Paris Terror Attacks Prompts University Response
On Nov. 13, a series of terror attacks rocked the city of Paris. Beginning at 9:20 p.m. local time, suicide bombers and gunmen carried out seven ...
Nov 21, 2015
On Nov. 13, a series of terror attacks rocked the city of Paris.
Beginning at 9:20 p.m. local time, suicide bombers and gunmen carried out seven coordinated attacks, killing at least 130 people. The largest of these was at the Bataclan Concert Hall, where armed attackers opened fired on a crowd of 1500, killing at least 89. The venue was under siege for almost three hours.
Having established a satellite campus in Paris in 1969, NYU has strong ties to the city.
The day following the attacks, NYU President John Sexton sent out a university-wide email expressing his “bewilderment, heartbreak and grief at the terrible, senseless violence.”
In the email, he explained the university’s response to the emergency situation and emphasized its dedication to ensuring the safety of all students, staff and faculty located in Paris.
“Since almost the first moments after the attacks, we began the process of reaching out to every student there to make sure he or she was safe,” Sexton wrote. “I am glad to report that all the students at NYU Paris have been located and are safe and secure.”
Junior Rend Beiruti is currently the only NYU Abu Dhabi student at NYU Paris. She said that students were consistently emailed and reminded in class to reach out to administration and confirm their safety or express any concerns.
Sexton added in his email that NYU has “increased [its] safety presence in Paris, and will continue to closely monitor developments.”
An announcement was also made on the NYUAD Student Portal by Greg Bruno, Director of Public Affairs, on behalf of NYUAD Leadership.
The message expressed “[the] community’s sense of connection to all human beings of whatever nationality and background.”
However, some NYUAD students have been disappointed over what they perceive as a limited university response to crises in other parts of the world, such as the Nov. 12 bombing in Beirut.
Bruno reiterated Sexton’s commitment to ensuring safety, elaborating on the university’s response in “seeking to make sure that any members of our community who are currently in those locations are safe, and by sharing information to the extent available on the impact the tragedy has had on members of our University.“
He finished with a reminder of NYU’s mission.
“Our obligation must always be to work — in both education and our personal lives — toward a safer and more humane world,” he wrote.
Penelope Peng is deputy news editor. Email her at feedback@thegazelle.org.
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