Emergency Call to Action
Item
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APP-15-1991 @S:27PmM FROM 4267«# 3 TO 36422642 P.8L
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION
TODAY, APRIL 15, 1997
AT 2:00 AM. , STUDENTS FROM NEW YORK CITY TECHNICAL
COLLEGE IN BROOKLYN TOOK OVER THEIR CAMPUS AT 300 JAY
STREET. AT AROUND 8:00 AM. POLICE IN RIOT GEAR WERE MOVED
IN TO REMOVE PROTESTERS FROM THE CAMPUS. STUDENTS
ATTEMPTED TO PREVENT THE POLICE FROM GAINING ACCESS TO
THEIR SCHOOL. AS OF 11:45 A.M. 12 INJURIES WERE REPORTED,
ONE, A YOUNG AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN WAS SEVERELY SEATEN
INTO UNGONCIOUSNESS AND iS LISTED iN CRITICAL CONDITION.
ALSO AS OF 11:45 TODAY, BARUCH STUDENTS CONTINUE IN CONTROL
OF THEIR MAIN BUILDING WHICH WAS TAKEN AT 1:30 AM. THIS
MORNING. POLICE ARE REPORTED TO HAYE STARTED SEATING
STUDENTS. NO INJURIES HAVE YET BEEN REPORTED.
QUEENS COLLEGE WAS ALSO TAKEN BY STUDENTS AT AROUND 8:00
A.M, IN THE MORNING. REPORTS INDICATE THAT THE CAMPUS
SECURITY HAS BEATEN SEVERAL STUDENTS ANO CLASHES BETWEEN
SECURITY AND STUDENT PROTESTERS CONTINJE TO ESCALATE.
W. ANN REYNOLDS CHOSE TO SCARE STUDENTS WITH POLICE
PRESENCE LAST WEEK. THIS WEEK SHE HAS STEPPED UP THR HEAT
AND HAS SANCTIONED THE BRUTAL BEATING OF STUDENTS
ATTEMPTING TO SECURE ACCESS TO THEIR EDUCATION,
WE CALL ON THE FACULTY ANO THE STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY
TO WAGE A MASSIVE RESPONSE OF PROTEST AGAINST THE TACTICS
THAT BLOODY W. ANN REYNOLDS HAS SEEN FIT TO USE IN ORDER
TO SILENCE STUDENTS WHO WISH TO PRESERVE THEIR RIGHT TO A
COLLEGE EDUCATION.
WE ARE ESPECIALLY CALLING ON THE FACULTY “O CANCEL CLASSES
FOR ONE DAY, ON APRIL 17, IN PROTEST OF ‘HE ACTIONS TAKEN
BY W. ANN REYNOLDS AND IN SOLIDARITY WITH WHAT HAS BEEN UP
TO NOW, A PEACEFUL PROTEST.
THANK YOU
eee eee LSS ee ee A I A OORT LT AB nt OR cen
APP-15-1991 @S:27PmM FROM 4267«# 3 TO 36422642 P.8L
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION
TODAY, APRIL 15, 1997
AT 2:00 AM. , STUDENTS FROM NEW YORK CITY TECHNICAL
COLLEGE IN BROOKLYN TOOK OVER THEIR CAMPUS AT 300 JAY
STREET. AT AROUND 8:00 AM. POLICE IN RIOT GEAR WERE MOVED
IN TO REMOVE PROTESTERS FROM THE CAMPUS. STUDENTS
ATTEMPTED TO PREVENT THE POLICE FROM GAINING ACCESS TO
THEIR SCHOOL. AS OF 11:45 A.M. 12 INJURIES WERE REPORTED,
ONE, A YOUNG AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN WAS SEVERELY SEATEN
INTO UNGONCIOUSNESS AND iS LISTED iN CRITICAL CONDITION.
ALSO AS OF 11:45 TODAY, BARUCH STUDENTS CONTINUE IN CONTROL
OF THEIR MAIN BUILDING WHICH WAS TAKEN AT 1:30 AM. THIS
MORNING. POLICE ARE REPORTED TO HAYE STARTED SEATING
STUDENTS. NO INJURIES HAVE YET BEEN REPORTED.
QUEENS COLLEGE WAS ALSO TAKEN BY STUDENTS AT AROUND 8:00
A.M, IN THE MORNING. REPORTS INDICATE THAT THE CAMPUS
SECURITY HAS BEATEN SEVERAL STUDENTS ANO CLASHES BETWEEN
SECURITY AND STUDENT PROTESTERS CONTINJE TO ESCALATE.
W. ANN REYNOLDS CHOSE TO SCARE STUDENTS WITH POLICE
PRESENCE LAST WEEK. THIS WEEK SHE HAS STEPPED UP THR HEAT
AND HAS SANCTIONED THE BRUTAL BEATING OF STUDENTS
ATTEMPTING TO SECURE ACCESS TO THEIR EDUCATION,
WE CALL ON THE FACULTY ANO THE STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY
TO WAGE A MASSIVE RESPONSE OF PROTEST AGAINST THE TACTICS
THAT BLOODY W. ANN REYNOLDS HAS SEEN FIT TO USE IN ORDER
TO SILENCE STUDENTS WHO WISH TO PRESERVE THEIR RIGHT TO A
COLLEGE EDUCATION.
WE ARE ESPECIALLY CALLING ON THE FACULTY “O CANCEL CLASSES
FOR ONE DAY, ON APRIL 17, IN PROTEST OF ‘HE ACTIONS TAKEN
BY W. ANN REYNOLDS AND IN SOLIDARITY WITH WHAT HAS BEEN UP
TO NOW, A PEACEFUL PROTEST.
THANK YOU
Title
Emergency Call to Action
Description
Dated April 15th, 1991 at 3:27 PM, this facsimile was an “emergency call to action.” It reported that students who had taken over City University of New York (CUNY) campuses, including New York City Technical College, Baruch College, and Queens College were being beaten by police and campus security guards. Twelve injures from New York Technical College were reported, including one woman who was in critical condition. The document called on CUNY faculty and students to “wage a massive response of protest” and, more specifically, for faculty to cancel classes for one day on April 17th.
The 1991 CUNY strikes were part of the larger story of austerity measures imposed on New York City and the community efforts to resist those measures. On April 16th, students mainly from the Graduate Center Anthropology PhD program occupied the Graduate Center in solidarity with a broader undergraduate mobilization across CUNY against the threat of steep tuition hikes, massive budget cuts, and faculty layoffs. What began as a one-day strike turned into a ten-day take-over in which students and faculty practiced forms of participatory democracy, discussed the root causes of the austerity problems being faced, and debated actions for change. Students often drew on CUNY’s history as the premier urban, public institution of higher education in the United States to argue that education was a right and that the proposed measures threatened working-class New Yorkers' ability to receive an education.
Contributor
McCaffrey, Katherine
Date
April 15, 1991
Language
English
Rights
Copyrighted
Source
McCaffrey, Katherine
“Emergency Call to Action”. Letter, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/1710