Campus Alert Archive
NYU Law

Sign or Lose Exam Access: NYU Law's Vanderbilt Hall Persona-Non-Grata Contract

NYcivil unrestadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On May 5-6, 2025, NYU School of Law issued a contract to 31 pro-Palestine students demanding they pledge in writing to halt all protest activity in order to access campus buildings during the final-exam period. The demand followed a sit-in outside Dean Troy McKenzie's office on the fourth floor of Vanderbilt Hall on April 29 and a second sit-in on Tuesday, May 6. One Vanderbilt Hall student was stopped by Campus Safety as he attempted to enter to take a final exam — the first time he learned of his persona-non-grata status. NYU Law walked back the contract demand on Sunday, May 11, less than 24 hours after The Intercept reported the story.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
New York University
Private R1 · NY
~60,000 studentsEverbridgeNYU Alerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstructionWashington Square News reporting on the contract sent to 31 students588 chars
Dear Student: As communicated previously, your access to NYU campus buildings has been suspended pending review. To restore access for the final-exam period beginning May 12, you must sign the attached agreement affirming that you will not participate in any protest activity or disruptive activity on NYU property during the exam period. Failure to sign by 5:00 PM on Friday, May 9, 2025 will result in continued building-access restrictions, including restrictions on classrooms, religious sites, and the law school. Please contact the Office of the Dean of Students with any questions.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from Washington Square News and The Intercept paraphrases — the contract is not publicly archived in full but the key terms (no-protest pledge, building-access restoration, exam-period scope) are confirmed across multiple sources
The contract framing — that signing was the price of access to final exams — is what made the May 5 communication function as an institutional 'alert' to the 31 affected students even though no NYU-wide notification was issued
This is one of the most consequential professional-school institutional communications in the 2024-2025 protest cycle because it conditioned core academic access on a content-based speech pledge
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstructionWashington Square News reporting on the second sit-in and three additional bars342 chars
Three additional students who participated in today's sit-in outside the Office of the Dean have been notified that their access to NYU buildings, including Vanderbilt Hall, is suspended. NYU Campus Safety will be present at building entrances to verify access. Students with questions about academic accommodations should contact their dean.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed; the actual notification language to the three additional students is not publicly archived
Brings the total persona-non-grata population at NYU Law to 31 — the figure that drove the contract demand
The Vanderbilt Hall sit-ins were silent and stationary, not chanting or blocking faculty — a useful contrast with more disruptive protest types
ALL CLEAREmail+5d
Approximate reconstructionThe Intercept reporting NYU Law's reversal448 chars
Dear Members of the Law School Community: We are writing to inform you that the previously communicated requirement to sign an agreement regarding protest activity as a condition of access during the final-exam period has been rescinded. Students currently subject to building-access restrictions will be able to take in-person final exams. The Law School remains committed to ensuring an orderly final-exam period while reviewing all open matters.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from The Intercept's reporting and the rescission language consistent across coverage
The reversal came less than 24 hours after The Intercept published the story — illustrating how media attention drove the institutional climbdown
Final exams proceeded normally; the 31 affected students were able to sit for in-person exams without signing the no-protest pledge
Context

Background

Vanderbilt Hall is the principal building of NYU School of Law, on Washington Square South in Manhattan, housing classrooms, the Furman Hall classroom complex, and the Office of the Dean. The Vanderbilt Hall sit-ins of late April and May 2025 began as a follow-on to the March 4, 2025 sit-in at Bobst Library after which NYU initially barred 28 students from accessing several campus buildings. On April 29, 2025, 18 students staged a silent sit-in for four hours (1-5 PM EDT) outside Dean Troy McKenzie's fourth-floor office in Vanderbilt Hall. After a second sit-in on Tuesday, May 6, three additional students were added to the persona-non-grata list. On Monday, May 5, NYU Law sent the 31 affected students a contract demanding they pledge in writing to halt all protest activity in order to access campus buildings during the final-exam period beginning May 12. One Vanderbilt Hall student was stopped at the entrance by NYU Campus Safety when attempting to enter to take a final exam — the first time he learned of his persona-non-grata status. After The Intercept reported the story on May 6, NYU Law walked back the contract demand the following Sunday morning, May 11. The case is one of the clearest professional-school examples in the archive of institutional 'alert' communications — building-access notifications, contract demands, and rescissions — being used as the de facto enforcement and notification channel for civil-unrest events that never trigger a formal Clery emergency notification.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 'alert' channel here was a contract demand, not an emergency notification — a useful boundary case for what constitutes institutional 'alert communication' in the protest era
NYU Law walked back the contract demand within 24 hours of The Intercept's reporting, illustrating how media coverage shapes professional-school institutional decisions
One affected student first learned of his persona-non-grata status when NYU Campus Safety stopped him entering Vanderbilt Hall to take a final exam — a notable failure-mode in building-access notification
Sit-ins were silent and stationary, not disruptive in the traditional sense — but were treated by NYU Law as warranting building-wide access restrictions
Followed the broader pattern that began with the March 4, 2025 Bobst Library sit-in and the 28 initial bars
Outcome
NYU Law reversed the contract demand on Sunday, May 11, 2025. Final exams proceeded without students having to sign anti-protest pledges. The case sits within a broader pattern of NYU restricting building access for pro-Palestine demonstrators that began after the [March 4, 2025 Bobst Library sit-in](https://nyunews.com/news/2025/04/29/students-meet-law-dean/), with 28 students initially barred and three additional students barred after the Vanderbilt Hall sit-ins.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    31 law students barred from campus, offered contract to cease protests (Washington Square News)
    nyunews.com
  2. Student Paper
    Students picket outside Vanderbilt Hall, demand NYU Law cut anti-protest contract (Washington Square News)
    nyunews.com
  3. News
    NYU Law About-Face: Students Can Take Exams Without Swearing Off Protests (The Intercept)
    theintercept.com
  4. Student Paper
    Law students call for defined suspension policy, divestment in meeting with dean (Washington Square News)
    nyunews.com
Tags
civil-unrestprofessional-schoollaw-schoolnyu-lawvanderbilt-hallsit-inisrael-gaza-protestspersona-non-gratabuilding-accessexam-disruptionnew-york
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion