SUNY: NEW PALTZ ALUMNI LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR GAZA SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT

SUNY: New Paltz, President Darrel P. Wheeler, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Michael Patterson

On May 2, 2024, President Darrel P. Wheeler and Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Patterson, were directly involved in disrupting peaceful student protests and encampments in support of Palestinian liberation from a genocidal campaign led by the apartheid state of Israel. After calling police, several different departments arrived in full riot gear alongside K-9 units resulting in the brutalization of protesters across the campus. Students involved are now facing threats of expulsion and suspension.

As alumni it is our responsibility to ensure and support the safety of student-led protests and stand firm with their current demands for SUNY: New Paltz and the United States to disclose and divest financial ties from Israel. By signing this petition you will take a firm stance with the students leading the protests on campus, solidifying a firm stance with the BDS movement and echoing support for Palestinian liberation.

In addition to supporting the students and their demands we, as SUNY: New Paltz alumni, make the following demands of Darrel P. Wheeler, Michael Patterson and the administration:

·       Drop all charges against those arrested on May 2, 2024

·       Provide amnesty to whatever forms of protest students feel compelled to act on moving forward, encampments or otherwise.

·       A full reimbursement of items lost, confiscated and damaged by the police and the university in addition to whatever health costs, mental or physical, were a result of the arrests and police brutality.

·       Make both a verbal and written public apology. The former can be done as a public forum or press conference on campus, the latter as a written letter.

In signing this petition you are also pledging to withhold all donations to SUNY: New Paltz, refuse to participate in SUNY: New Paltz-sponsored events, and disengage from any type of alumni network that is directly tied to the institution if the demands of students and our own are not met.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

In solidarity with the Students and Palestinian Liberation,

SUNY: New Paltz Alumni for Justice in Palestine



To: SUNY: New Paltz, President Darrel P. Wheeler, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Michael Patterson
From: [Your Name]

SUNY: NEW PALTZ ALUMNI LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR GAZA SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT

To Whom It May Concern:

We write to you as alumni who support the brave students who are taking action against the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We affirm our commitment to see that the University meets their demands. These are as follows:

• Disclose financial investments from all companies and institutions that profit from Israeli settler colonial apartheid and occupation in Palestine – including weapons, tech and surveillance, and construction companies – with full transparency regarding those investments and a public commitment to divest.
• Immediately terminate all programs, affiliations and financial ties with the Israeli apartheid state, including siemens contracts C991285 and OC42022.
• An ongoing commitment to divestment from the Israeli apartheid state in the future.
• SUNY: New Paltz drop all academic sanctions placed on students as a result of their participation in the encampment in addition to the university absolving all faculty members put under investigation for speaking out against Palestine.

In addition to our resounding support for these demands we also condemn Darrel P. Wheeler’s, the President, and Michael Patterson’s, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, involvement in deciding to call police on May 2, 2024 to break up the encampment. The police brutality that incurred nearly 150 arrests in addition to injuries and hospitalizations has left a wake of trauma and humiliation among the student body, faculty and community members alike. As alumni we make the following demands of SUNY: New Paltz, Darrel P. Wheeler and Michael Patterson:

• Drop all charges against those arrested on May 2, 2024
• Provide amnesty to whatever forms of protest students feel compelled to act on moving forward, encampments or otherwise.
• A full reimbursement of items lost, confiscated and damaged by the police and the university in addition to whatever health costs, mental or physical, were a result of the arrests and police brutality.
• Make both a verbal and written public apology. The former can be done as a public forum or press conference on campus, the latter as a written letter.

The ongoing genocide has hit new levels of inhumanity with 1.7 million people displaced into Rafah and now being forced to evacuate as Israel initiates its ground invasion. With almost 40,000 dead and nearly 80,000 injured, most of which are children, we, as members of the SUNY: New Paltz alumni community, cannot sit idly by as the atrocities in the Gaza Strip continue to escalate. Moreover, we cannot support the brutality enacted against students organizing peaceful protest in support of the Palestinian people and their liberation. The United States and institutions of higher education continue to normalize and condone these war crimes and brutality against those who are speaking out, positions and actions we condemn and seek to dismantle. We affirm our pledge and the above demands by withholding all donations to SUNY: New Paltz, refusing to participate in SUNY: New Paltz-sponsored events, and disengaging from any type of alumni network that is directly tied to the institution if the demands of students and our own are not met.

In Solidarity with Palestinians and the Students,
SUNY: New Paltz Alumni for Justice in Palestine