Cooper Union sophomore Taylor Roslyn Lent is reassessing reality Thursday, a day after she and other Jewish students were locked inside the East Village college library as pro-Palestinian protesters banged on doors and windows. Lent, 20, said she and about 50 other students were barricaded inside the library after a staff member at the private university closed a door while protesters broke through the security checkpoint.
“I can say that I felt unsafe and unprotected,” Lent, a chemical engineering student, told The Post on Thursday. “I would like the university to admit what happened and not avoid the issue. “I was surprised to be experiencing this at my private university, in the United States, in 2023.”
Lent said she and other Jewish students inside the library feared for their safety as protesters, including some carrying Palestinian flags and signs reading “Zionism, out of our universities,” descended on the building.
Cooper Union sophomore Taylor Roslyn Lent said she feared for her safety during Wednesday’s demonstration at the university, where, she told The Post, staff locked the door as protesters went through a security checkpoint. .X / @JakeyKluger Protesters banged on the library windows and raised their signs.X / @thislouis
Police said Thursday that about 20 of the 70 pro-Palestinian protesters, “all students,” missed the point where participants are supposed to scan their IDs.
An unidentified Cooper Union employee closed the door as protesters entered the building, Lent, who was “hanging out” in the library, said.
Of the 50 students inside, a small group were Jewish and “they were full of fear, some were crying,” Lent recalled Thursday. The Post reported Wednesday that there was a group of 11 Jewish students in the library.
A Cooper Union senior who asked not to be identified accused protesters of shouting “anti-Semitic rhetoric” while banging on a large library window.
Student Taylor Roslyn Lent wants more clarity about Wednesday’s incident from Cooper Union officials, the chemical engineering student said. taylor rose roslyn
“When they started banging on the door, my heart started pounding,” the student told The Post on Wednesday. “I was crying. I think if the doors weren’t closed, I don’t know what would have happened.”
As a young Jewish woman at the university of fewer than 1,000 students, Lent said she now questions her well-being on campus.
“I mainly fear for my safety on campus and in my school buildings,” he said.
Lent, seen here in a 2017 photo, said the incident at the library lasted about 30 minutes, causing some “fearful” Jewish students to cry.Taylor Rose Roslyn
Messages from Cooper Union officials seeking comment were not returned Thursday. University President Laura Sparks referred to the “peaceful protest” in a message, saying protesters entered the building around 3:45 p.m. Wednesday.
“To maintain a safe space, the library was closed for approximately 20 minutes while some student protesters moved around the building, some chanting protest slogans and banging on library doors and windows,” Sparks said.
Some have called the NYPD to make arrests, but Patrol Chief John Chell told reporters, “There were no direct threats.”
Plainclothes officers were with protesters at the library, Chell said.
City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov called for the resignation of Cooper Union President Laura Sparks at a news conference Thursday. Stephen Yang
“The students were not entrenched,” Chell said. “The doors were open but closed. A school administrator thought it prudent to close the doors and post private security while protesters descended the stairs. . “For about 10 minutes.” . . [protestors] “They were banging on the library doors and banging on some clear windows that you could see inside the library,” Chell added.
Representatives of a Cooper Union Jewish student group now want the university president fired for what they say was her failure to protect herself. “She failed in her duty,” attorney Gerard Filitti told Laura Sparks at a news conference Thursday. “All of these schools have a duty to keep students safe, and these students are not safe.”
Filitti also said he wants to file criminal charges against the protesters, saying he would sue the school and calling for an investigation into why the NYPD was allegedly slow to respond: He said students were trapped in the room for at least 40 minutes. despite repeated calls to 911.
Meanwhile, the school’s Jewish students are filing a lawsuit against the institution, said attorney Gerard Filitti.@StopAntisemites/
Solomon Rosenzweig, a Cooper Union student, said his 22-year-old daughter, a college senior whom he asked not to be identified for fear of her safety, was also inside the library as dozens of protesters chanted “Palestine will be free.” “
Rosenzweig, 48, of Brooklyn, said her daughter was “upset and shocked” after Wednesday’s harrowing incident. The civil engineer was not available for comment Thursday as he waited to consult with an attorney.
“I went and donated money to the school because I valued education and I thought my daughter would end up getting the same. Only, instead, the school allowed my daughter to be at risk.
Students and supporters held a pro-Israel protest on Thursday. Stephen Yang
“I know you have a midterm you’ve been trying to work on,” he said. “And their ability to process has been severely degraded.”
The parent said his continued support for the school is now in question.
“My future donations depend on how the school responds and addresses this,” he said. “[My daughter] “He really wanted to do his master’s degree there, and right now, I’m not sure he’s going to do that.”
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton and Steven Janowski
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