The university's lost credibility

When I read that NYU Bookstores is moving to 726 Broadway this spring, my immediate reaction was suspicion. The move had to have a motive besides creating additional space for seating areas, student discussion, a cafe and author readings in the bookstore.

NYU rarely acts when there is the impetus to do so, whether to update NYUHome, to allow greater budget transparency, or to improve the cumbersome housing process. So why now? Besides, the story said there are supposedly no plans for the bookstore's current location. But if I were going to move a building, wouldn't I plan what was going in its place?

I knew I was on to something big.

It took me a few minutes to realize I was being utterly ridiculous. Even when NYU is trying to help students by creating a more spacious and comfortable bookstore, I can only see vague, mean-spirited plans. As I came out of my reverie, I realized that the cynic in me had gone too far again. But you can't totally blame me, because NYU has lost its credibility with students.

NYU marketed its printing quota as an environmentally friendly move when it was actually a means to cut the university's budget. If NYU really wanted to save six million pages, it could have done so anytime, but it chose to act only when it needed to pinch pennies. NYU marketed its decision to add the 14th Street bus stop as a convenience to students. But if NYU really wanted to ease student transportation, it would have better incorporated students in the decision-making process in the first place. NYU marketed its security guard changes at the Kimmel Center this past school year as a safety measure, when in reality it was a poor response to the Take Back NYU occupation. If NYU really wanted to improve safety, it shouldn't have cut security guard hours in the dorms a month earlier.

These instances reveal NYU's lack of straightforwardness at best and intentional attempts at misrepresentation at worst. When the university goes behind students' backs, acts so impossibly bureaucratically that few students have input on changes, and concocts schemes behind closed doors, it contributes to the damaging aura surrounding itself.

In all likelihood, NYU President John Sexton and the administration are doing all they can to benefit students. However, due to both the university's indomitable size and past actions, all perceptions of NYU say otherwise. Despite NYU's assurances, students worry that human rights abuses will occur in the construction of Abu Dhabi and that gays will not be accepted. Despite NYU's assurances, TBNYU members worry that the university is not paying female and male professors equally. Despite NYU's assurances, students worry that crime is being underreported by the Department of Public Safety. Whether these worries are justified is secondary; the very fact that they exist attests to the aura's strength and NYU's loss of credibility.

Sexton has attempted to improve transparency by holding town hall meetings and sending out lengthy e-mails. Greater action in the same vein must be taken, not only to ensure that students are sufficiently informed of NYU's motives, but also to ensure that NYU markets its moves accurately and lives up to its word.

It's understandable if a university makes a mistake once, slips up in its marketing once, misrepresents itself to its students once. But when it reaches the point where I am led to question entirely innocent moves such as the relocation of a bookstore, that's a problem.