For a timeline of the events please see:
http://www.nyunews.com/news/university/kimmel_a_timeline-1.1488287

NYU BUILDING TAKEOVER!!!

At approximately 10pm tonight (Feb. 18), students of Take Back NYU! took
over the Kimmel Marketplace. They have blockaded the doors and declared an
occupation! They presented their demands to the NYU administration. They
read as follows:

DEMANDS

We, the students of NYU, declare an occupation of this space. This
occupation is the culmination of a two-year campaign by the Take Back NYU!
coalition, and of campaigns from years past, in whose footsteps we follow.

In order to create a more accountable, democratic and socially responsible
university, we demand the following:

1. Full legal and disciplinary amnesty for all parties involved in the
occupation.

2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the
course of the occupation.

3. Public release of NYU's annual operating budget, including a full list of
university expenditures, salaries for all employees compensated on a
semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff wages, contracts to
non-university organizations for university construction and services,
financial aid data for each college, and money allocated to each college,
department, and administrative unit of the university. Furthermore, this
should include a full disclosure of the amount and sources of the
university's funding.

4. Disclosure of NYU's endowment holdings, investment strategy, projected
endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms involved in the
investment of the university's endowment funds. Additionally, we demand an
endowment oversight body of students, faculty and staff who exercise
shareholder proxy voting power for the university's investments.

5. That the NYU Administration agrees to resume negotiations with GSOC/UAW
Local 2110 – the union for NYU graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and
research assistants. That NYU publically affirm its commitment to respect
all its workers, including student employees, by recognizing their right to
form unions and to bargain collectively. That NYU publically affirm that it
will recognize workers' unions through majority card verification.

6. That NYU signs a contract guaranteeing fair labor practices for all NYU
employees at home and abroad. This contract will extend to subcontracted
workers, including bus drivers, food service employees and anyone involved
in the construction, operation and maintenance at any of NYU's non-U.S.
sites.

7. The establishment of a student elected Socially Responsible Finance
Committee. This Committee will have full power to vote on proxies, draft
shareholder resolutions, screen all university investments, establish new
programs that encourage social and environmental responsibility and override
all financial decisions the committee deems socially irresponsible,
including investment decisions. The committee will be composed of two
subcommittees: one to assess the operating budget and one to assess the
endowment holdings. Each committee will be composed of ten students
democratically elected from the graduate and under-graduate student bodies.
All committee decisions will be made a strict majority vote, and will be
upheld by the university. All members of the Socially Responsible Finance
Committee will sit on the board of trustees, and will have equal voting
rights. All Socially Responsible Finance Committee and Trustee meetings
shall be open to the public,
and their minutes made accessible electronically through NYU's website.
Elections will be held the second Tuesday of every March beginning March
10th 2009, and meetings will be held biweekly beginning the week of March
30th 2009.

8. That the first two orders of business of the Socially Responsible Finance
committee will be:
a) An in depth investigation of all investments in war and genocide
profiteers, as well as companies profiting from the occupation of
Palestinian territories.
b) A reassessment of the recently lifted of the ban on Coca Cola products.

9. That annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students,
starting with the 2009/2010 academic year. These scholarships will include
funding for books, housing, meals and travel expenses.

10. That the university donate all excess supplies and materials in an
effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.

11. Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of
2012. All students will pay their initial tuition rate throughout the course
of their education at New York University. Tuition rates for each successive
year will not exceed the rate of inflation, nor shall they exceed one
percent. The university shall meet 100% of government-calculated student
financial need.

12. That student groups have priority when reserving space in the buildings
owned or leased by New York University, including, and especially, the
Kimmel Center.

13. That the general public have access to Bobst Library.

Along with this, students have issued a

SOLIDARITY STATEMENT

We, the students of Take Back NYU! declare our solidarity with the student
[sleepovers] in Greece,
Italy, and the United Kingdom, as well as those of the University of
Rochester, the New School for Social Research, and with future
[sleepovers] to come in the name of democracy and student power. We stand
in solidarity with the University of Gaza, and with the people of
Palestine.

blog: http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2009/02/18/exclusive-tbnyu-takes-over-
kimmel-marketplace/