Dear President Mills,

We, the undersigned members of the NYU Game Center faculty and staff, support the rights of our students and colleagues to freely participate in peaceful protest on campus. 

We therefore cannot in good conscience stand by the decision of NYU administration to allow over 120 members of our wider community to be arrested last night in Gould Plaza, and are shocked by the lack of care shown to our student body and our colleagues. This decision has put the rights and security of students and faculty at risk, with actions that should have no room in an institution of higher education.

We believe that the free expression of ideas is of paramount importance, along with the safety of our community – the job of NYU campus security should not be to collaborate with the NYPD to police students taking part in peaceful protest, but instead to protect and give them the space to do so, while ensuring that antisemitism, islamophobia, and other forms of hate speech have no place in such a gathering, which was intended by its organizers as a space of interfaith solidarity.

Your administration justified NYU Campus Safety’s intervention at Gould Plaza by calling the protests “disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing.” But this is to be expected at a protest, especially given the steep cost in human lives since October 7 of last year; the stakes are very high. Safety should certainly be a concern, but as educators we should ask ourselves whether education should be disrupted sometimes when a crisis of this magnitude is unfolding. 

We understand that universities are being put in a difficult position, though we believe this does not excuse poor or hasty decision-making that sows confusion and chaos and tramples on the rights of our community. We call on your administration to do the right thing: join faculty in protecting students and their right to learn, organize peacefully, and express themselves politically and artistically.

As we wait for your response, we are participating in the planned wider strike and walkout action today, April 23rd.

Yours sincerely,

The undersigned faculty and staff of the NYU Game Center, Tisch School of the Arts.

 

Blake Andrews, Adjunct Faculty
Chapin Boyer, Adjunct Faculty
Logan Clare, Technical Operations Administrator
Lawra Suits Clark, Visiting Assistant Arts Professor
Naomi Clark, Associate Arts Professor & Chair
ty cobb, Adjunct Faculty
Ramiro Corbetta, Assistant Arts Professor
Flan Falacci, Adjunct Faculty
Clara Fernandez-Vara, Associate Arts Professor
Jesse Fuchs, Adjunct Faculty
Diego Garcia, Adjunct Faculty
Jess Haskins, Adjunct Faculty
Danny Hawk. Adjunct Faculty
Karl Hohn, Production Technician
Oliver Hong, Adjunct Faculty
Merry Hospelhorn, Adjunct Faculty
John Hwang, Administrative Aide II
Mitu Khandaker, Associate Arts Professor
Alexander King, Adjunct Faculty
Jason Leahey, Admissions and Student Services Administrator
Chris Makris, Adjunct Faculty
Beau McGhee, Adjunct Faculty
Lee McGirr, Adjunct Faculty
Matthew Parker, Associate Arts Professor
Jeff Petriello, Adjunct Faculty
Shawn Pierre, Assistant Arts Professor
Karina Popp, Visiting Assistant Arts Professor
Charles Pratt, Assistant Arts Professor
Scott Price, Adjunct Faculty
Liz Ryerson, Adjunct Faculty
Joey Schutz, Adjunct Faculty
Winnie Song, Assistant Arts Professor
Sam Sorensen, Adjunct Faculty
Tori Smith, Adjunct Faculty
Chris Wallace, Adjunct Faculty
Chris Williams, Adjunct Faculty
Kyra Wills-Umdenstock, Center of Excellence Administrator & Industry Liaison
Jet Vellinga, Adjunct Faculty
Burgess Voshell, Adjunct Faculty
Ayanna Wilson, Administrative Director
Rowan Wood, Adjunct Faculty
Eric Zimmerman, Arts Professor