Students shut down white supremacist event at NYU

New York, NY – On April 14, over 40 students, alumni, faculty and community members rallied at Washington Square Park to hold NYU accountable for a white supremacist event that had been set to take place a few days before.

The NYU College Republicans were set to host an April 10 panel on campus called “Immigrant Invasion.” The panel scheduled three speakers: Elijah Schaffer, Sarah Stock and Lucian Wintrich. Students quickly found out about the event, and many of them took note of its xenophobic nature and the white supremacist backgrounds of all of the speakers. One of the speakers, Elijah Schaffer, used a Studio Ghibli-styled AI-art generation to create a poster for the event which depicted racist caricatures of Black men.

On April 9, the NYU Students Democratic Society (SDS) mobilized several student organizations to release a petition and a statement demanding the event be shut down. Within just a few hours, the petition garnered over 4500 signatures, and the statement was endorsed by over 40 student organizations. Elijah Schaffer, after finding out about the petition and the massive student backlash towards the event, tweeted an ask for armed security to bring onto NYU campus. This call prompted the university to shut the event down, releasing a statement regarding the cancellation of the event.

However, many students quickly pointed out how NYU did not condemn the event on grounds of its racist and xenophobic nature or acknowledge that the NYU College Republicans organized the event. In addition, many students highlighted how this was only yet another event that put student groups at risk, noting an Islamophobic attack on the university prayer room, student visas being revoked, a racist cyberattack on the NYU website, punishment of pro-Palestine student protesters and free speech, and much more just this semester.

NYU SDS called for a rally to hold NYU accountable, receiving endorsements from over a dozen student organizations. At the rally, students chanted “NYU we know you, you invite racists too!” and “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!” As students chanted, members from the NYU College Republicans tried to record people’s faces and attempted to disrupt the action but were blocked from doing so by the rally’s marshals.

Amilcar Javier, from Omicron, which is the NYU chapter of La Unidad Latina fraternity, spoke on how the NYU College Republicans attempted to organize another xenophobic event in 2007 called “Find the Illegal Immigrant.” However, he highlighted how, even then, students mobilized together in their hundreds to disrupt the event from taking place. He emphasized the continued need to fight back against racism and injustices of all kinds.

After speakers, protesters marched around the area passing by several NYU buildings. They chanted “NYU! Shame on you!” and “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” As they marched, hundreds of students and community members took notice, with many recording, joining chants or expressing support through cheers. At the end of the march, protesters gathered at the front of the NYU Kimmel Center, which was the location where the white supremacist event was set to take place.

“White supremacy is rooted deep within American society. It continues to rear its ugly head all throughout this country, from our current president to these speakers and even at NYU,” said Ebtesham Ahmed, speaking for NYU SDS.

“As NYU continues to endanger our student aid community, it will be up to us to stand up and fight back! To come together as a community to protect our brothers, sisters and siblings – because NYU has clearly shown that they will actively work to endanger us,” Ahmed continued. “It is more important than ever to organize and fight back because by daring to struggle, you dare to win. And we have shown that we can win. And we will keep winning!”

The rally ended with chants of “Dare to struggle, dare to win!” and a call by NYU SDS to join them in future organizing meetings. NYU SDS has promised to continue its overall campaign demanding NYU end its compliance with Trump’s dicates.

#NewYorkNY #NY #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #SDS #NYC #WhiteSupremacists