How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since the now-infamous occupation of Kimmel by student activist group Take Back NYU. Today's anniversary offered the editorial board the opportunity to reflect on some of the most disappointing aspects of the protest.
When the occupation began, many in the NYU community supported it. TBNYU had a national platform to ask the important questions that were on the lips of virtually every student. However, the group seemed to cloud many of these universal questions with seemingly arbitrary, self-indulgent ones of their own.
The failure of the Kimmel occupation stemmed from TBNYU's unfocused message and angry and defiant demeanor. They were in a position to leverage national media coverage to pressure the university to address many important issues, but the opportunity was lost.
What the Kimmel occupation did teach us was that a protest, even by a small group of students, can generate a huge amount of attention and support. However, with the attention comes a responsibility to the community-at-large.
This type of protest must also be conducted in a respectful way that is open to dialogue and compromise. It is easy for "the man" to paint the group as a bunch of radical students who do not represent the community, when this is clearly not the case.
The fact that we haven't heard much from TBNYU in the year since the Kimmel occupation is disheartening. Their actions got an entire university and, frankly, a large part of the country talking about some very legitimate grievances. However, they acted in a way that made it seem as though their goal was a simple act of disruption. When that failed, the dialogue ended.
Another reason we cannot look back on this event fondly is the fact that it has silenced a lot of the growing dissent within our community. After TBNYU was subdued by the administration in such an unspectacular way, it no doubt made many feel as though the fight was hopeless and nothing can be done to change the status quo. This is a dangerous place for our community to be in.
The editorial board hopes that concerned members of our university will continue to speak up and try to make NYU a better place for everyone.
