Noor Tagouri Hosts ‘Common Ground’ Encampment Forum 

Visiting journalism professor Noor Tagouri and her class, “Revolutionary Representation,” hosted “Common Ground: From Protest to Progress” on Feb. 27 in Lecture Center 100. The open forum discussion saw students, faculty and individuals from across the Hudson Valley discuss the conditions on campus following the pro-Palestine encampment at SUNY New Paltz nearly one year after the police raid that led to over 130 arrests and an ongoing lawsuit.

“There were a lot of challenges with administration, paperwork, all the bureaucracy stuff … but then suddenly came the social media controversy because there was a lot of fear around having a filmed event where people are talking about something they got punished for,” Tagouri told The Oracle following the forum.

Just two days before the event, New Paltz Students for Palestine (NPSFP), an unofficial student organization that has coordinated efforts on and off campus supporting Palestine, posted on its Instagram calling for a boycott of the event. The post garnered over 600 likes and nearly 200 shares.

“Nowhere has Tagouri failed more than in her decision to film this event with her private media company, AYS Media,” the statement on their Instagram read. The organization’s full statement can be found on its Substack.

“Filming without consideration of its dangers erodes the potential for free discourse. Politically, it constitutes nothing more than a mode of interrogation and surveillance,” the statement continued.

During the forum, a section of the room was designated as a no-film zone. This allowed for attendees to be present without being filmed. 

At Your Service (AYS) Media, which was founded by Tagouri, is a “production company and consultancy focused on telling overlooked and underrepresented stories,” according to its website.

“Common Ground” was a part of the media organization’s “Town Hall” series inspired by Phil Donahue, a journalist whose talk show was among the first to include consistent audience participation. The “Town Hall” series seeks to “create space for authentic dialogue about our deepest convictions, unexamined questions and shared hopes.”

A point of concern about the event was the release form that had to be signed by those wishing to attend. “This information is collected for event check-in, to match attendees with their signed release forms, which is necessary for our filming and security protocols and to understand the context of our audience/community guiding the event,” the form read.

The form granted AYS Media “the use of [attendees] name, voice, likeness, conversations, quotes, other sounds and any performance,” from the event, “and the marketing, advertising and promotion of the [event] and additionally as permitted pursuant to this release.”

“As a collective, we have safety concerns with both the filming of this event and the language used in the ‘Appearance Release Form,’” NPSFP said in a separate Instagram post breaking down the form.

Tagouri began the event by addressing the controversy immediately: “How many of you were told that this was a bad idea to attend?” Most of the room’s participants raised their hands. 

She then read a written statement to “be as clear as possible” regarding the controversy surrounding the event. “Common ground is not something we need to find. It’s the reality that lies beneath our feet.”

“There’s a palpable state of fear across college campuses in the U.S. Last spring, 3,000 students across over 130 universities were violently arrested for pro-Palestine encampments. The fear is so intense. It’s still so intense, that even the students calling to boycott this event … refused to engage in a conversation about their potential concerns, because they felt like even speaking on the phone put them in danger. Their fear is valid.”

Following Tagouri’s statement, the forum heard from Phillip Pantuso, the managing editor of the Hudson Valley division of the Times Union, on his experience covering the encampment as a journalist. “Honestly, what I saw was the highest calling of college: teach-ins, conversations, nothing violent. There weren’t even counter-protests,” he said.

The rest of the event focused on audience participation. Members discussed their frustrations with the police and administration’s response to the encampment, and social media as a tool for both misrepresentation and power. Towards the end of the forum, there was a large focus on the role of fear in discussions of widely debated issues.

“The reaction to this event last week has solidified me and a lot of our students’ understanding of why this type of event is so important, because things change when you come in person and look at each other face-to-face and talk,” Tagouri said after the forum.

“We need to talk about the role fear is playing in this issue. We witnessed people move through their fears out loud, and we got to hold space for that and alchemize that into something really powerful,” she said. “I understand where the fear is coming from, but if you really want change, you have to move through that.”

Tagouri reflected on the event positively. “I’m feeling really inspired and committed to this type of work of gathering people to have the hard conversations out loud in a really transparent and sacred way. I’m really inspired by the students who put so much work into this project, who brought different perspectives and concerns and ideas, and it really was such a beautiful collaboration.”

“I think the student body who attended this event will remember it as a really revolutionary moment that … people really didn’t want to happen. Whether it was from the administration, red tape bureaucracy or some of the student activists who felt like it wasn’t an appropriate event, I think that the people who are in the room and the people who will watch it when it comes out … will remember it as a moment of transparency, of honesty and of nuance.”

A student from “Revolutionary Representation,” third-year journalism major Kyra Higbie, felt similarly following the forum. “It was tumultuous, but ultimately it was very cathartic and healing to talk about May 2 in a way that was open, honest and separate from the administration.”

“The conversation was very productive, because I think a lot of people took from this that we want policy change on campus and on a larger state scale in regard to freedoms when it comes to protesting,” she continued.

During the forum, Tagouri said that the administration claimed they would send her and the class a statement regarding their absence from the event. Tagouri never received this statement.

The university had no comment on the statement.