LEHMAN COLLEGE–On Feb. 10, at the CUNY Board of Trustees public hearing at City College, Students for Justice in Palestine chapters and pro-Palestinian organizations called on CUNY to implement the five demands of the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
Open to any student or NYC community member, the meeting’s stated purpose was for the CUNY board members “to receive testimony and statements from concerned individuals” ahead of the official board meeting on Feb. 18. The student-led rally gathered outside the gates of Aaron Davis Hall, where the hearing was held, and chanted “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” among other refrains.
The disruption of the hearing came nine months after the NYPD and CCNY Public Safety forcibly dispersed the CUNY GSE established by CUNY students and New York City community members on April 25, 2024, on the CCNY campus quad.
The CUNY GSE had outlined five demands for the university system. These included full disclosure and divestment of investments associated with Israel, a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and the protection of pro-Palestine students and workers, as well as the suspension of ties with the NYPD and collaborations with recruitment institutions including the CIA, Homeland Security and ROTC, and the re-establishment of CUNY as a tuition-free institution.
When the encampment was swept, police arrested about 170 people, including eight co-defendants who currently face up to seven years in jail on charges of attempted assault and burglary in the third degree for their alleged participation in the CUNY GSE. The GSE has added the demand for all charges against them to be dropped to the other five demands.
