Bare bones background: On May 8, 2025, a small number of Brooklyn College students assembled on a small part of the East Quad and demonstrated peacefully against CUNY's collaboration with Israel in light of the starvation and genocide taking place in Gaza. In response, the Brooklyn College administration called in a massive NYPD force. The cops arrested many students and beat others.
Not satisfied with instigating a police riot, the administration proceded, that June, to fire four faculty ("the fired four"), launch "investigations" against six other faculty ("the singed six"), and carry out star chamber disciplinary processes against a significant but not fully known number of students. In all cases, the charges were vague: "unbecoming conduct" was a common one.
The common denominator for the fired, investigated and disciplined was NOT presence at the May 8 protest (a good number were not) but opposition to zionism and genocide. Thus, this was political.
The administration justified their assault on free expression by pointing to a "zero tolerance" policy in CUNY's security guidelines. Zero-tolerance for anything supportive of Palestine apparently.
Months of struggle ensued, primarily led by the Brooklyn College chapter of the faculty-staff union, PSC-CUNY, and supported by the central leadership of the union. Grievances were filed, hearings scheduled, petitions, letters, and demonstrations. The election of Mamdani as NYC Mayor was seen by some as a significant development.
Meanwhile the administration postured as liberal, loving, and progressive. They promoted a book called the Pedagogy of Kindness, they promise to stand up to as-yet-unrealized threats from ICE, and to continue to support DEI. But the truth is, these rattlesnakes cave to the Hochul's and even Trump's political demands at the first sign of trouble: the Chancellor himself gave craven testimony to the House Committee on Education, assuring them that faculty (e.g. the Fired Four) had been fired for anti-semitism. (A complete and utter rattlesnake lie))
FIGHT-BACK WORKS! The investigations of two of the Singed Six were completely dropped because the administration didn't get their lies in order and THREE of the Fired Four have been informally (without explanation, apology, restitution, or even official notice) re-instated (in the sense they have gotten jobs back at CUNY).
The struggle is not over. We want the STILL-FIRED FOURTH to get off the no-hire list and be re-instated. What is it about the administration that makes it so hard to understand "Reinstate The Fired FOUR"? How come they only reinstated THREE? Don't they know that 3 + 1 = 4 ? We want the administration to apologize, exonerate, and make restitution for all the damage it has caused. And we want an end to CUNY's collaboration with Israel.
Your students really love you
They gave you great reviews
And now you aint got nothing
But fired-for-politics blues
Good god, you've paid your dues.
You've got the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming conduct blues.
Your colleagues rate you highly
Stellar observations too
You get hired but then fired
For anti-genocidal views
Holy cow, I'll blow a fuse.
You've got the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming conduct blues.
Your classes are overflowing
The waitlist is at the max
The chancellor needs a scapegoat
So they give you the axe
Outrageous -- we oughtta sue.
You've got the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming conduct blues.
Maybe you are a Muslim
Maybe you are a Jew
They say you're an anti-semite
For your humanitarian view
(!גאָרנישט! שמוע! נאַרישקייט)
It's just the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming conduct blues.
You stood up for the students
Tried to protect them too
President Henderson didn't like it
So she's coming after you
No denying the news.
You've got the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming conduct blues.
The President's feminism
Is a very well-known fact
Yet she only fires women
Can anyone explain that?
Well how do you do?
You've got the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming conduct blues.
The Step 1 Grievance Hearing
Was kangaroo court blues
Now you’re at Step 2
With bigger kangaroos
CUNY’s disgraceful, it’s nothing new,
You’ve got the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming Conduct Blues.
But the PSC is our union
And FIGHT TO WIN is our call
An injury to one
Is an injury to all
So COUNT ON IT: it's true
-- You have inspired
-- We won't get tired
-- Until you're rehired
And say good riddance to the
-- Brooklyn College --
Unbecoming conduct blues.
Chorus:
I got the fired four three two one Zero Tolerance blues,
I got the fired four three two one Zero Tolerance blues,
Last June it was them
Next time it's me or you.
