TBNYU burnt out after Kimmel occupation

Last Thursday marked the first anniversary of Take Back NYU's occupation of the Kimmel Center.

Since that day, the university and its community have experienced a number of things: a year under the Obama administration, a tragedy at Bobst, the rise and fall and rise again of Sarah Palin. But one thing the university hasn't heard much about during that time is Take Back NYU.

After the occupation, the group became noticeably quieter and the vocal, militant group the university saw on Feb. 18, 2009 has all but disappeared.

The goals remain the same, but the voice is fundamentally different, the mood more subdued, the people more skeptical.

So what happened?

"Well, I mean, I think it would be dishonest to say that the fallout or the backlash from Kimmel didn't play a part in it," Claire Lewis of TBNYU said Wednesday after TBNYU's first meeting since last spring. "I mean, I think the kids who stayed in Kimmel until the end sacrificed a lot, folks got in trouble and people got burnt out from that."

During the meeting the group made preliminary decisions for the March 4 National Protest to Defend Education, but it was marked by noted skepticism.

Lewis said the reaction following Kimmel, especially from the student body, was damaging to TBNYU's morale.

"I think the sort of backlash, especially from the students, sucks, and that certainly doesn't help people's sort of bright and cheery motivation," Lewis said. "The one thing that I think was the harshest and clearest message that I took from Kimmel, and I don't think we could have learned otherwise, is that we put way too much faith in the administration."

Emily Stainkamp of TBNYU, who also attended the meeting, acknowledged that the reaction and following exhaustion took a toll on the group.

"In a lot of ways we are back to square one," Stainkamp said. "There's kind of a loss because, well, this was one of the most extreme forms of actions that we could take, and it was received really terribly, at least on campus."

She said many members feel like all their options have been exhausted.

Much of the meeting was spent re-examining the group's goals and its approaches. Lewis stressed that it was important to re-evaluate these goals for the future of TBNYU.

"Although our three goals of endowment disclosure, budget disclosure and getting students on the board of trustees haven't changed, our short term goals have changed a little bit," Lewis said. "So right now it might be more about reminding folks that this voice is still there and reminding folks that people are still thinking about these things."

CAS senior Duncan Horst is not a member of TBNYU, but actively participated in the meeting and has followed the organization extensively. Horst agreed with Lewis and said that after the Kimmel occupation, TBNYU needs to change some of its approaches, especially with the media.

"I say there's a little bit of a defeatist attitude for obvious reasons," Horst said. "It's going to be very difficult for TBNYU to get the amount of support again after what happened with the occupation."

Horst said the solution is to reach out to the media and brand the name TBNYU more favorably.

"The reality of the situation is that it's not the 60s anymore," Horst said. "The culture of students who are going to be able to unite in a very urban situation is not going to work in New York City. The only thing that will work in this kind of a setting is making it appeal to a large amount of people through the windows that they have. And the media is the conduit for that."

Despite the somber tone of TBNYU, Stainkamp said the group will still be part of NYU, and it will continue to work toward its goals. She said creativity has to be a priority if TBNYU wants to maintain pressure on the administration.

"We have to figure out kinds of actions that won't put us at risk, but will garner support or make our demands visible or important to the administration," Stainkamp said.

Lewis added: "We're putting on our thinking caps again and trying to think of more creative ways to deal with it and to engage in that conversation. I think you never start again from the beginning."

Jaywon Choe is city/state editor.