In response to the arrest of students at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment by the New York Police Department (NYPD) this morning, an emergency faculty meeting was called by members of The New School chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP-TNS). During the meeting, starting around 1 p.m., faculty passed a vote of no confidence in Interim President Donna E. Shalala, The New School Faculty Senate, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Linda E. Rappaport and the Board of Trustees as a whole.
Approximately 270 to 300 attendees were present at the meeting, including full-time and part-time faculty across TNS’s five colleges, where the resolutions were drawn up to be voted on. According to an anonymous faculty source, the vote of no confidence in Shalala and the Board of Trustees passed by an overwhelming majority of almost 95%. The vote of no confidence in the Faculty Senate passed by a relatively lower margin of slightly over 60%.
AAUP-TNS also voted to pass a list of demands such as dropping charges for all arrested students, no suspensions or further disciplinary actions for students, the removal of the NYPD from campus, and a commitment from the university on divestment.
Jeremy Varon, the current president of the AAUP-TNS Chapter, stated that although no plans to boycott classes and year-end activities have been agreed upon, the continued presence of the NYPD would make the incentive to do so stronger.
“People are beside themselves with upset, because we got repeated direct assurances from the administration that they would not call in the police,” Varon said. “The police arrested a bunch of sleeping students at 7 a.m.. There was no threat to public safety or disruption that could in any way justify this. We regard the statement that Shalala issued as propaganda that doesn’t reflect the facts and produces a false narrative to justify something that we humanely oppose.”
A Google Form available for faculty, students, and staff to sign a vote of no confidence in TNS leadership, separate from AAUP-TNS, also began circulating shortly after arrests were made.
The form, which includes a list of some of the university faculty and students who publicly signed the vote, calls for Shalala, Rappaport, and the Board of Trustees to resign immediately, demanding a restructuring of university leadership.
Max Emrich, a Transdisciplinary Design major at Parsons School of Design, created the form after learning that his fellow students were arrested early this morning. Emrich said that he had initially sent it out to a student worker group chat at 10:20 a.m., and by 2:00 p.m. it was signed by nearly 8.5% of the student body. Emrich noted that although he doesn’t have strong opinions about TNS SJP solidarity encampment beliefs, he felt the university had no right to invoke the police force onto students who are learning to practice their right to freedom of speech.
“I’m also a teaching fellow… so that’s why the education part of this is somewhat important to me. Students learn to voice their opinions when they’re in academia, and that is something that’s not to be disrupted. It is disrupting the learning.” Emrich said.
Ayman Mir, another teacher assistant and Transdisciplinary Design major at Parsons, publicly signed the form but does not want students to lose sight of the initial goal at hand. “It’s important not to lose track of the solidarity encampments demands to divest from genocide. That’s where it started,” she said.
Varon stated that the vote would also be a signal for the next president of the university. “If they want to pick up on the repressive legacy of Shalala, they will ultimately be as unwelcome here as she has become,” he said. “It’s very tragic because she was extremely popular among faculty, 36 hours ago, and then took action that just completely annihilated the goodwill and trust she had built up with faculty in the first parts of her term.”
Mir echoed this sentiment as well, stating that the university deserves a leader who properly represents The New School community. “It’s about pulling people in who actively have the same values, as opposed to presidents who feel compelled to call in and stick the NYPD onto students, trans students, queer students, students of color, everyone who is already marginalized, and actively putting themselves on the stake for a cause…I hope that we eventually will have someone who shares our values,” she said.
The Lang Faculty Council (LFC) is also hosting a follow-up meeting that started at 4:00 p.m.. In an email to Lang Faculty, the LFC stated “We also recognize the need for urgent conversation about what’s transpiring, including the distressing remarks from the NYPD about our students.”