The campus has never been quieter.

Despite the fascism and occupation and kidnappings and genocide and bigotry and assasinations and disenfranchisement — silence. You can hear the leaves hit the ground.

Isn’t this supposed to be Woke University? Administration has stayed silent when it matters most.

We cannot expect to change the country if we cannot even change our own institution. The New School’s reputation for social justice and progressive ideals is more myth than reality, undermined by increasingly capitalist actions that come at the expense of service, community, and fairness.

“The New School is committed to ensuring an equitable, inclusive, and socially just environment for all students, staff, and faculty,” the university’s website reads. “All of our work involves critical inquiry and creativity aimed at fostering a more fair and equitable world.”

Do not be deceived. Its governance is no different from the governance at any other university. They’re corporations. This is the nature of any university. The only distinction is that The New School has mastered the art of branding itself as radical and progressive.

A “social justice school,” for example, doesn’t lay off 122 staff members. A “social justice school” doesn’t call riot police on students. A “social justice school” doesn’t have a team of millionaires and billionaires for a board of trustees. A “social justice school” doesn’t have 1 in 3 Black students not return after their first year. A “social justice school” doesn’t have a $90,000 cost of attendance and continue to increase it. 

This is to name a few. The full extent reveals a mundane series of single-minded decisions aimed at raising profit and protecting image. None of these are community-minded decisions.

Unsurprisingly, this has led to a long history of demonstration among The New School faculty, staff, and students. They have been the force of social justice at the university.

In 2018, students occupied the cafeteria for 16 days after a possible change in management threatened cafeteria workers’ jobs; the management contract was extended. Students rallied against tuition and fee raises in 2019. In 2022, part-time faculty went on strike for nearly a month, supported by students and other faculty, demanding a fairer contract; the university was effectively brought to a standstill. The academic student workers’ union went on strike in the spring of 2024. The next month saw student and faculty encampments concerning the genocide in Gaza.

This is only a fraction of the entirety.

During the demonstrations, the university publicly laments disruption but privately applauds students for sustaining its image. Afterwards, the university continues with its ways. Questions remain. For example, what ever happened to divestment? These are things we cannot move on from. 

The university has a strong progressive curriculum that discusses demonstration, protest, and strikes. However, the actions and decisions of the university counter any social justice identity. It feels performative.

The events, motivations, and ideas at the university are interconnected with national forces. Even now, the university has yet to release any statement to the New School community about Heury Gómez, a night porter who was detained by ICE in August. Again — silence.

Indeed, the hyperlocal and national fights against injustice are just as interconnected.

I and others stay at the university because of the hope it still holds. I could not see myself at any other university in the country. Continuing enrollment steadily decreases every year and I could not in good conscience leave. The conflict between the university’s image and actions must serve as a force for change.

It is easy to take individual actions, like dropping out or transferring or complaining. But there needs to be community-based efforts that say no to being taken advantage of by the university. There needs to be similar efforts to stand up to the forces sweeping the country. These things are interconnected. No neutrality. It is high time for a protest.

The defining question of our time is what are you doing to help the resistance. Everyone has their place. This is mine. What is yours?