The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) is running Isaac Oseas for New York University Student Senate as part of the fight to build a socialist movement on campus and in the working class.
Oseas is a Master’s student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Near Eastern Studies program. He is a candidate for the GSAS Student Senator position, which represents GSAS students in student government. Students eligible to vote in the GSAS election will receive an email with a link to the online voting platform on May 15.
The GSAS election has been marred by repeated delays and obstacles. Oseas requested information on how to run in early April, at which point an NYU administrator informed him that the elections were delayed indefinitely. Voting in the elections was initially scheduled for May 8 to May 12—when many students have finals—but was postponed at the last minute. The voting is now scheduled to take place from May 15 to May 19, or the week after classes end.
The effect of these delays has been to make it very difficult for the IYSSE to run an effective campaign and inform students about the political issues at stake. This comes after the NYU Student Activities Board (SAB) repeatedly rejected the IYSSE’s application for official club status, on spurious and anti-democratic grounds.
While only NYU GSAS students will be able to vote in the election, the IYSSE at NYU encourages all students to read our election material, distribute our election statements, join the IYSSE and take up the fight for socialism.
Below is a statement from Oseas announcing his candidacy.
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I am running for GSAS Student Senator as a member of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) on a socialist platform. My campaign is part of the fight to build a movement of the working class against militarism and war, social inequality, and authoritarianism. Support for my campaign will provide a springboard for the development of a mass socialist movement in New York City, the world center of financial parasitism.
The political problems confronting students at NYU—including student debt, unaffordable tuition, unemployment and the high cost of living—cannot be resolved within the limited scope of campus politics, even at a “global” university like NYU. It is the working class, the vast majority of the population, that has the power to bring the world’s productive forces into harmony with the needs of the human race for food and water, housing, fulfilling employment, infrastructure, health care, education, and environmental protection.
The election of Trump as US president marks a new stage in the political crisis of American capitalism. While Trump has already begun to implement policies that are devastating millions of working class families, the Democrats and a section of the Republicans have centered their criticisms on a pro-war campaign demanding greater intervention in Syria and preparations for a conflict with Russia.
Many students at NYU are outraged by the attacks on immigrants and refugees, and the NYU Board of Trustees’ connections with the Trump administration and Wall Street. Students have also been shocked at the extensive ties the university has with the military and intelligence agencies, which the IYSSE has sought to expose.
To fight for their interests, I call on students to join the socialist movement and reach out to all sections of workers and youth. The IYSSE demands:
No to war! For a new anti-war movement!
War is the most important issue facing the entire world. A quarter century of unending war, led by the US, is developing into a direct conflict between large, nuclear-armed powers. Whether it is in the Middle East or East Asia, the regional conflicts stoked by the US and its European allies threaten to unleash a world war, with catastrophic consequences.
A new anti-war movement must be built, connecting the fight against war with the fight against capitalism. I call for the disclosure of all NYU’s military connections. I will fight to organize teach-ins on campus on the causes and consequences of war as part of a struggle to encourage and organize mass opposition to war throughout New York City and beyond.
Defend the rights of immigrants! For the international unity of the working class!
The Trump administration’s attack on immigrants has impacted many NYU students and workers in New York City, but it is vastly escalating the decades-long assault, carried out by both Democrats and Republicans.
The IYSSE calls for the defense of all immigrant students, and the mobilization of students and workers across the country in defense of immigrant rights. If elected, I will fight to require that the school pay for immigration lawyers for all immigrant students to ensure that they are not touched by Trump’s ICE agents. The school has enough money to spend millions renovating penthouses for former administrators, so it can afford to defend the rights of immigrant students.
Workers and young people should be able to live, work and study where they wish, without the constraints of outmoded national boundaries. Workers of all countries share a common interest in opposing war, dictatorship, unemployment, poverty and exploitation.
Oppose political censorship at NYU!
The IYSSE has applied for club status repeatedly, each time far exceeding the stated requirements. Yet its application was rejected each time on spurious grounds, including the claim that NYU, awash with money from enormous tuition costs, is not able to afford it. The SAB rejects roughly 90 percent of the groups applying for club status.
The politically-connected members of the student senate and the SAB are attempting to block the organization of a political movement on campus that is opposed to war and the Democratic Party. The IYSSE demands an overhaul of the club application process, and that the university allocate proper resources for all groups to hold meetings and events on campus. Campuses should be places for free discussion, not political censorship.
For equality and socialism! For the political independence of the working class!
New York City is one of the most unequal cities in the world. The Wall Street banks that dominate the city control the entire political system in the US and exert an incredible amount of control over politics in the US and around the world.
The United States is a society in which 20 individuals, many of them living in New York City, have more wealth than the bottom half of the population. Unimaginable sums of wealth are accumulated by a tiny aristocracy, while workers face declining wages, cuts in health care and soaring tuition.
Both the Democrats and Republicans represent the interests of the corporations and the banks. The IYSSE and the Socialist Equality Party are building an independent political movement of the working class to fight for socialism—that is, a society based on social need, not private profit. A vote for my candidacy is a vote for a socialist future.
Vote Isaac Oseas for NYU Student Senate!
To contact and join the IYSSE, visit iysse.com