The New School In Exile

Tom Ridge speech disrupted at New School
Posted by alvinjohnson on Friday, September 25, 2009 (04:47:07) (720 reads)

Early on Thursday morning (9/24) a small group of students at the New School disrupted a talk being given by former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.

The event was a talk on Homeland Security and New York security, and was organized jointly by Milano and the Center for New York City Affairs, and moderated by New School President Bob Kerrey. Students reportedly disrupted the question and answer session after Ridge's talk, accusing him of abuses and torture under his watch at the Dept. of Homeland Security, as well as the largest number of death row executions in PA history--224--as governor there.

Reactions to the protests were mixed, with some in the university claiming the disruption was childish or offensive, while others claimed Tom Ridge being at the New School was itself an offense against the school. The Provost and Deans Council at the school released a statement later that day condemning the violations of free speech by protesters, and calling for the need to discuss free speech and protest at the New School.

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California students up the ante for education
Posted by alvinjohnson on Friday, September 25, 2009 (04:24:08) (290 reads)

In case you haven't been watching, California is blowing up right now on the student political front, and student have escalated protests tactics on campus there now as well, even pointing to our struggle here at the New School.

Quote:

Occupation is a tactic for escalating struggles, a tactic recently used at the Chicago Windows and Doors factory and at the New School in New York City. It can happen throughout California too. As undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff, we call on everyone at the UC to support this occupation by continuing the walkouts and strikes into tomorrow, the next day, and for the indefinite future. We call on the people of California to occupy and escalate.

You can read more about recent protests over plans to raise tuition and cut funding and staff, as well as how students are responding there. Seems like it's not just New York that the air or resistance is growing in strength. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in CA struggling for a better education.

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New School student harassed by FBI
Posted by alvinjohnson on Friday, September 25, 2009 (04:16:38) (263 reads)

New School student and political organizer Jerry Koch, who has been active at the New School, as well in New York, has recently been harassed and threatened by the FBI, and is currently facing the possibility of having to testify before a federal grand jury investigation of anti-military actions in New York City. Students supporting Jerry held a press conference at the New School this week to talk about Jerry's situtation, and the video from that event is below. Students are organizing bake sales and other efforts to raise awareness about FBI intimidations and to support Jerr's legal struggle.We'll post more details as we receive them.

Press Conference Video

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Student Struggle at University of the Witwatersrand
Posted by alvinjohnson on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 (14:51:24) (353 reads)

Students at the University of the Witwatersrand have stepped up their pressure in recent days over the visit of David Benjamin, a prime legal advisor to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and who is claimed to have authorized the use of white phosphorus to illegally targeted civilian Palestinian population in 2008.

Students have demanded the Chancellor of the university make a statement to address their concerns, which can be read here. Students had given the Chancellor until 5pm on Tuesday August 11th to make a statement, warning further actions would follow. As news develops we will post updates here.

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NEW SCHOOL BENEFIT INCITES MINI BUSHWICK RIOT
Posted by wdunleavy on Monday, May 25, 2009 (16:56:28) (1204 reads)

So there was a gigantic benefit show for the New School arestees tonight in Bushwick.

As usual the philosophical-politico Manhattanite university crowd turned out, as well as a handful of strictly Brooklyn party types. The half-anarchist half-hipster crowd couldn't help but appear reminiscent of a certain catastrophic scenario in recent memory. Around 1:30 AM police showed up outside the 210 Cook street building and unplugged the sound system.

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A Student's View on Kerrey and the New School
Posted by alvinjohnson on Monday, May 11, 2009 (19:23:39) (594 reads)

KERREY MAY BE LEAVING, BUT HE'S NOT GONE YET
Students Looking Forward to Rebuilding Legacy and Integrity of Historical Institution

May 10, 2009 - New York, NY –It is with great delight that the we mark the announcement that New School President Bob Kerrey is leaving the New School, however we have grave concerns about the problems Bob Kerrey will continue to pose over the next two years. Also, it should be made clear that Bob Kerrey is not not leaving on his own accord, but rather he is being forced to leave by a community effort involving student, faculty, staff and even members of the Board of Trustees who all agree he is not fit to be our President. The past academic year has been a tumultuous one, and much of that discord is a direct result of how President Kerrey and his senior administration have attempted to transform the New School. Once known for our innovation and ground breaking ideas and scholars, the past decade has witnessed a continual erosion of the core principles of this great institution, something that our first President Alvin Johnson worked hard to create and protect. The announcement of Kerrey's departure signals a sea change for our school.

