It is a common thought to believe that police are there to protect us. Freedom of speech and expression are also considered two fundamental rights and what better place to exercise those rights than at a public school.
It is a place for our personal and professional growth, a place where we can share our ideas, a place to be accepted, and most importantly, a place to be safe.
On the afternoon of Nov. 21 my English professor greeted me. She stated, "In light of what is going on, I do not feel comfortable conducting class today."
We were allowed to accompany her to the CUNY student strike, which seemed to be a peaceful protest against tuition hikes. I was up for it.
As my classmates and I entered Madison Square Park, we heard chanting and a rumbling sound as if we were about to step into a jungle.
Yellow signs stating, "They want a hike, we say student Strike!" were perched up on wooden planks and students circled around a human microphone. They were in camaraderie as they shook fists in the air and cried out their own student struggles.
One woman's story caught my attention. Her brother was in Afghanistan working as a service analyst and making $20,000 a year. He was struggling to pay her tuition.
When the young woman finished delivering her story, tears streamed down her face, one student gave her a pat on the back, and another embraced her.
As my professor left the protest she said, "Everyone be safe. You never know when these things can get violent." But I thought simply, "These are students. The police would never do that." I didn't know that thirty minutes after I left the protest, things would be very different.
I later saw The Ticker's news feed saying "15 Arrested At Baruch College in Clash with Cops." I watched The Ticker's video in which a student was being held to the ground and cuffed right underneath the familiar yellow panel by the school's turnstiles.
That day the unarmed protesters were faced with a "baton-wielding" armed security.
Denise Romero, who is a representative of Students United for a Free CUNY and the President of Bottom Up Baruch, said, "Paola Martinez [a fellow Baruch student] had her Baruch ID taken away."
He said students wanted to hold a general assembly right there in the Vertical Campus, but arrests were made.
Conor Tomas Reed, a Baruch Graduate Teaching Fellow, was charged with trespassing in the very school he teaches his students.
The safe place to exercise freedom of speech and assembly had been compromised.
It was further evident on Nov. 28, the day that board of trustees approved tuition hike. Some say the decision to cancel classes was due to a chance of violence from police or class disruption from protesters.
Professor Edward Regan agreed with the decision saying the protesters were disruptive. He stated, "The marchers, for the most part, were not Baruch students and I think they interrupted class presentations when they marched in here. They should have a right to be heard. This country has free speech. But it's not free if you're disrupting people that are working."
The President of Baruch College Mitchel Wallerstein's message to cancel classes on the 28th was an inconvenience to many students and teachers.
The CUNY Professional Staff Congress, a union for faculty and staff, called for the Baruch President to "open the campus, open the meeting and let this university be a university again."
Many professors ended up cancelling Friday classes. But other students had to choose either work or school. The change of schedule has made some students contemplate who to blame for this snatching of a day of classes and this hindrance on their education.
The use of violence against students on Nov. 21 was the first time that I thought: maybe we are not as free as we would like to think we are.
We have grown accustomed to the principles of free speech, assembly, and the right to an education. But any infringement on our basic rights has to be scrutinized.
Perhaps the cancellation of classes on the 28th should be taken more seriously.
Our classes can be taken away for a religious holiday or a snowstorm, but not for a student protest
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