TBNYU walked out of class in protest

Chants of "Education is our right! Fight, fight, fight!" rang out across NYU's campus early Thursday morning, marking the beginning of Take Back NYU's protest against the cost of higher education.

At 11:15 a.m. on March 4, about 40 students from NYU and other New York City schools began a day-long walkout as part of the National Day of Action for Public Education.

"I think more than anything it's just to raise awareness about the fact that even at a place like NYU where we have a relative privilege, there are being cuts made," Steinhardt junior Joe Galarraga said. "Of course the argument is always, 'Well, you can just leave,' but I think the important thing is to make education on all levels as affordable as possible for all people."

The protest, which began at Schwartz Plaza, eventually made its way to Hunter College where several hundred more protesters were gathered, including Scott Campbell, a graduate student in NYU's John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master's Program. Campbell said that the students' actions were admirable.

"At NYU, specifically, we're protesting a lack of transparency in the budget, tuition hikes and just the obscene amount of money that the university spends on salaries," Campbell said. "We're hoping that this is just one step to make NYU and institutions around the country hear our voices and take action."

This event is the latest in a string of recent protests at college campuses across the country. Last week, students at the University of California, Berkeley, held a dance party that turned into a violent protest against education costs. Several students were arrested after vandalizing university property.

But many at Thursday's rally believed that the actions were a step in the right direction.

"The purpose of the event is to express our solidarity with UC occupiers in California. I really respect those kids," high school senior Wesley Hufstader said. "I think they did a great job organizing and I hope today goes really well."

Others, however, were less supportive of the Berkeley riots.

University spokesman John Beckman said, "NYU respects the rights of student groups to express their views vigorously, but we are saddened and disappointed to hear of destructive behavior by students in some locations elsewhere; such behavior is outside the bounds of appropriate expression, does far more to damage the free exchange of views than to enhance it, and should not be romanticized."

As for the rally's overall impact, LSP sophomore Rommie Ampil said that although he doubted the event would instigate immediate change, the principle was important.

"It's not really something that I'm sure will send waves of change everywhere," Ampil said. "But it's a message and I think that counts, for whatever it's worth."