Student Rights and the NYU 18

We, the students of Lakeland High School, in Shrub Oak, New York wish to express our extreme disapproval of the treatment of the 18 students involved in the occupation of the Kimmel Center from February 18 to February 20 of 2009 by the NYU administration. To that effect, we demand that these students receive amnesty for their actions, and that their demands be reconsidered for negotiation by the NYU administration. We believe that students have a vested right, as members of a school community, to question the actions of the school authorities in the most peaceful way that will also be effective. It is certain that the 18 students acted within their vested rights. In addition, we would like to mention that universities such as NYU need new undergraduates to apply each year, and we constitute a portion of that demographic. It is our warning to the NYU administrators that if this is how they treat their students when they disagree with them, we will not want anything to do with their school. We sincerely hope that our joining in this conflict will help give the NYU administration perspective on what their actions have wrought, and on the rights of students in general.