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Multimedia : CATASTROPHE! video just released
Posted by RebeldeNY on Thursday, May 07, 2009 (18:00:45) (539 reads)

A new video has been released from the CATASTROPHE! action in early April, you can check it out right here.

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GFSS Letter on Student Space at the University
Posted by alvinjohnson on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 (17:40:40) (522 reads)

May 3, 2009

Dear Mr. Marshall and Mr. Murtha,

As The New School administration moves to close the building at 65 Fifth Avenue, the university community is faced with an urgent need to lease replacement student space on campus. Spaces dedicated for study and student gathering are a vital community resource, providing a venue for students to build the relationships that are central to producing creative and interdisciplinary academic work. Student space provides a much needed environment for quiet independent study, while also building the school community and enhancing potential for academic accomplishment. Yet, according to the University’s own research, The New School is far behind other New York City campuses in providing dedicated student space, and this situation will be more dire once 65 Fifth Avenue is fully closed. The interim library and study spaces at 55 West 13th Street do not meet the needs that 65 Fifth Avenue currently fulfills, and once 65 Fifth is closed the students who currently use it as a study and group-work space will have nowhere to go. The lack of available space that students will face will further eviscerate our community and sever the cross-department and cross-divisional interactions and communications that make The New School unique. We must immediately add student space in order to restore the community vitality that makes our school and our scholarship so unique.

The students of the New School for Social Research demand that new and fully outfitted student space be made available by September 1, 2009. We demand that during the summer months the University obtain a space that matches or exceeds the square footage of student space available at 65 Fifth Avenue, including both the cafeteria and study room. This space must include all capabilities as the existing space, including a quiet study area, a space for group work and conversation, computer terminals, and wireless internet access. The New School already suffers as students and faculty are placed in disconnected spaces, therefore this new space must be located in close proximity to existing departments. The reasonable limits for placing a new student space are between Sixth Avenue and Irving Place, and from 11th Street to 18th Street. We expect that the GFSS and the University Student Senate will be consulted in every step of this process.

Best regards,
The Graduate Faculty Student Senate
gfss@newschool.edu

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Renounce Renounce - Special Message from Bob Kerrey to the New School Community
Posted by alvinjohnson on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 (16:48:46) (649 reads)

An Important Announcement from the Office of the President

April 30, 2009

RE: PURCHASE OF THREE AVALANCHE-HURRICANE TRUCKS

A Note to the New School Community,

As Commencement approaches and the academic year winds down, The Office of the President would like to take the opportunity to announce the acquisition of three Russian produced Avalance-Hurricane crowd-control vehicles. As noted in the New York Times clipping accompanying this email, these “anti-democracy” trucks (as they are called by the factory employees who produce them) are shrouded in steel armor, come standard with brick-and-cobblestone-resistant window grilles, sprinklers attached to tanks of pepper spray, speakers that can emit ear-splitting noise, and a joystick-operated water cannon capable of toppling protestors from dozens of yards away.

Given the recent episodes of social unrest caused by fringe groups of New School University student-consumers/terrorists and the immediate risk of further unrest at our many upcoming commencement activities, we feel strongly that the purchase of the half-million dollar crowd-control vehicles are a prudent proactive step in ensuring an orderly and pleasant end-of-year for all. Moreover, following consultation with some of the most prestigious marketing firms in the country, we feel that the acquisition of these trucks will reinforce The New School’s growing reputation as a center for progressive and radical thought that serves as an exemplary trend-setting model for Universities everywhere. In keeping with our rebranding efforts, we are especially delighted to note the special arrangements we have made with the Vargashi factory to place our distinctive graffiti-like logo in super-sized font along the sides and front grille of the crowd-control vehicles. Our consultants estimate that the media coverage generated by these vehicles will lead to a 7.31% increase in enrollment, putting us on target for the 09-10 Academic Year.

