By: Sarah Sarway
As fall-out from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet continues to implode, faculty and students at NYU’s campus in Shanghai, China are facing pressure to avoid one particular topic this semester: the pro-democracy demonstrations happening right outside their classrooms.
After speaking out in favor of the pro-democracy demonstrators back in early October on Twitter, Morey and the NBA came under fire by China, adding fuel to an already raging fire. This has caused a pretty uneasy situation at NYU’s international campus in Shanghai China.
In an interview with the New York Post, one faculty member says that many students and fellow staff are being extra cautious to ensure that they don’t discuss the protests in their classrooms, or on campus at all. “Everyone is under a bit of a cloud of fear,” the faculty member said. “We don’t walk around trembling like rodents, but there is a general idea that there are certain topics you don’t discuss. Most of us are on guard about what we say even when we talk about the weather.”
NYU Shanghai has remained silent about the pro-democracy protests, at least publicly. While the China-based school’s social media accounts have made no mention of the movement, there was one panel discussion on the topic that a senior professor deemed “off the record”, as reported to the Post. He refused to discuss the details of the panel.
While many refused to reveal any further information, NYU spokesman John Beckman did confirm that the panel had a good crowd of students and faculty. Beckman also confirmed that the school was unable to guarantee the safety of those who attended. “Our students are accustomed to engaging with the larger society and understand that when they are outside a university setting, a university doesn’t have any special authority to immunize its students from harm or jeopardy, nor does being a university student confer a special invulnerability…when our students do get into trouble, we act to help them,” he told the Post.
Back here in the states, it seems the faculty isn’t too confident in the school’s desire to foster panels and talks on the pro-democracy demonstrations or their willingness to protect their students and fellow staff if need be.
The Post spoke with NYU faculty member Rebecca Karl, who teaches modern China in New York. She said she was discouraged from organizing a panel about the protests because it could “hurt the feelings of my colleagues in Shanghai.” The university just began a 1.2 million-square-foot expansion on their Shanghai campus that would increase their capacity to an additional 4,000 students, which is probably why they are choosing to take a hands-off approach.
Karl said she isn’t letting that deter her. “I am still going to go forward,” she said.
