NYU Punks Get One-Week Suspension

Oh so harsh, one can only wonder if they'll survive the brutal punishment meted out. Maybe they should bring the ACLU in to help negotiate down these conditions.

The now infamous 18 Take Back NYU protesters who were the final holdouts during last week’s occupation — since called the “Kimmel 18” (maybe with too great a hint of heroics) — have been offered a deal from the university which they must decide to accept or reject today. For those who do not accept, suspensions will be retained until they are tried in a judicial hearing where punishments traditionally tend to be more severe.

Let’s consider the damage done: an estimated financial impact of over $80,000, including the costs of heightened security, minor repairs to the Kimmel Center and disruption to dining services; an NYU security guard physically harmed; and many students inconvenienced. Next, the consequences for a few of those who caused the disruption: a week of suspension from school and a year of ineligibility for student leadership positions.

If $80,000 is a fair estimate of the financial impact of the occupation, there seems to be a large discrepancy between the damage caused and the consequences doled out. NYU cannot and should not punish these students for putting on a poorly planned protest, but the students’ disregard for the well-being of the security guards and their purposeful destruction of private property deserve more than this symbolic slap on the wrist.

This just invites another silver-spoon revolution over some perceived grievance. Booting these punks from school is the proper course of action, but instead they get a wrist slap and a laugh at the school's expense.

For this alone they should get jail time.