The New School will not pursue criminal charges against student protesters who were arrested in a pro-Palestinian demonstration on May 3, a message posted on the school’s website said Thursday.
The school's interim president, Donna Shalala, said the school wrote a letter to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office requesting that “all charges be dropped.”
The NYPD arrested 43 student protesters at The New School last week when they dismantled an encampment on campus, officials said.
Some faculty members at The New School set up a new encampment inside a school building on Wednesday in protest of the Israel-Hamas war. At least two dozen faculty members are demanding, among other things, that the school disclose and divest its interests with Israel.
“This is our message, too. We believe in not investing in weapons companies and arms companies and genocidal wars,” said Natasha Lennard, one of the faculty members staying in the encampment.
“Again and again, you see repeat focus and repeat attention to some of the more, perhaps, problematic and worrying elements of the encampment, whereas you have tens of thousands of students coming together and simply saying please divest from arms companies,” Lennard said.
The interim president's message also indicated that the NYPD will not be permitted to enter any school buildings without the school's consent and added that the school’s provost and executive deans will soon announce an “educational effort about investment principles and the history of divestment at The New School."
NY1 crews witnessed multiple arrests outside the encampment Thursday evening.
Later that night, police said they had arrested 13 protesters at the New School that evening. Authorities did not say whether those protesters were students or faculty members and charges are still pending.
The encampment inside the New School was left untouched by police.
Protest organizers called on the school to undo student suspensions.
Shalala said the university is “making every effort” to ensure that conduct reviews for student protesters are expedited, and added that all or most of the reviews are expected to be completed by the end of the week.