Submitted to a Candid World

American South, 1960s: brave black Americans refuse to budge from segregated restaurants, risking injury, imprisonment, and death to stand for equality. China, 1989: college students take to the streets, many giving their lives to stand for democracy. Iran, 1999: college students riot, risking their lives to stand against theocracy. Manhattan, 2009: privileged white college students risk a slap on the wrist to stand for… a look at the school budget, and redress for self-inflicted wounds.

Starting yesterday, and continuing through this afternoon, a group calling itself “Take Back NYU!” stormed the undergraduate student center, “occupying” it and holding it ransom for a group of “demands,” ranging (mostly) from the vain to the mundane. The “protest” has since degenerated into a frat party, complete with needless, TBNYU-authorized property destruction and nudity (NSFW). Call me a jaded, privileged sell-out, but speaking as an NYU law student, I’m embarrassed for these kids. If these tactics are ever justified, they’re not the least bit proportional to the change demanded, and seem more Woodstock than MLK. For your own sake, kids, leave the building, get a frappucino, and go home, before someone gets hurt, and before you ruin any chance of accomplishing the few laudable goals on your “demand” list.

Meeting massive national political upheaval with silence, and mild administrative complaints with panic, violence, and bedlam: that’s post-1960 “student activism” for you.