Who runs SUNY? We run SUNY!

On May 1, a large contingent of anti-imperialist and pro-Palestine protesters marched on and attempted to establish an encampment on the University at Buffalo’s North Campus to protest the ongoing genocide in occupied Palestine and to demand the university divest, boycott and sanction Israel’s financial and institutional ties. (workers.org/2024/05/78728/). The school is part of the State University of New York system.

In response to encampment events like this one, over the summer SUNY leadership across all New York campuses has engaged in lawfare to learn from the encampment movement and change the on-campus outdoor events rules to be even more in favor of the university and its police departments. 

On Aug. 22, UB President Dr. Satish Tripathi issued a university-wide statement outlining the new anti-protest policy changes. In summary, the new rules state that putting chalk on sidewalks or roads, use of sound amplifying equipment and any piece of property (such as outdoor chairs or tables) that university police deem to be evidence of the future establishment of an encampment are banned. 

Furthermore, all posters need to have contact information that is accessible to the university authorities and specify whether or not the group is affiliated with the university. Tripathi stated; “These draft policies, now under the 30-day university-wide review process, will be put into effect immediately.”

The specific language of the rules is vague by design — to allow for university police to have more legal excuses to apply force to students and staff who organize outdoor events of any kind to support any working-class struggles and movements. It is also designed to make it easier for them to identify our leadership and suppress our propaganda. 

UB administration threatens union rally

On Aug. 29, the Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) held a start-of-the semester rally outside of Clemens Hall at UB North to discuss the current situation in union organizing. This was the first rally to be held by a progressive, working-class organization thus far in the current semester. 

At the start of the rally, the union’s current president brought out the union’s bullhorn to kick-off the event. Immediately, a university representative came forward, introduced himself and said that while he wanted us to have a “positive protest experience,” the rules prohibiting sound equipment are currently in effect, and if rally leaders did not comply, university police could attempt to confiscate the equipment. 

The GSEU president made a tactical decision to put away the bullhorn in the interest of the safety of union rally participants. Around that time, another participant who was standing a few yards away made a comment about bringing out an old card table, to which the same university representative replied that doing so could also be considered a possible violation of current policy. 

Meanwhile, in this same outdoor space, a table event was being held by a fruit and vegetable organization, and the organizer running that event was not spoken to or interfered with by any university authority or police officer about their table. 

In addition, on the opposite side of the building, university sports fans had set up picnic areas with parking lot cookouts, outdoor sound equipment, tables, camping chairs, etc., and the university police — who were there directing traffic — did not interfere with them. 

At the rally, the GSEU president called for solidarity between the unions in Western New York and elsewhere. The union put out a call to action for an upcoming strike being held by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists on Sept. 3 at a local hospital. They also issued a call for continued support of the Elmwood Tacos and Subs union, which has been holding a boycott and continued store pickets throughout the summer. 

Rally speakers mentioned that the university office of employee relations contacted the deans of every department and told them to stop inviting GSEU representatives to first-day graduate student orientations. These orientations are critical for getting new graduate student workers to sign union cards and for all graduate students to learn about the union that represents them. 

While grassroots efforts to contact staff in each department have allowed for the union to reach a majority of the departments, this anti-union campaign on the part of the university has significantly curtailed the movement to on-board new members for this semester. 

Lessons for progressive students

Several things have become clear for the progressive movement on college campus: Solidarity is now more important than ever. The student organizers in the SUNY system need to study the coalitions fighting U.S. imperialism which have held events in Washington, D.C., to resist NATO and in Chicago, to protest the Democratic National Convention. Both of these events broadly managed to unify a whole spectrum of political tendencies and organizations. 

Coalitions between student groups have often historically struggled with infighting along both personal and political lines. While these differences can sometimes manifest, we must not lose sight of our goals and of who our enemy is. 

The encampment movement has raised the level of consciousness such that more students, staff and community members realize the deep corruption which exists in our university systems. They have come to recognize that all or the struggles of working-class and oppressed people are interconnected. And more and more people are recognizing the class divide between workers and oppressed people on one side and the ruling class and its police on the other.

We must intensify and expand our shared struggle. The solidarity between union rallies and protests being called for in Western New York and the unity of action that existed between the diverse grouping of organizations during the May 1 UB encampment effort are both excellent examples of this. We must build upon these progressive examples and tear down the roadblocks — both rhetorical and institutional — placed there by the institution to divide and stop us. 

As we enter this new semester, let us remember that it is “us” — the students, staff, faculty and alumni — who actually run the daily life and operation of the university. Let us remember that we do not struggle solely for ourselves but rather for all working-class and oppressed people worldwide! 

Daphne Barroeta is a graduate student activist at UB.