Rescind Suspensions of CCNY Protesters!

(Young Spartacus pages)

We print below an October 28 protest letter by the New York Spartacus Youth Club.

The New York Spartacus Youth Club (SYC) denounces the outrageous suspension of City College of New York (CCNY) students Tafadar Sourov and Khalil Vasquez. On October 28, 2013, the students were approached by campus police, their student identification was revoked, and they were suspended and banned from the campus effective immediately. The suspension of these students is a blatant act of retaliation against those who have protested at CCNY against the eviction of the Morales/Shakur Center by the CCNY administration. The SYC stands in solidarity with Sourov and Vasquez! This is an attack on the democratic rights of all students, faculty and workers on campus. We demand that their suspension be revoked and that they be reinstated and allowed back on the CCNY campus immediately!

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YSp Update: The CCNY administration canceled the November 8 disciplinary hearing. Sourov and Vasquez, both activists in the Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee (RSCC), refused to accept the CCNY administration’s grotesque plea deal to temporarily lift the suspensions, provided the students agree to security monitoring and to end their political activities on campus (“We Will Not Compromise: CUNY Administration’s Backroom Deal Revealed,” RSCC Web posting, 7 November). As an SYC spokesman said in his speech at the November 8 defense rally, attended by dozens of students and faculty, “Drop the suspensions now! And cops off campus! This crackdown on leftist groups was a direct response to the anti-Petraeus and anti-ROTC protests. We also say, ROTC and Petraeus off campus now!”

The hearing has been rescheduled for November 15. Protest statements can be directed to: Juana Reina, Vice President of Student Affairs, Wille Administration Building, Room A 204, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, telephone (212) 650-5426, fax (212) 650-7080, e-mail studentaffairs@ccny.cuny.edu.