Items

• Revised and Expanded In-Process Agenda: Cultural Anthropology Meeting

  This “Revised and Expanded In-Process Agenda” based on minutes from a May 18th Cultural Anthropology graduate student meeting emphasized that the document was not a manifesto but rather a collection of ideas that were open to discussion and revision. The students called for “a student-run structure to address common problems.” Claiming that the Graduate Center was failing to live up to its “public educational mandate,” the Cultural Anthropology students enumerated the program’s problems: tuition increases, financial stress, a lack of peer-run advocacy procedures, and a misuse of resources. Among other points of contention, the students advocated for more opportunities for students and faculty to communicate, student representation in the admissions process, and a designated student meeting place. This item documented student activism in the Cultural Anthropology program prior to the 1991 City University of New York (CUNY) strikes.
• An Open Letter to all Cultural Anthropology Students and Faculty

  Signed on May 18th by 20 students from the Graduate Center, this open letter announced the formation of an organization to address the concerns of the students in the Cultural Anthropology program. It specifically called for an improved grievance process, more effective student representation in the decision-making process in the program, and the development of cooperative solutions to student and faculty problems.
• Workers and Students, Fight Back Against Cutbacks

  Calling for a general strike to support students, this May Day flyer argued that “When the police attack. . .workers and students will unite to fight back against cutbacks and police brutality.” Written in both Spanish and English, the flyer specifically outlined several recent student takeovers at various CUNY campuses in response to the $96 million budget cuts imposed on the CUNY system. The flyer named both Mayor David Dinkins and Governor Mario Cuomo as threatening to attack student strikers with the police. Students and workers were also invited to The Mayday march organized by the International Committee Against Racism and the Progressive Labor Party for May 4th in Washington.
• The Struggle Continues

  Promoting solidarity and coalition building across CUNY campuses, this flyer called on students at Bronx Community College, Lehman College, and Hostos Community College to join a May 2, 1991 rally at Hostos Community College in the Bronx followed by a march to City College in Harlem. The flyer featured two figures with open mouths and called for "No" tuition increases, budget cuts, financial aid reductions, or faculty/staff layoffs.
• No Budget Cuts – No Givebacks – Join CUNY Students

  City University of New York’s (CUNY) struggles were “no different from labor’s fight for economic and social justice.” This 1991 flyer appealed to NYC labor movement members to join CUNY student strikers, arguing that the attacks on CUNY were part of city-wide attacks on city workers, public schools, health care, worker safety, child care, public transit, and beyond. The flyer called for resolutions to be passed and sent to the New York Central Labor Council, Governor Cuomo, and for community and labor groups to join them on April 24th for a rally and march at the World Trade Center.
• "Jeopardizing the Life of Institution" – Letter to the Students from President Cahn

  Addressed to the students on April 18, 1991, and signed by Steven M. Cahn, the acting Graduate Center president, this letter stated that the student strikers who had occupied the Graduate Center were "jeopardizing the life of the institution" they were "trying to defend." Cahn insisted that allowing students, faculty, and staff to freely enter the building would demonstrate the strikers' "commitment to the invaluable process of unrestricted teaching and learning."
• “Graduate Center Student Strike Update”: 16 Demands

  On April 18th, a "Graduate Center Student Strike Update" document confirmed the students' 16 demands and announced that a negotiation process had begun with Graduate Center administrators. Some of the demands were tied directly to the building occupation; students demanded that police or CUNY security forces not be brought to campus and that disciplinary action would not be taken against the striking students. Some demands were tied to CUNY budget cuts: They demanded that the CUNY Central administration and Chancellor Ann Reynolds present a plan to immediately put pressure on state legislators to stop the budget cuts. Additional demands targeted inequalities within the Graduate Center itself. Students insisted that the GC recruit new students and faculty "particularly from the CUNY system to reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the City of New York."
• "We're all in this Together": CUNY in Solidarity with the Home Care Strike

  This flyer promoted an April 17th CUNY rally held in opposition to budget cuts and tuition hikes. The CUNY rally participants joined Local 1199 and DC 1707 home care workers on the picket line. One of the core tenets of the Graduate Student Takeover was to stand in solidarity with all striking CUNY campuses and other community struggles.