Friday, December 19, 2008

Final Agreement!

12/19/08

1) I agree to grant total amnesty for all participants involved in the
occupation and all events related to it over the course of 12/17/08
through 12/19/08 at all New School Buildings. Neither criminal charges
nor academic disciplinary measures will be pursued against those
involved. The University will not press charges against Eliot Liu.
AGREED.

Staff and security guards will be compensated for all time lost over
the course of the occupation.
THIS IS NOT NECESSARY. THEY HAVE BEEN COMPENSATED.

2) I agree that students may use the GF building at 65 Fifth Ave until
a suitable replacement is secured and instituted, which would include
the re-installment of suitable library and study space. This would need
to be approved by the USS. Due to my limitation under the board, and because of repeated and voiced student concern about the university's investments,
THIS IS ALREADY UNDERWAY FOR ALTERNATIVE SPACE. I GUARANTEE THAT BY
THE BEGINNING OF SPRING SEMESTER I WILL PROVIDE NEW LIBRARY SPACE IN
ARNOLD HALL. I WILL ALSO PROVIDE 7000 FEET OF QUIET STUDY SPACE AT
SHEILA JOHNSON GALLERIES BY THE END OF SPRING SEMESTER. I AGREE TO
MEET WITH THE STUDENTS TO DISCUSS THE CURRENT PLANS, ALTERNATIVES, AND
FINANCIAL PLANNING.

3) I agree that students will have voting representation on the search
committee for the interim-Provost and the Provost, as well as any
searches that may take place in the future for a new President. The
details of this will be worked out with representatives of the
University Student Senate, and input from the student body at large.
AGREED.

4) I agree for student participation to establish a committee on
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) for the University's endowment
and that this committee will then establish an independent auditing
process with the SRI framework. The committee to establish the SRI will
meet by the first week of April, 2009.
DUE TO BEING LIMITED BY THE BOARD, AND BECAUSE OF REPEATED AND VOICED
STUDENT CONCERN ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY'S INVESTMENTS, I WILL URGE MY
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE TO ESTABLISH SUCH A COMMITTEE WITH STUDENT
INVOLVEMENT.

5) I agree to grant the University Student Senate the ability to
communicate with the student body freely and without constraint (and to
not restrict their access to Groupwise email and other technologies that
enable this).
I AGREE WITH THE GREATER AUTONOMY OF THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT SENATE
WITH THE STIPULATION THAT THE EMAIL USE DOES NOT VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW
FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALS OR FERPA REGULATIONS. I GUARANTEE
THAT I WILL IMMEDIATELY PROVIDE THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT SENATE WITH THE
TOOLS NECESSARY TO HAVE FLUID COMMUNICATION, IN PARTICULAR WITH
REFERENCE TO GROUPWISE EMAIL, WITH THE STUDENT BODY.

6) I agree that a representative of the USS should be allowed to have a
representative at meetings of the Board of Trustees in order to speak to
specific issues that pertain to decisions passed by the USS or directly
relating to USS business.
I HAVE ALREADY ASKED THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
TRUSTEES TO CONSIDER ADDING A STUDENT AND A FACULTY MEMBER TO THE BOARDS IN THIS CAPACITY. I HAVE AGREED TO ASK THE BOARD TO DO THIS.

Bob Kerrey

3 comments:

  1. Guys, it's really good that all these demands were agreed to, but Kerrey did not lose a thing. He didn't (according to how this post is worded) even promise to do the things he supposedly agreed to--he just said he would "ask" and "urge". Was this really all you guys were sitting in for? Seriously? Because I thought you were going to sit in until Kerrey agreed to step down and other demands were met. Having been a supporter, I now wonder if sitting in was really necessary to get Kerrey to 'agree' to this 'contract'---it doesn't seem like it was.

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  3. I heard an interview on the radio - 820AM - w/ a graduate student identidied as the "media Liason" for the students having the sit in. When asked what their issue with school president Bob Kerry was two basic answers were given. First this student went into specifics - Kerry's support of the Iraq war, then a mention of vietnam and his service which included Special Forces and a mention of war crimes - no details regarding the specifics of these alleged crimes. Then the student launched into a missive about democracy and progressive values. Finally he ended w/ what he considered concrete complaints retaining to the running of the school: that Kerry makes unilateral decisions and the students are demanding more of a voice. The student did not elaborate, nor did the interviewer press him for examples.
    I'm confused on 2 ends. When did we become the former Soviet Union where 1) a man is pressured to give up his position as president of a school because of an unpopular opinion regarding a war. 2) When you make an accusation of war crimes, you back it up - smearing someone w/ such an accusation is meant only to deligitimize them, take away there voice, make them an umperson, and is the favorite weapon of those who wish to crush dissent, and not those who wish to promote it.
    Finally, regarding Kerry and his unilateral decisions. True it is important for students to have a voice in the school, but not everything is a democracy. In the end certain decisions are left to individuals, who are then held accountable to them. If this student has a complaint regarding those decisions, that is fine. But then he should have listed those complaints. However, his personal feelings on a war has nothing to do with the running of the school. When their are people who complain about the "leftist" politics among the faculty at many schools, their complaints are not with these teachers personal beliefs, but when they try to force them on there students. As long as Bob Kerry is not forcing his own opinion on the war down other peoples throat, then the last I looked, we live in a free country, which thrives on different personal opinions. If, however, their are complaints regarding the running of the school, then lets hear specifics - and judge the man on that.

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