In closing, we wish to underscore the central place that radical dissent and freedom of expression have always had in the history of our University. The acquisition of these vehicles should in no way be taken as representing a step backwards from our cherished traditions. As we have repeatedly outlined in prior “RENOUNCE RENOUNCE” emails, student-consumers who properly apply for a demonstration-permit before staging collective expressions of any kind need not fear that these crowd-control vehicles or alternative responses such as the NYPD anti-terrorism squad will be used against them. On the other hand, those who fail to secure permission to protest in a manner, space, and time slot determined by us waive their rights of dissent and relinquish their freedoms of collective expression. It is against this group of fringe radicals that the powerful cannons of our new crowd-control vehicles will be aimed.

With warm congratulations to all our graduates and best wishes for a pleasant summer,

- The Office of the President

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The Core Values of the New School
Posted by menelik on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (04:30:24) (601 reads)

Core Values of the New School

(Drafted 1919, Revised 1933)

Freedom from Hierarchical Power
Abolition of the Commodity-Form
Negation of Capital
Refusal of Work
Destruction of the State
Self-Organization
Strategic Combat against All Forms of Alienation and Domination
The Real Abolition of the Present State of Things
Pleasure Without Restraint
Dialectics
Eros
From Each According to Their Abilities, To Each According to their Needs
Direct Action
Rejection of Specialization and the Division of Labor
Anti-Fascism
Unity of Theory and Practice
Logic
Revolutionary Criticism
Courage
The Deconstruction of Discourse
Friendship

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Calling
Posted by menelik on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (04:29:12) (453 reads)

A Call to Direct Action

It is sad that we hail from the center of global capitalism and yet we find ourselves at the periphery of the worldwide struggle against it. We claim no special place in this chain of events, but, as participants in a narrative of escalating worldwide conflict, we now call for a new chapter of struggle. The list of actions by workers, farmers, teachers, nurses, students, immigrants and the homeless grows by the day. Struggles have arisen wherever neoliberal domination advances: Greece, France, India, Brazil, Argentina, China, Martinique, South Africa, Chicago and countless other places. On April 1st, The G-20 Meltdown took over the streets of London, reclaiming the city as they marched towards the belly of the beast: the Bank of England. The entire upsurge in struggle is not a result of some unified ideological commonality, but a resounding claim that only our own actions can change the conditions we live in.

Modes of oppression, in their manifold forms, continue to create their own logic, institutions and spaces, which we are forced to confront in our everyday lives. We will no longer be passive and we know that people are intelligent and creative enough to dictate the terms of their own lives. Of the many tools that we possess, one of the most powerful is the re-appropriation of space by occupation. The moment we reclaim the factory, the farmland, the office block or the university we take direct control over our lives. The last few months have seen struggles and occupations spread further across the globe. It is always the most impoverished and powerless who suffer most in these times of crisis. Millions in the United States and around the world risk losing their homes, losing their livelihoods, losing their dignity and even losing their lives. We can no longer be passive.

When New School students occupied our university last December, we had no idea what would follow. The impetus for action was particular to the New School, but the underlying issues were and continue to be a part of a worldwide crisis. We do not say that our struggle is more important or that it is the same as any of the other actions that have been occurring across the world. We have been inspired.

A week before our action, workers belonging to the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers Union occupied one of their own buildings in response to lay-offs and a denial of their severance and vacation pay. In Greece, occupation and direct struggle resounded through the streets after police shot a young boy dead. In England, over 22 universities continue under occupation in response to the atrocities committed in Gaza. From Puerto Rico to Japan, from Belgium to Italy, students are occupying their universities and making their demands. These efforts are also being coordinated by the International Student Movement into a central week of action at the end of April. We have seen that this moment of crisis engenders more than just reaction, but can be the catalyst for those fundamental changes we have known were necessary for some time

