Administration seizes control of funds to reverse action, sparking backlash
The student government of a progressive private college in New York City recently yanked funding from campus clubs in support of the Palestinian cause, forcing administrators to step in and reverse the action.
The New School administration took control of the University State Senate’s funds after the student government voted to block funding for student groups in an effort to pressure the school to divest from Israeli-linked companies.
In an Instagram post Aug. 29, the student government announced The New School administration had seized control over the funds and condemned the decision.
“Stripping the only student government body on campus of their autonomy and funding authority endangers student power and stifles freedom of expression,” the group wrote.
“As the only student government to pass progressive legislation like this, it shows how far TNS and its administrators will go to silence student activism.”
The University State Senate in its post also asked students to send an email to the school “to support the Student Senate’s Stand for Justice” via a provided link.
The senate’s $400,000 fund is paid for by the school’s 10,000 students, each contributing $8 per semester, according to New School Free Press.
In an Instagram post Aug. 24, the student government announced it had passed “a suspension on all external funding operations until the investment committee voted in favor of divestment.”
Then in an Instagram video, Senate Chair Adam Young (pictured) said the student government is calling on the school to divest “from companies complicit in the manufacturing of military technology, surveillance systems, as well as the war in Palestine.”
“Despite the resounding call to divest, the investment committee has not only postponed the vote, but has declined to take a stance on this matter,” Young said, adding that only when divestment is reached will internal USS funding be reopened.
The funding freeze is part of the ongoing “Divest from Death” campaign initiated by TNS Students for Justice in Palestine during the spring semester, which garnered backing from students, faculty, and alumni.
The campaign calls for the university to eliminate 13 companies with financial connections to Israel from its investment portfolio, based on recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility.
Although the New School’s SJP chapter served as an “inspiration,” Young said this decision was made independently, without coordination with the group.
The USS page on the New School’s website states the group aims to “align the University with the social-justice oriented goals that drew us to The New School from the start.”
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IMAGE: tns_uss/Instagram
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