After Occupation Ends, Tensions Flare Again at New School University

This from the New York Times, photo by Yana Paskova.

More than 20 people occupied a building on the New School campus in Greenwich Village on Friday, demanding that the school’s embattled president, Bob Kerrey, be ousted. But unlike a similar protest in December that was peacefully negotiated to an end after 30 hours, Friday’s ordeal was concluded in a few hours after the school asked the police to remove the protesters.

Tensions flared again at 10 p.m. when about 200 protesters rallied in Union Square against Mr. Kerrey’s leadership of the school. The rally turned into an impromptu march south toward Mr. Kerrey’s house. The police blocked the protesters at about 11th Street and prevented the marchers from getting close to the house.

After being turned away, the marchers headed north and then east to Fifth Avenue...
By the end of the operation, 22 people were arrested, 19 of them on burglary, riot and criminal mischief charges. Two of the 19 were also charged with assault, and one with assault and grand larceny. The police had removed banners hung by the students at the building, at 65 Fifth Avenue, near Union Square...



While the protesters were being arrested, sympathizers on the street yelled at the police. A video shot on the street by a Brooklyn videographer appeared to show one officer pushing a man in the face and knocking him to the ground before he was arrested. A police spokesman, Paul J. Browne, would not characterize the officer’s actions, saying only, “He pushed him and he fell down.” ...

Mr. Kerrey’s leadership has come under attack in recent months, with some faculty members and students accusing him of being too secretive and failing to consult with them as he sought to shake up the school. Mr. Kerrey’s lack of a Ph.D. and early support of the Iraq war has also drawn criticism.

In December, shortly after Mr. Kerrey, a Vietnam war veteran and former Nebraska governor and senator, announced that he would also take on the role of provost after losing his fourth provost in seven years, professors gave him an overwhelming vote of no-confidence...

Students Occupy Cafeteria at New School University

This from the New York Post:

More than 100 students who barricaded themselves in a cafeteria at the New School University for more than a day began tossing chairs and overturning tables as their raucous protest of college President Bob Kerrey intensified.

The student "occupation" of the cafeteria on the ground floor of the building at 65 Fifth Ave., which began Wednesday evening, came a week after a faculty vote of no confidence in Kerrey, a former Democratic US senator from Nebraska.

By [Friday], more than 100 noisy protesters were confined to the cafeteria, where they'd trashed the area, hurling chairs and toppling tables. Other protesters gathered outside.

Cops, including police brass, amassed but made no move to end the stalemate. The no-confidence vote was spurred by the sudden departure of the school's fifth provost in seven years under Kerrey, and by the president's bid to step in to the interim provost position himself...

...cops moved to stop those inside the center from letting others enter via side doors.

University officials said they were consulting with the NYPD over the security risks posed by the occupation, and because a security officer had been struck by a student. "In today's world, every university must have zero tolerance for any and all security risks," Kerrey said.

The battle at the New School also played out online as students blogged from inside the graduate center, while Kerrey's blog was down for a while because of a "technical difficulty."