*Press release*
Ad Hoc Committee Against the Militarization of CUNY
Email:
[email protected]
Protests Cause CUNY to Move War Criminal’s “Class” to High-Security Building 429
David “Death Squad” Petraeus, Out of CUNY Now!
OCTOBER 4 – After four consecutive weeks of protests against its hiring of ex-CIA chief David Petraeus, the administration of the City University of New York has responded by moving his Macaulay Honors College seminar to a new location: the BMW Building at 555 West 57th Street. According to administration memos published by the “Gawker” website, Petraeus’ seminar – “Are We On the Threshold of the North American Decade?” – will be held on the highly securitized 16th floor of the building, which is part of CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The previous schedule of 3:00-6:00 p.m. on Mondays is slated to continue. According to press reports, a key feature of this new location is its secured parking garage, which would allow Petraeus to come and go without having to encounter protesters. As the “Gawker” site notes: “It’s not clear whether other CUNY classes have ever been placed under such security.”
Together with CUNY students and faculty, labor and anti-racist activists have joined with many other opponents of imperialist war abroad and repression at home to protest CUNY’s provocative political decision to hire this certified war criminal, who as Iraq/Afghanistan war commander oversaw the creation of death squads and a network of torture centers. As documented by the British Guardian, Petraeus’ specialist in this grisly work was Colonel James Steele, who had worked closely with the notorious military and paramilitary death units that ravaged Central America.
The change in the seminar’s location is but a small victory emerging from persistent struggle on both coasts. The seminar move comes after a protest by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the “March Forward!” group at the University of Southern California, resulting in the cancellation of a private luncheon Petraeus was scheduled to hold there. CUNY activists have proclaimed their solidarity with those at USC, who have expressed indignation that David “Death Squad” Petraeus was appointed to be a “veterans’ adviser” there. Petraeus has also declared his intention to “mentor” members of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), whose return to CUNY is another focus of the ongoing protests.
The seminar move also comes after the violent NYPD arrest of six protesters at the September 17 Macaulay fundraiser that featured Petraeus as a keynote speaker. At the City University and beyond, outrage has been expressed at the use of brutal police repression on behalf of war criminal Petraeus. A “Statement of Support to CUNY Students” attacked at the September 17 protest has been signed by hundreds of academics, while the Professional Staff Congress, the union representing 25,000 CUNY faculty and staff, passed a “PSC Resolution in Protest of Violent Police Response to Peaceful Protest by CUNY Students” by unanimous vote of the union’s Delegate Assembly.
On September 30, when two of the CUNY Six were invited to address a PSC “Contract Now!” rally in front of the CUNY Board of Trustees' meeting at Baruch College, they got an enthusiastic response from union members as they explained the goals of the struggle. The repression unleashed against protesters shows “a fundamental fact,” emphasized one organizer of the anti-militarization campaign: “Petraeus’ backers cannot answer the documented truth about his actions as CIA chief and war commander – so they send enforcers in blue to try to silence our voice. But the truth of our message will not and cannot be silenced by the NYPD’s billy clubs, choke holds and fists.”
An Ad Hoc Committee spokeswoman stated: “We want to express our gratitude to supporters, near and far, for taking a firm stand against the militarization of our schools. In light of these developments, we are even more determined to oust Petraeus and ROTC through protest and exposure.” In the following weeks it will be crucial to continue spreading the word about developments in this struggle to defend the university from a targeted campaign of imperialist militarism and police-state repression. We invite groups and individuals in solidarity with this struggle to keep mobilizing for protests outside of Petraeus’ sinister “class."
All those who defend students’ basic right to protest and oppose police brutality are encouraged to attend a public meeting on Tuesday, October 15, calling to “Defend the CUNY Six – Drop the Charges Now!” Lending vocal support is crucial, as two of the CUNY 6 will have their first court appearance on October 17th. The public meeting will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15, in the New Building of John Jay College, 524 West 59th Street, Room 9.64 (9th floor). Press are invited.
A key protest will occur on October 16th at a John Jay gala, where Petraeus will be “honored” as a featured speaker on – “Educating for Justice” (!). (More details to come.) We call on all opponents of militarization to join in building the mobilization to oust Petraeus and ROTC through massive protest and exposure.
CUNY must not be a war college! War Criminal Petraeus, ROTC, Military Contracts and Military Recruiters: Out of CUNY! Defend the CUNY 6! Drop all charges now!