By: Emily Nixon
On April 30, chants echoed outside Brooklyn College’s (BC) Bedford gate as students gathered to protest the recent announcement that graduates would not walk the stage at commencement.
“What do we want? Let us walk! When do we want it? Now!” shouted Ari Tirado, an Undergraduate Student Government (USG) senator and one of the leaders of the demonstration, which was organized by Brooklyn College Student Union (BCSU).
As previously reported by The Vanguard, unrest has erupted among the student body due to the lack of communication surrounding the changes to commencement. BC Administrators have stated that the alteration of the Commencement line-up is due to a timing issue with Barclays Center.
BCSU planned the rally to spotlight the issue and apply more pressure to the BC administration.
“Admin wants to make these decisions in closed-door rooms somewhere where no one can access it, and then tell us later as an afterthought. So, the opposite of that would be to publicize everything and completely democratize, allowing people to say their piece,” said Miguel Figueroa, a graduating student who attended the protest. “There’s very little the school likes less than being made to look bad in front of the news, but [before this rally] there was no like physical, real-world element to this. Everything was happening in the digital space.”
Some students, like Tirado, feel as though the rally was successful in this endeavor, as it garnered attention from News 12.
“[The rally] definitely drew the attention of the Administration, of the media, and of students.”
Students remained chanting and gathering in front of Bedford Gate, ultimately making the decision to enter the East Quad and move the protest to BC Student Affairs’ office in Boylan Hall. Though attempting to enter campus peacefully and all students presenting their IDs, security personnel began to shut the Bedford Ave entrance gates to students.
“[BC students] all have access to this campus, and we all have access to Boylan Hall, and the campus safety that is present shouldn’t be there to simply monitor and take care of the administrators. No, their purpose is to take care of students. So, why are we, as students, afraid of the actions of campus safety?” said Tirado.
After reaching the Student Affairs office, followed by campus security, students gathered on both sides of the hallway and negotiated with them to have an administrator face the crowd.
USG Vice President Fia Sanchez shared how they had sent an email to BC Vice President of Student Affairs, Yasmin Ali, before the rally, inviting them to appear and listen to the gathered students.
According to Sanchez, Ali rejected the invitation and offered to set up a meeting on a different day.
“I said this, specifically, ‘If you come, we are actually trying to have a productive, real conversation, and we will ensure that it’s a respectful and safe environment for everybody because that’s what we want.’” said Sanchez. “[Ali] said, ‘We don’t feel that that’s a productive conversation. We would rather have a meeting in our office.’ […] I felt like it was a slap in the face for her to just be like, ‘No. I’m not coming.’”
After learning the members of the Administration were not inside, but rather in a meeting inside the library, the group of protestors migrated to the Library’s Woody Tanger Auditorium, only to wait for an extended period of time to have a chance to communicate with her.
It was only after the faculty began to exit that students became reignited at the prospect of handing over demands to Ali.
“When we had been waiting in the library for an hour, and everyone wanted to leave, and everyone was getting really bored, […] Ari [Tirado] just yelled and started chanting really, really loudly in the middle of the silent library, and it really woke us up,” recounted Figueroa.
Although the protest ended without a student-admin interaction, the impact of the demonstration was felt as the BC Division of Student Affairs sent out a mass email to the BC community.
This email, sent out on May 4, informed the student body that graduates would walk the stage at commencement and be individually recognized.
“Our graduates and their families are the heart of this celebration. We heard clearly how important it is for our students to walk the stage and be individually recognized for their academic achievements,” stated the email. “In response, Brooklyn College returned to discussions with the venue regarding time parameters, and the venue worked with us to provide additional flexibility.”
As students return to their commencement planning, the BC administration intends to honor their achievements with them.
The success of this demonstration has inspired other CUNY campuses to follow suit by launching their own campaign to walk at commencement. Hunter and Baruch have since organized calls-to-action, such as walkouts and petitions.