To the students currently occupying New York University administration buildings, and the Take Back NYU coalition:
University of Pennsylvania SDS pledges solidarity and support for your continuing struggle for democracy and autonomy at NYU. Your occupation along with the student occupations around the world, are an inspiration to us as a new chapter and remind us of the tangible reality that student power can become. Writing from Philadelphia, the birthplace of liberty and independence in this nation, and in the spirit of peoplehood, your struggle reminds us that we are everywhere, and we are winning.
Take Back NYU’s list of demands for the occupation are the following:
- Amnesty for all parties involved.
- Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.
- Public release of NYU’s annual budget and endowment.
- Allow student workers (including T.A.’s) to collectively bargain.
- A fair labor contract for all NYU employees at home and abroad.
- A Socially Responsible Finance Committee that will immediately investigate war profiteers and the lifting of the Coke ban.
- Annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students.
- That the university donates all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.
- Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of 2012. Tuition rates for each successive year will not exceed the rate of inflation. The university shall meet 100% of government-calculated student financial need.
- That student groups have priority when reserving space in the buildings owned or leased by New York University, including, and especially, the Kimmel Center.
- That the general public have access to Bobst Library.