Verse 1:
For five long years, the cafeteria served no food
Overworked HEOs, underpaid staff it's all good
The Brooklyn College bosses
Tolerating all they could.
Verse 2:
The administration is a very tolerant crew,
Toleratin' leakin' ceilings and broken bathrooms too,
But a peaceful protest?
They'll call the cops on you.
Verse 3:
Insufficient class offerings, students can't finish on time,
Wifi dropping, understaffed services is fine
But tolerance has an exception
That exception is "Palestine".
Verse 4:
If you depend on a wheelchair elevator service ain’t so hot
ADA compliance— it’s shot,
The Brooklyn College bosses
Tolerating all they got.’t mention Palestine.
Verse 5:
Freezing classrooms, steamy halls, and the clocks won’t tell the time,
Lots of other problems too but their descriptions just won’t rhyme
It’s all good as long as you
Don't mention Palestine.
Verse 6:
Tolerance is a virtue, but not for the profs who stood
Supporting our students just like faculty should
The CUNY bosses have zero tolerance for good.
Last Chorus:
I got the fired four three two one Zero Tolerance blues,
I got the fired four three two one Zero Tolerance blues,
And now I find I'm losing my tolerance too.
You better rehire
You better not fire
Better reinstate
Before it's too late
Mayor Mamdani's coming to town.
He's making a list
Checking it twice
If you've been fascistic
You'll pay the price
Mayor Mamdani's coming to town.
He knows which charges are real
He knows which ones are fake
So stop punishing people
Who protested on May 8
You better rehire
You better not fire
Better reinstate
Before it's too late
Mayor Mamdani's coming to town.
With solidarity
And a socialistic core
So it's time that you rehired
All The Fired Four
Kathy is scared
And Andy is done,
Ramzi is in,
And Eric is gone
Mayor Mamdani's coming to town.
You picked the wrong side
And you lied and lied
Better get ready for
A bumpy ride
Mayor Mamdani's coming to town.
You better rehire
You better not fire
Better reinstate
Before it's too late
Mayor Mamdani's coming to town.
They talk-talk-talk-talk-talk of education,
But do the walk-walk-walk-walk-walk of subjugation.
Every time they've lied
They support scholasticide
The BC rattlesnake administration
They talk-talk-talk-talk-talk and preach of kindness
But their walk-walk-walk betrays out-of-their-mindness- 6D
Every time they lie
They ignore the kids who die
And punish BC staff at their finest.
They brag-brag-brag-brag-brag how we're diverse,
But protest settler crimes and they're the worst.
Every time they've lied
They've supported genocide
A rattlesnake administrative first.
They want us to be civil and discreet an'
They call in cops to have our students beaten
Their phobia of tents
Has gotten more intense
Invoking Henderson with their deceit and...
They hiss their rules and rattle off statistics
Supporting war criminals' ballistics
Every time they've lied
They've supported genocide
Concealed behind their rattler legalistics.
They're cowards in the fascist Age of Trump
MAGGots tweet and they just gotta jump
Last June they fired four
Dontcha' think there will be more?
Those rattlers turning CUNY to a dump.
If you help the students protesting starvation
Prepare yourself for an investigation
We all better unite
This will be a drawn-out fight
Against the CUNY rattlesnake administration.
They'll invite you in for a conversation.
Maybe it is a fake investigation.
Or maybe it's a ploy
That they so often enjoy
To destroy our movement
via fragmentation
It's all a matter of the culmination
Of ethnic cleansing and bosses exploitation
The Union is our tool
To save our under-fire school
And stop the CUNY rattlesnake administration.
Michelle can't count to four
She only gets up to three
Michelle can't count to four
She only gets up to three
The Brooklyn College prez
With a case of innumeracy
Our chancellor doesn't get
That 3's not the same as 4
Our chancellor doesn't get
That 3 is not the same as 4
If he can't do the math, he
Shouldn't work here no more.
Reinstate The Fired Four
What part don't they understand?
Reinstate The Fired Four
What part don't they understand?
That 3+1 is FOUR is
Where we'll make our stand
An injury to one
Is an injury to all
If they come for one
They're gonna face us all
When PSC unites,
CUNY is very small.