Everybody has to struggle in their own capacity and in their own spaces. Our fight pales in comparison to other battles, but educational institutions are one crucial zone where social relations are created and ideology and policy are formulated or rubber stamped. We set a deadline of April 1st for student action at our school. We are struggling against the corporatization of universities that has a deleterious effect on real conditions in the world and we will raise hell. April is a month for solidarity between all struggles and we call on others to state their demands, stand together and take direct control over their lives. When we act in unison and across a vast landscape, we disperse the arms of oppression and force weakness. We are power! The content of our struggles vary and we understand that a diversity of tactics is necessary. We invite you to join in solidarity with us, just as we will stand beside you.

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Multimedia : The World of Bob Kerrey - Bye Bye Bob
Posted by alvinjohnson on Monday, April 27, 2009 (01:19:34) (649 reads)

The latest episode of The World of Bob Kerrey is fresh off the digital presses, so check it out!

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Parsons faculty respond to Provost and firings
Posted by alvinjohnson on Saturday, April 25, 2009 (17:47:16) (748 reads)

Re: Message from the Provost Tim Marshal on Parsons Fine Arts Faculty

Peter and laurence boldly respond –i.e. our response is in bold face

NEW YORK, April 22, 2009 -- The following is a message from Tim Marshall, the Provost of The New School regarding recent events in the Fine Arts program at Parsons:

I am writing to you with an update on the situation in the Parsons Fine Arts program. Since our letter of April 8, 2009, we have heard from many people on the changes that are being enacted in the program. While there is considerable enthusiasm for the general direction we are moving in, there has also been concern voiced by some valued members of our faculty community. Our failure to consult and communicate adequately as we strive to broaden our Fine Arts program is simply that: a lack of communication and participation. I am committed to improving the former and working to create the conditions to enable the latter.

Except, Tim, it was not quite that "simple". Under cover of a failure to consult and communicate adequately the administration managed to deprive 12 faculty members of their jobs and without consultation to turn the curriculum on its head. Thus it is hard to believe that the failure to communicate wasn’t by design. (sic)

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A response to President Kerrey's message to the New School Communit
Posted by alvinjohnson on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 (21:50:52) (534 reads)

Message from President Kerrey to the New School Community

A response to President Kerrey's message to the New School Community

The past few weeks have seen increased protest actions on and off our campus. These demonstrations have involved many individuals outside of The New School community and the issues they protest vary. Among their concerns are the war in Iraq, Darfur, homelessness, and the economy.

Mr. Kerrey is quite confused. The direct concerns are Kerrey and Murtha and their characteristic lack of tact, understanding and ability to run a university. This includes, but is not limited to the brutality shown by the NYPD on April 10, Mr. Kerrey's support for the Iraq War and the pressures of the economic downturn on the New School Student body (and students as a whole). Is it so unreasonable to think that students who care about such things are only self-interested and thus would not be concerned about homelessness and the genocide in Darfur? I think not. However, Kerrey seems to forget the part of Thursday's actions when the rally (predominantly students of The New School, joined in solidarity by students from other NYC Universities) stood outside his home and reminded him that they want him to leave.

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ACT-UAW Local 7902 Statement on Students Charges
Posted by alvinjohnson on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 (21:42:11) (551 reads)

ACT-UAW Local 7902 statement regarding charges against protesters at the New School

The part-time faculty union, ACT-UAW Local 7902 of the New School and NYU, is gravely concerned with the New School administration's harsh response to the student protesters who occupied a university building at 65 Fifth Avenue on April 10. President Kerrey's decision to summon a massive police presence in reaction to a peaceful student occupation of a university building slated for demolition is symptomatic of the lack of democratic governance that sparked the protest in the first place.

ACT-UAW notes that the university's own recent decision to modify the suspensions of the New School students involved, allowing them to complete the semester, constitutes tacit recognition that they are not, in fact, a threat.

In view of the declaredly non-violent intentions of the April 10 protest, the dangerously disproportionate administration response, and the many doubts that have emerged about the veracity of some administration claims concerning key events of April 10, we urge that all charges against the protesters be dropped.

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