Faculty of The New School organized a solidarity encampment in the University Center today at 2 p.m. The encampment will not end until their demands are met, according to their Instagram.
Faculty at the encampment are demanding divestment, an academic boycott of all Israeli institutions, dismissal of disciplinary charges against students, the end of NYPD presence on campus, and an agreement to hold an election with the New School Student Workers Union (NewSWU).
“The university has left us no choice but to establish the Refaat Alareer Faculty Solidarity Encampment from the brazen lies spouted by the administration in the face of violent NYPD repression to the suspension of students and tactics used to prevent students from accessing their essential needs,” said a spokesperson for the faculty at the encampment.
Faculty named their encampment after Palestinian writer, poet, and professor Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an airstrike in Gaza on December 3, 2023.
An anonymous student who spoke at a press conference for TNS’ Students for Justice in Palestine said, although part-time faculty and SENS workers are unable to strike due to their negotiated contracts, “all messaging from the school has told faculty to move with whatever they see fit.”
The student told the New School Free Press that faculty members have supported their cause before the first encampment in the University Center lobby.
“None of this would be possible without faculty collaboration on every level. I am so proud to say that faculty are an integrated part of our process from the very beginning of SJP and far beyond it,” they said.