uncertain terms that the safe harbor offer had been rejected and she was not planning on leaving. If she did, in fact, leave less than half an hour later, she has my phone number and can let me know, at which point I will update this post. Regardless, leaving at 3am does not cancel out her participation in the occupation in general and particularly past the 1am university mandated exit time. The question still stands.

I really don’t see the issue with Caitlin being involved with the occupation. My question is, why aren’t more student leaders in there with her? Elected students should first and foremost be willing to stand up for their fellow students in the face of the Administration. Caitlin’s doing exactly that.

@ Patrick St. John: What Caitlin is doing is standing up in the face of the administration for a few students while going against the wishes of the many more she also represents.

Would you support a government official acting like this in the interest of a small group just because they say they’re doing so as an individual and not in their official capacity? The term is “public servant” for a reason.

I think we all should take a look at Caitlin’s quote in the WSN; “‘The Senate is powerless, and I don’t feel like there’s any reason for me to be a senator, so now I’m occupying a building,” she said. “Quite frankly, there’s nothing [the Senate] could do to end this.’”

If she doesn’t feel like she should be a senator, then she should just resign, and stop hurting the image of the CAS students she currently “represents”.

[...] received word from two sources that CAS Senator Caitlin Boehne actually left Kimmel shortly after telling Local that she was in it for the long haul at 2:20am [...]

@ John Thatcher.

“It’s like going into the Senate. You know, the first time you get there, you’re all excited, ‘My God, how did I ever get here?’ Then, about six months later, you say, ‘How the hell did the rest of them get here?’” -Mike Gravel, US Senator

Can you make a petition to impeach Gravel, too? He’s hurting the image of Congress!!

@ Madeline
You are actually mixing up my point, I didn’t say she was hurting the image of the senate, I said she was misrepresenting the wishes of her constituents of CAS. Saying that she can go do this is like saying it is okay for Mark Foley to engage in inappropriate and harassing behavior towards pages, because that wasn’t Congressmen Foley, that was Mark Foley the pederast. Your elected office follows you and becomes part of how you are.

That said, if Mike Gravel went into the Senate Cafeteria, barricaded himself in there, and was my senator I would absolutely vote to impeach him. Voicing your discontent with the political process, but continuing to negotiate in a legal sane manner, and committing wildly unpopular and illegal acts are completely different.

It is a ridiculous and unfair assessment to suggest that someone involved in politics can not pursue other paths of effecting change. Caitlin Boehne is proof that in attempting to accomplish goals of transparency and democracy at NYU, a diverse set of tactics is the most successful route. Her participation in this occupation in no way undermines her representation for the student constituency. The Student Senate has only the power of persuasion: no real voice, no mode of effecting transformation at the level of the Board. Furthermore, her or anyone’s leaving the occupation, or the inability for many of us to be on the inside, proves that TBNYU! is not solely an organization of wealthy over-privileged students; it, like the student body at large, is comprised of over-extended students with (sometimes 2 or 3) jobs and a full course-load. A reason these students have demanded, among other transformations, that NYU be a more affordable institution.

@ Mickey B

“Would you support a government official acting like this in the interest of a small group just because they say they’re doing so as an individual and not in their official capacity?”

As long as we’re comparing a university “government” to the U.S. government, the answer is YES. They’re called “interest groups” for a reason. Don’t like that your Congressman is having a steak with an AARP lobbyist right now since you’re not retired? Too bad, he can do whatever he wants on his off-hours.

It’s very common for elected officials in other forms of government to participate in other activism, to attend or speak at rallies, and even to participate in civil disobedience actions. For just one of many examples, remember that five U.S. Representatives were arrestsed in a civil disobedience action protesting genocide in Darfur in 2006: Tom Lantos (Ca.), Sheila Jackson-Lee (Tex.), James McGovern (Mass.), John Olver (Mass.), and Jim Moran (Va.). http://www.campusprogress.org/features/1137/very-civil-disobedience/index.php

Why should a student senator not be allowed the same kind of freedom of public participation that members of Congress and city council members all over the country have?

@ John Thatcher.

Lawmakers are allowed to do things that are unpopular. In fact, they’re expected to. Otherwise, we’d have a direct referendum on every bill. Fortunately, we don’t, which is why unpopular legislation like, oh, the Civil Rights Act, is signed into law.

The right and duty for lawmakers to exercise their privileged expertise extends beyond their professional roles. You may not agree with TBNYU’s demands or their tactics (for the record, I don’t), but Caitlin is rightly leveraging her role as a senator to advance her beliefs. It’s pretty low to compare her civil disobedience to Foley’s sexual harassment.

The best part about all of this is that very, very few people vote in the senate elections. Caitlin ran a very open campaign, on the platform of her “radical” leanings, and won. Why doesn’t that stance represent the majority? Because only a small minority actually vote. Maybe we should be encouraging voter participation rather than hastily trying to undo the election when it turns out our complacency backfired.

@ Madeline Kane:

You must have missed the “acting like this” part of my post.

