CUNY president says his 'one regret' is that he allowed the campus occupation to 'harden'

The president of a prominent New York college recently admitted that he regrets not taking action sooner to disperse the anti-Israel encampment at the school.

President Vincent Boudreau of the City College of New York (CCNY) made the admission in an online town hall, reported The City. 

“Allowing the site to harden. That’s my one regret. If what you’re implying is that we have to allow demonstrators free run of the campus…I reject that,” Boudreau told faculty members at the meeting. 

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Boudreau also conceded that the school does not “have a public safety team that’s trained in crowd control,” and added that the City University of New York (CUNY)–of which CCNY is part–has allocated $4 million to CCNY to strengthen the security presence on campus, wrote The City. 

From April 25-30, protesters participated in an anti-Israel encampment on school grounds. 

The demonstrators engaged in a number of disruptive acts prior to the NYPD being called in, including “a fire Sunday night at the Marshak Science Building caused by use of a flare gun that brought FDNY to campus, clashes with public safety and, Tuesday night, an attempted break-in at Shepard Hall and a break-in at the Administration Building that included the vandalizing of offices and smashing glass doors,” CUNY announced. 

The protesters are allegedly responsible for at least $3 million worth of damage. 

BREAKING: City College of New York has launched a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Per release, “Organizers at CUNY draw on the legacy of the 1969 CUNY student protest movement, when more than 200 Black and Puerto Rican students de-occupied campus buildings at CCNY… for 17 days.” pic.twitter.com/vzWxKXd13J

— Talia Jane ❤️‍🔥 (@taliaotg) April 25, 2024

The school’s peace officers were initially in charge of managing the protest, though they were eventually overwhelmed.

“With our public safety team, exhausted, outnumbered, doing the best they can to keep people out of our other buildings, truly worried about the potential for violence, at 11:45, I made the call for the NYPD to come in and assist in the operation,” Boudreau said, as The City reported. 

Some criticized Boudreau for not handling the protest more effectively, including Gregory Floyd, president of the union of CUNY’s security officers. 

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Floyd said: “It is paramount that in emergencies of this magnitude, that there is coordination between the NYPD and campus Peace Officers — which the President failed to recognize and allow,” according to The City. 

Boudreau himself has a history of protesting in his past. While a student at Cornell University in the 1980s, he protested against South African apartheid. 

Campus Reform has reached out to President Vincent Boudreau, CUNY City College, and Gregory Floyd for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

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