the quixotic NYU student rally at Kimmel Hall was proceeding more like a party than a protest. There was dancing, finger-painting, and even some public nudity! But around 1 a.m. last night, things started to go south. The students thought the school was getting ready to negotiate on their list of demands, but in actuality the administration shut down the student center where about two dozen students were holed up on the third floor, and cleared everyone else out. They took the deal of amnesty for protesting students off the table, and let them stew there, facing expulsion or probation.With nearly 700 students joining together at 12:59am, the air was rife with anticipation that the evening’s previous threat would breed the kind of scene that would grace the cover of The New York Post or The Daily News, and, if the stars aligned, would garner a blurb on the twenty-third page of The New York Times’ Friday edition. But what happened at 1:00 a.m. was a sad display of what our university plans on doing over this pressing issue: they pussied out. No officers entered the building. No arrests were made. No tear gas filled the Kimmel Cafeteria. And no drastic action occurred, despite the threats of [University officials].
