Quotes

FROM NYU ALUMNI

“In my heart, NYU was a home for those who had nowhere else to go. NYU students are ones known to be loud, daring, and ever pushing for grand changes in our society. For any protest in good faith, you'd find our students and alumni there.

Now, I feel shame that the silence of my alma mater goes against the credo I believed it followed. NYU cannot claim to value DEI while ignoring the plight of its students, whether Muslim or Jewish or anything else; however, right now, it is choosing to remain silent and complicit with targeted actions against a specific group of people - Muslims, and more specifically, Palestinians. It remains complicit in allowing Islamophobia to fire up again, just as it did 2 decades ago.

To NYU leadership: do not let this be another stain on NYU's history.”

- D.C., College of Arts & Science, Class of 2019

“I was part of a massive national student strike in 1970 as a student in the Metropolitan Leadership Program at NYU Uptown in the Bronx. We opposed the war in Vietnam, expansion of the war into Cambodia and the complicity of NYU with the corporations that backed the war. Now, many years later, NYU students are speaking out for justice, this time for the more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza facing hunger, death and destruction. NYU should be keeping those students safe, not repressing or attacking them, as they stand up for human rights and against genocide.”

- Mindy Gershon, Metropolitan Leadership Program, Class of 1972

“As a Jewish graduate of NYU, I’ve always been proud of NYU’s symbolic torch, shining the light of learning and understanding to combat the darkness of ignorance and confusion. To me it also symbolizes academic freedom, the freedom to question, to challenge, and to discover new understanding. Academic freedom also includes freedom from bombardment, the freedom to live to see another day. Right now, the Israeli military is bombarding the university communities of Gaza, killing and maiming students, professors, staff, and their families, and reducing their homes and campuses to rubble. These barbaric attacks on the civilian society of Gaza, and NYU’s silence in the face of these atrocities, result from ignorance and confusion. The ultimate confusion is the idea that for Jews to be safe, we must sacrifice our humanity and our values, and shut our eyes to any crimes committed in our names. Now is the time for the leadership of NYU to be morally courageous and speak out on behalf of the academic community of Gaza and all civilians targeted by the Israeli military. Be the torch, by shining a light of human empathy and academic solidarity that will be seen by Gazans under bombardment, by the Israeli government, and by the world.”

- Leonard Sklar, College of Arts & Science, Class of 1989

“My time at NYU were the most formative years of my life when I learned to think for myself and be critical of power structures and their propaganda. NYU's reputation depends on its ability to give all students this opportunity free from institutional repression.”

- Irene Ginakakis, College of Arts & Science, Class of 2012

“I remember my time at NYU as a time of growing into my identity and calling as a global citizen committed to the ideals of social justice, human rights and equity for all. What I learned at NYU is key to informing my understanding that the dire siege and war in Gaza is a genocide that is morally unjust and illegal. I learned at NYU that I have an obligation and duty to resist injustice in all its forms. I call on NYU, the institution so formative to my development, to join me and my fellow alums on the right side of history. For all our humanity.”

- Elizabeth G., Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Class of 2013

“As a Jewish alumna, I am so tired of fellow alumni speaking for me in accusing pro-Palestinian students and faculty of antisemitism. Palestinian sovereignty is not only wholly in line with Jewish values, but is imperative for the safety and well-being both peoples in the Middle East and in diaspora. Jews for Palestine!”

- Melina Rabin, Tisch School of the Arts, Class of 2023

“You gave us the education to be able to identify propaganda and ethnic cleansing. We see right through you, please don’t disappoint us. Even though money tends to speak louder than the people’s voice, please surprise us and make us so proud of our university.”

- Mellica Askari, College of Arts & Science, Class of 2023

“Learning about Palestine while at NYU changed my life. I was able to make connections to other oppressed groups and have a more complete understanding of my own history as a Jew. I stand with Palestine today, tomorrow and in the years to come. I am horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza. I am horrified by the brutal occupation Palestinians live under. And I am horrified by a growing movement that seeks to penalize and pressure people, particularly students, for speaking up about Palestine.”

- Ilana Engelberg, College of Arts & Science, Class of 2015

“I chose to sign this because there is an unprecedented bias from NYU and the U.S. in general against anyone expressing sympathy for Palestinian human rights. I also see a concerning future direction NYU is headed where critical thinking and academic freedom is being stifled, while it actively contributes financially to an apartheid system and genocidal regime that has no regard for basic Palestinian human rights.”

- Mohammad Sadic, College of Arts & Science, Class of 2016

“As a Jewish alumnus, I hope I am deeply concerned at the lack of protection of Palestinian students and allies (which include many Jews - including NYU student groups like Jewish Voice for Peace) by the administration. As a historian trained at NYU, it is distressing to see the University repeat mistakes of the past, remaining silent in the face of genocidal acts. Please take a courageous stance, and act as an institution I would be proud to support as a alumnus.”

- Beatrice Wayne, Graduate School of Arts & Science, Class of 2017

“Several professors and fellow students I met at NYU played a significant role in my education on this issue. Please keep your current and future students and faculty (Palestinian, Jewish, those who are both, etc.) safe by committing to these resolutions. Thank you for your consideration.”

- Ernest Bryant Hinnant III, Tisch School of the Arts, Class of 2017