I would take no issue with Caitlin Boehne participating in TBNYU!’s activities if the activities were reasonable. Breaking university rules as well as law by laying siege to a common area is unacceptable given the issues. These issues do not demand such a demonstration.

Fritsche-

Because those people were actually doing adult things like adult people and protesting in an adult way. This is pathetic and childish all around.

@ Madeline Kane:

“The right and duty for lawmakers to exercise their privileged expertise extends beyond their professional roles. You may not agree with TBNYU’s demands or their tactics (for the record, I don’t), but Caitlin is rightly leveraging her role as a senator to advance her beliefs.”

The problem is that Caitlin isn’t leveraging her role as senator.

@ Mickey B.

Sure she is. She brought more visibility to TBNYU and the protest via her role as a senator.

@ Madeline Kane:

Sure, she brought attention to TBNYU through her campaign. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

If you’re referring to this particular protest, what did she do in her capacity as senator to publicize it? I mean that as a question, not a challenge. I found out about it through this wonderful blog.

“Sure she is. She brought more visibility to TBNYU and the protest via her role as a senator.”

Senators are supposed to make changes in policy on behalf of their constituents. I don’t understand where disrupting student services and embarrassing NYU while events were going on and while employers were visiting, comes into the equation. In addition, we have cops and guards to protect us from the outside world and not from our own peers. Its embarrassing that injuries occurred on any side.

Bringing visibility to TBNYU won’t help anything because its demand seem ridiculous and they lack credibility due to their behavior.

Just because people on the Senate voted different ways are disagree doesn’t mean she has to act like a baby and violate University policy.

I feel sad for all the students who are applying for jobs right now and employers may have to second guess hiring at NYU student because if something doesn’t go their way, they’ll barricade themselves in an interview office.

I would understand if Caitlin participated in peaceful civil disobedience…but what she did was offensive to her peers and to the university and to the constituents who wanted to see meaningful change and dialogue occur.

@ Mickey B.

Evidence that she’s bringing visibility to TBNYU and the protest: this post. I don’t know if she publicized it, I’m just saying the whole reason they ran Caitlin was to get more attention and legitimacy.

@ Christian

Please see my previous post in response to John Thatcher. Representation begins with voting.

Caitlin, as part of here CAS Senator duties hired the NYU mascot to walk around promoting a ‘recycling initiative’ (a shopping cart stolen from space market where people could put recyclables in). Except she did this on election day, so she and a friend wanted to walk around with the Bobcat wearing McCain and Hilary masks so they could also tell people to “get out and vote”. People were incredibly confused as to what exactly she was trying to get them to do. (Mixed messages seem to be a thing with her, I think).

Except, then she got distracted and went to talk to her friends. And that left the NYU Bobcat walking around with someone wearing a McCain mask on election day. Then she threw a fit when the mascot left. As she should have known, we are the official representation of NYU, and are not allowed to endorse any political group. Especially not a presidential candidate on election day! (And, I personally was not about to endorse McCain!)

My advice, when you read this Caitlin, as I am sure you will, is to figure out what exactly it is that you want to do, then put some thought into the reception of your actions by the general public. You seem to be good at getting people behind you, an admirable talents, perhaps, but here rendered utterly meaningless as you seem to have nothing decent to get behind.

@ Madeline Kane:

This post is far from convincing evidence. The story has been out for long enough that this post is inconsequential to furthering the cause. I’m not discounting the possibility that Caitlin has leveraged her position, but it seems that most people didn’t know a CAS senator was involved until they read this post.

“Representation begins with voting.” – Actually representation neither begins nor ends with voting. Voting is just the action of legitimating a politician’s power, but you can represent someone in voice, or even in voting through dialogue and understanding the myriad of concerns and the diversity of your constituents. In fact as Barack Obama reiterated when he was elected…he was elected to represent all Americans not just Democrats…and he would find a way to gain their trust by supporting them and opening a dialogue with them. He did not say let me barricade all the red states…until they follow my demands.

For those who are dissatisfied with Caitlin’s activities, let your voice be heard! Sign this petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/recall-caitlin-boehne

[...] try to pronounce her name. You’ll get it wrong.  Just like she go it wrong when she decided to ignore her responsibilities as a Student Senator and join the TBNYU! protest. The kicker? She then backed out of the protest as well, leaving Kimmel about 20 minutes after [...]

Janell’s post made me think about something else. It seems some folks think that Caitlin shouldn’t be on the Senate if she doesn’t believe that the university government alone is an effective means of bringing about change to NYU. Do you think that TBNYU! *shouldn’t* have tried to work through the senate if its members didn’t believe that U-government channels alone were going to be able to get the job done? Does that mean you shouldn’t use avenues you believe will only get your cause part of the way, even if you think there’s a chance those avenues could help? I mean, should I stop voting? I have very, very little hope that electoral politics will accomplish the changes that I want to see in the world. But I still vote, because I exhaust all possible vehicles for change, in case there’s just the teeniest chance that they might bring us just a teeny bit closer to success.

[...] about CAS Senator Caitlin Boehne’s involvement in the Kimmel occupation and the WSN op-ed that appeared under her name on Tuesday, two student senators argue the case for [...]