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Campus Progress Analyzes the Take Back NYU! Fiasco

Over at Campus Progress, Ned Resnikoff, an NYU sophomore, has a thorough rundown of the fiasco that was the Take Back NYU! protest:

The TBNYU! protest was one of the strangest farces in NYU’s 178-year history. By the end of the 40-hour occupation, only 10 protesters remained, which NYU security* unceremoniously removed from the building. Each one was suspended and kicked out of campus housing, and NYU did not meet a single one of the group’s demands. Nevertheless, the official TBNYU! blog, with characteristic detachment from reality, insisted that the occupation had “made a difference.”

And perhaps it had, but not in the way they expected. The group had managed to unite the NYU Democrats and Republicans in denunciation of the occupation. And as Jessica Roy, another friend and NYU Local staff member said, “The administration will most likely now be more tight-lipped, dodgy and suspicious of the idea of discussing these important issues than they ever were before.”

In other words, the protest was an unmitigated fiasco, and a solid model of how not to effect positive change on your local campus.

Go read the whole piece.

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February 26th, 2009 5:38pm
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New School vs. NYU

Submitted by KevinH on Thu, 2009-02-26 18:12.

As someone who still believes that collective student actions can have substantial and meaningful impact, this sort of nonsensical, self-indulgent crap infuriates me, as it gives action-oriented activism a bad name. As the NYU geniuses noted, they were themselves inspired by the New School student action in December, but apparently did not take notes on why that action was somewhat successful (specific goal of Kerrey's resignation and student input into governance; focused tactics and message appropriate to the institution and its history; lack of topless students or ninjas... that sort of thing).

The stark difference in outcomes between the New School and NYU efforts was evident from the moment the NYU joke began. It's like the difference between showing up to the 2006 anti-Sensenbrenner Bill, pro-immigrant rallies versus the anti-Iraq War/capitalism/meat/imperialism/technology/genetically modified food/Israeli occupation/NAFTA/LaRouche protests of 2003. You can just tell when it's a bad idea. The problem is that journalists can't really tell the difference, meaning that disasters of this sort taint the tactic itself, rather than the crazies abusing it.