One of the students arrested in the Good Friday occupation
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
NEW YORK — Did New School University president Bob Kerrey pepper spray his own students?
The student group calling itself the "New School In Exile" says that Bob Kerrey bears the bulk of the responsibility for police using physical force against unarmed students engaged in a peaceful protest — a protest that called for Kerrey to step down from his position as president of the New School.
In statements released on their website, students involved in the April 10th — Good Friday — takeover of the New School facility on 65 Fifth Avenue said that Kerrey called in riot police despite the existence of a "demonstrations policy" at the New School that banned the use of force and mandated other forms of action.
| "The demonstrations policy states that "absolutely no form of physical violence or intimidation can be tolerated" on the part of demonstrators. But mobilizing the massive repressive apparatus of the riot police (or massacring an entire village in Vietnam) are apparently okay." |
Kerrey's use of force against his students contradicts the core mission of the New School - to instill students with a passion for social justice activism:
| "The New School is a legendary, progressive university comprising eight schools bound by a common, unusual intent: to prepare and inspire its 9,400 undergraduate and graduate students to bring actual, positive change to the world." |
KERREY'S PAST: BACKDROP TO A CONFLICT
Kerrey has been a controversial figure ever since he arrived at the New School in 2001. Frustrated students and their supporters have been quick to point out that during the Vietnam War Kerrey led a Navy SEAL team on a Phoenix Program mission targeting the peasant village of Thanh Phong. The CIA's Phoenix program orchestrated the assassination of thousands of Vietnamese — some of the targets were National Liberation Front ("Viet Cong") but many others were innocent women and children.
A sign calling Kerrey a war criminal
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
| "Kerrey should be tried as a war criminal. His actions on the night of February 24-25, 1969 when the seven man Navy Seal unit which he headed killed approximately twenty unarmed Vietnamese civilians, eighteen of whom were women and children was a war crime. Like those who murdered at My Lai, he too should be brought into the dock and tried for his crimes." |
KERREY'S GOOD FRIDAY GAMBLE
Activists at the New School are locked in a protracted struggle with Kerrey, arguing that he is "corporatizing" the school while ignoring basic needs of the students. The student activists are calling for "socially responsible investing" (SRI) — an end to investing university funds in corporations run by defense contractors who engage in war profiteering. They are also demanding Kerrey's resignation.
STUDENT DEMANDS
| The Demands: |
| • The removal of Bob Kerrey as president of the university. |
| • The removal of James Murtha as executive vice president of the university. |
| • The removal of Robert B. Millard as treasurer of the board of trustees. |
| • Students, faculty, and staff be allowed to elect the president, EVP, and Provost. |
| • Students be made part of the interim committee to hire a provost. |
| • Full transparency and disclosure of the university budget and investments. |
| • The creation of a committee on Socially Responsible Investments (SRI). |
| • The suspension of capital improvement projects like the tearing down of 65 Fifth Ave. |
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