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RSU Press Release- Statement on Police Brutality
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 (16:53:45)
Posted by alvinjohnson
For Immediate Release:
April 15, 2009
The RSU will be hosting a press conference today April 15 outside 66 W. 12th St. at 2:00 p.m.
The Radical Student Union (RSU) of The New School condemns the brutality used by the police - and, by extension, the administration - during last Friday's occupation of 65 5th Ave. The students exercising their right to political opposition should be immediately reinstated and the administration should do what it can to ensure that no legal action is taken against them.
The initiation of violence by President Kerrey against unarmed students reveals a blatant disregard for the safety of the student body, extreme incompetence, and an unwillingness to calmly and critically assess any difficult situation. Furthermore, Kerrey's unilateral decision-making directly undermines the reforms made since December, and reveals that these efforts were a sham.
For Kerrey to publicly compare the actions of the students to "terrorism" and for the NYPD to use the occupation as an opportunity to practice their counter-terrorism operations is shameful for our university and city.
We call on the students, faculty, and administrators - specifically, the University Student Senate, Faculty Senate, and the Deans - to refuse to continue acknowledging Bob Kerrey's legitimacy as the President of The New School. We call on the Board of Trustees to remove President Kerrey from office immediately, and to begin an open and participatory process with students, faculty, and staff to pursue the creation of a self-managed university in which decision-making power is placed in the hands of the university community.
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