Police Violence Mars Peaceful CUNY protests

CUNY students band together against proposed tuition hikesby Hannington DiaMonday’s CUNY-wide march to protest Governor Cuomo's 5-year tuition hike plan concluded with a confrontation between students and police officers. When protestors found themselves unable to enter the CUNY Board of Trustees meeting at Baruch College due to overcrowding, they held an impromptu "general assembly” meeting in the school’s Vertical Campus. This quickly gained the attention of both CUNY security and NYPD officers, the latter of whom came with billy clubs.Shortly after students refused to leave the lobby upon request, officers began charging them with their weapons in hand. Students quickly started pushing back. The tug of war lasted for around 15 minutes before officers finally forced out most of the students, arresting two for disorderly conduct.Earlier in the day there were no signs of the violence to come. CCNY students gathered in front of the NAC Monday afternoon for the Students for Educational Rights-organized march to Baruch to protest Cuomo’s "Rational Tuition Plan". If implemented, the legislation would permit both SUNY and CUNY schools to increase tuition by $300 every year for the next five years.While waiting for more students, the crowd decided to pass the time by sharing stories about why they were marching. "I can't afford school. It's too expensive," one student yelled, her gripe amplified by the "People's Mic," an Occupy Wall Street innovation. "I'm sick and tired of textbooks that have no re-sale value and are slightly revised every two or three years," another student said."I go to school full-time," one more student began. "I work part time. I don't have a day off. I get full Pell and Tap and I still owe the school money."As soon as the late arrivals came, the students marched to the 1 train at 137th Street, asking fellow students sitting on the benches before the NAC entrance to join them. "The threat to higher education for people of low income, working people is very real," says Terrance Podolsky," a double major in Anthropology and Sociology and a member of SFER. "We need to get together and exercise people power and pressure the establishment for progress. This needs to impact federal legislation to stop the problems that caused the economic crisis.""It's not our fault they had to raise tuition. It's the policy makers' fault. We shouldn't have to pay for their problems."Other students shared their stories on the train ride downtown. Upon exiting at 23rd Street, they began chanting "123, CUNY should be free!" and "Free education, Open admissions!" while walking to Madison Square Park. CCNY was the first CUNY to arrive, allowing ample time to set up signs and banners. The NYPD quickly made their presence felt, arriving at the park a few minutes after the protestors. Their looming presence did little to quell the revolutionary spirit among CUNY's pupils."There's a nationwide budget crisis and this is a matter of fighting for the money that's left," says Evan Cleland, a Political Science major. "At one point, CUNY was free and now they're proposing tuition increases that are completely unacceptable. For the last 20 years CUNY tuition went up 400%, from $625 in 1991 to roughly $2,500 in 2010. That's not a trajectory students should accept for another 20 years."Mere months away from graduation, Cleland estimates he'll have to pay off $30,000 in loans after receiving his diploma. Rising tuition along with family problems caused him to take a break for a semester. "If I become a teacher I can get my loans paid back. I'm also looking into different ways I can have my federal loans forgiven."A Queens College professor who withheld his name was also at the protest to show solidarity with the students. "I went to City College in 1975 and I dropped out in 1978. I see how much tougher it is now with students encountering debt. It should be free. I'm really here to support the students."Ironically, the professor, whose concentrations include Middle Eastern studies and English, went to CCNY in the final years before the school implemented full tuition. He had to pay $25 in credit per semester. "Even then it was a bit of a struggle. But now it's a totally different story. The Board needs to start paying attention to students, because without students, the university doesn't exist. It can't exist with administrators alone."As the clock struck 4, the park was filled with all CUNY facilities. Each campus, from Hunter to Brooklyn, was accounted for. Once they reached capacity, the protestors began their march to the Board meeting with officers in heavy pursuit. But the trustees were well aware of the students' imminent arrival. Entering the school minutes before they could arrive, students took to walking around the Baruch campus to find them before demanding and gaining entrance to the Vertical Building and the impending showdown with the authorities.After the melee was over and protestors found themselves pushed back onto the streets, they quickly ran to a side entrance which the officers were attempting to close. Pulling open the door against the NYPD might, who tried regaining control by swinging their clubs at the protestors, they contended with cries of "Shame!" "Shame!" "Shame!" before finally shutting the entrance.This was only the latest in a string of incidents involving law enforcement officials and protestors. Keeping in mind the fighters at Zuccotti Park and at other occupations around the country, do students now have to worry about potential police harassment whenever we choose to protest?