Wednesday, December 24, 2008

"This is what democracy smells like" - students protest and demand SRI - in "1960's version 2.0"

A recent article in cited a student protest where students of "New School" in NYC where students occupied a university building and demanded the school's president quit over a number of issues.

The protest ended this week:

An article states: "Kerrey also agreed to allow students the use of the Fifth Ave. building, 'until a suitable replacement is secured and instituted, which would include the reinstallment of suitable library and study space.' The school president also agreed to provide new library space in The New School’s Arnold Hall and 7,000 square feet of quiet study space in the school’s Sheila Jackson Galleries by the end of the spring semester.

The six-point document also granted student participation in establishing a committee for socially responsible investing; gave the University Student Senate 'the ability to communicate with the student body freely' — something they said they had previously not been allowed — and granted access for a student senate representative to attend meetings of the school’s board of trustees.

'We weren’t being radical, we were being reasonable,' Emmad explained. 'We were simply trying to defend our school.'

As 4 a.m. approached, the ebullient crowd walked to Union Square. After two nights and a day inside the cafeteria, one participant, riffing on a chant from earlier in the day, said, 'This is what democracy smells like.' Then someone turned on a boom box and students began dancing.

After a peaceful climax to 32 hours of occupation, it seemed like the dawn of the 1960s Version 2.0."

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