The Side Effects

Written by Roxanna Cardenas Colmenares for The Campus

Photos by Leon Orlov-Sullivan for The Campus

Since April 25, 2024, when pro-Palestinian activists set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment on CCNY’s quad, eyes have been turned to City College. Since then, many things have happened: peaceful protest, arts and crafts, community bonding, Public Safety's increased presence, a fire on the roof of the Marshak, barricades, a break-in at the administration building, and NYPD intervention leading to the arrest of almost 200, with witnesses alleging excessive force used against peaceful protestors. After this escalation of events, including the takedown of the encampment on April 30, 2024, all layers of the school–administration, staff, faculty, and students–are left dealing with an inevitable emotional distress.

CCNY’s students would inevitably be affected—directly or indirectly—by the events that took place this past week, especially the events on Tuesday evening when the NYPD entered campus and shut down the encampment. Thus, four students were invited to voice how this has impacted their sense of belonging to CCNY and their ability to participate in schoolwork. They agreed to interview for The Campus.

One of them, Student A, a Palestinian junior at CCNY who requested to remain anonymous, was in the encampment when Public Safety officers pepper sprayed her. She left before police raided the encampment around midnight. The second anonymous student, Student B, is a CCNY student graduating this semester who witnessed the NYPD intervention from outside the campus. The remaining two students The Campus interviewed, Amirhi and Shamir, who requested to be identified only by their first names, are freshmen. Neither were present at the encampment Tuesday night, but both tuned into the news by social media, local news channels, and word of mouth.

Can you share your thoughts about President Boudreau’s decision and emails?

Student A: “I was very disappointed as someone who is proud or was, at least, proud to go to CCNY […]. I was injured and I was in so much pain because of the president and the people of my school who called the police on us, and I think what the emails were saying is absolutely untrue […]. I read the emails and I’m just like hurt.”

Student B: “He has an obligation to protect the students and he also has an obligation to protect his campus […]. I don’t think that dispersing the encampment had anything to do with being anti-Palestinian.”

Amirhi: “I am surprised that other people are surprised by his response […] I’m not surprised by it at all, I think that it sounds about right […] but there seems to be a very clear bias in his reaction.”

Shamir: “I understand that as the president you have to make tough decisions, but at the end of the day, I feel like if you are not putting human lives and you are not putting your morals first, then I don’t think you are in a position to do your job.”

Officers on CCNY’s campus Tuesday night

Do you feel safe to voice against school policies after what happened?

​Student A: “I am really concerned about my safety. Normally for [an] interview I would say ‘Yes, put my name up’ […] but after what I’ve seen [at the encampment] I just prefer to stay anonymous because at this point, [administration doesn’t] view us as students anymore […] It’s kind of scary.”

​Student B: “Absolutely! If the school were to penalize anyone for criticizing their decisions, it would be a true violation of our freedom of speech. The school dispersed the protest and the encampment not to limit freedom of speech, but to maintain the campus' security.”

Amirhi: “I don’t think this has changed my expectations. I think that you always have the power to fight back, and I think it is misguided to expect to not be met by resistance […]. The fact that those measures have been put in place […] doesn’t surprise me at all and I don’t necessarily think that it should be deterring to anyone who is actively protesting.”

​Shamir: “Honestly, no. I feel like I love the idea of protesting […], I just don’t believe that it would be as effective as we would think it’d be […]. Clearly our voices don’t matter and clearly nothing is going to change. While I do think that the protesters do have the moral high ground, I don’t think that any effective change will occur, and that really saddens me.”

Is this affecting your mental state for schoolwork? If so, how?

Student A: “I feel like nothing else matters anymore. As much as I care about my education […], I feel like this whole cause is taking me away from my studies […]. My education is not on top of other people’s lives. If my school itself doesn’t care about humanity in general […], I can’t bring myself to care like I used to.”

Student B: “I think I’m fine […]. I kind of went above and beyond with my finals very early on the semester […]. I, like every other student, most likely have exhausted this topic, and I think to talk about it as much as we have can be very physically tiring as well, [while] at the same time, you can’t talk about this topic enough.”

Amirhi: “Oh! It 1000% has. I’m not someone who does well with remote school […] With the campus being closed, not being able to sit in the library to do my work, classes being online, [sometimes I] can’t get into Zoom, all that has interfered.”

Shamir: “It definitely demotivates me. I don’t feel the need to complete any work […]. There are bigger issues going on right now and I feel like if we can’t even get the school to care about the Palestinian people […], what is the point of this? […] Why am I doing this assignment? I find it all meaningless, really.”

Whatever their opinions are on recent events, these CCNY students are affected by the decisions taken by the administration regarding the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Countless other students are in a similar position. With more urgent issues being covered by the news, it is easy to forget about the emotional effects these circumstances have on those involved and how one night can have a lasting effect on student's lives.

In a time as crucial as the end of the semester, with final projects due, it is concerning for students to lose motivation towards their schoolwork. It is also concerning that CCNY students lose their trust placed in the administration, those meant to protect and listen to them. Ultimately, the events that took place last Tuesday could have a long-lasting impact on students, faculty, and staff and one can only hope it won’t lead to more divisions within the CCNY community. It also raises the question of what the administration will do to regain CCNY students’ trust while still protecting them and their campus moving forward.