Today at 11:30 a.m., Thomas Whalen, vice president of Buildings and Campus Operations, and another university official were witnessed removing posters from The New School’s Students for Justice in Palestine’s (TNS SJP) Gaza Solidarity Encampment at the University Center. 

TNS SJP posted an “urgent call to action” on their Instagram around noon for students to provide extra support at the encampment due to the university removing their art and “physical and visual presence from the space.” Whalen and another official were witnessed on the scene as well as on TNS SJP’s Instagram live, which continues to document the students organizing and chanting in the UC lobby. 

According to another Instagram post from TNS SJP at 12:55 p.m., the group allegedly received an email from the administration stating that they must relocate their crowd from the lobby due to violations of the fire code and university policy to avoid possible disciplinary action including suspension. 

The email states, “The university is open to meeting and talking through concerns and questions you all have about the school’s investment, but you all will need to relocate the crowd in the lobby. The meeting will not proceed if there is continued violation happening, participants are subjecting themselves to possible suspension.” 

The email refers to yesterday’s negotiations between TNS SJP and Interim President Donna E. Shalala which resulted in a meeting slated for today between TNS SJP and Mark Diaz, executive vice president for Business and Operations, to discuss the school’s potential divestment from holdings within the university’s endowment, as well as the opportunity for further negotiations with the Board of Trustees about financial transparency. 

According to a statement from TNS to the New School Free Press, the removal of these posters is in accordance with the university’s poster policy, which prohibits the display of posters on windows and entryway doors among a range of other locations. The Registered Student Organization (RSO) posting policy also requires that posters or signage by RSOs must be pre-approved by the office of Student Leadership, Involvement, and Transition Experiences 15 days prior to the program, event, or initiative.

TNS SJP is an RSO at The New School, but as of April 19 has been placed on probation for violation of “Demonstration Guidelines” as per the Student Conduct and Community Standards policies.

According to the poster policy, “the university’s staff responsible for building operations are authorized to remove posters that violate this policy immediately and without notice.” Facilities Management, the office in which Whalen is employed, falls under Buildings and Campus Operations. 

In their statement to the New School Free Press, the university referenced the Free Speech and Safety on Campus page and said, “Yesterday’s productive discussion and agreement is unchanged. As the message to the community noted, ‘the university is strongly committed to supporting the rights of members of our community to peacefully protest and express themselves, and to do so in accordance with the university’s codes of conduct.’”