NYU Students Protest Lack Of Disclosure
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Dozens of NYU students disrupted the Greenwich Village campus Thursday, calling on the school to be more transparent with its handling of tuition and financial aid. NY1's Rebecca Spitz filed the following report.It was a scene reminiscent of the 1960s Thursday as scores of New York University students disrupted the Lower Manhattan campus -- some protesting in the street, others barricading themselves in a third floor cafeteria.
Protestors gathered to demand the school be more transparent about its finances.
"It should be just common sense that we know where our money is going," said Keri Lions, a sophomore at NYU.
"People have had enough of not knowing where their money is going and where tuition prices are coming from," said Jane Bird, a sophomore at NYU.
Tuition money, endowment money, financial aid money, how much is there and how is it being spent?
Those were just a few questions on a laundry list of demands from a coalition called Take Back NYU.
"The primary agenda of anyone who's out here is to democratize NYU, increase student involvement in the way the university is run, give the students a real voice and ensure that NYU conducts itself in a way that is consistent with the values and beliefs of its student body," said Colin Dillon, NYU alumni member.
Dozens agitated in front of the student center for hours, clamoring about everything from university expenses to Palestine to giving the public access to the campus library.
It was a lot of information for people to digest.
"I don't know if I'm for it or against it but I've spent four years at a college where people whose parents are paying for things love to protest," said Jacqueline Lawrence, an NYU graduate.
The passion on the protestors side was matched by students on the other side. They questioned everything from the list of demands to the way in which they were made.
Freshman Todd Selby wasn't mincing words:
"I don't like their methods, I think they're counterproductive and they don't get anything done," said Todd Selby, a NYU freshman.
"No one knows what this is for. You see a Palestinian flag up there, solidarity with Gaza and this is also somehow related to university disclosure of their budget?" asked Tom DeGroot, a sophomore at NYU.
The university released a statement saying, "We value reasoned debate and forceful argument. We do not honor, however, forms of expression that disrupt the university's academic mission, its operations, or its students' pursuit of their education."
It went on to say that students who take part in disruptive protests are accountable for violating university rules, but did not say what action they may face.