among graduate assistants in late 2005 and criticism of Sexton. GSOC called off the strike in 2006. In 2009, NYU's Graduate School of Arts & Science – home to most of NYU's fully funded graduate students — modified its financial aid packages for graduate students to eliminate assistantship duties; thereafter, graduate students who wished to teach could do so (with additional compensation beyond their graduate study stipends) as adjunct faculty, who are unionized at NYU. Position on academic freedom and rights of political expression During Sexton's presidency, NYU also became involved in a disagreement with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). FIRE claimed that NYU wrongly (but constitutionally, since NYU is a private school) suppressed the display of Mohammad cartoons in April 2006, which were planned to accompany an event sponsored by an NYU student organization, the Objectivist Club. The student organizers had been given a choice by the university: the cartoons could be displayed, in which case the event would have to be an NYU-only event, open to the 60,000 member NYU community; or the club could choose not to display the cartoons, in which case the event could be open to the general public as well. The Objectivist Club chose the latter format. In a letter, Sexton challenged FIRE's claims. At both the NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai campuses, NYU, under Sexton, insisted on having full discretion over academic matters and that the principles of academic freedom prevail. Regarding NYU's establishment of campuses in countries where strong restrictions exist on free public expression, Sexton said, "I have no trouble distinguishing between rights of academic freedom and rights of political expression," he said. "These are two different things." Return to NYU School of Law Sexton decided to retire as the university's president after his contract expired in 2016 after 14 years as president; he subsequently returned full-time to NYU School of Law, where he was previously dean for 14 years and a faculty member for seven years. He also continues to teach at the university's undergraduate colleges, as he did during his term as president. Salary and compensation In the 2007-08 school year, Sexton received $1.3 million in executive compensation for his service as president of the university. His salary later increased to $1.5 million. Sexton was scheduled to receive a length of service bonus of $2.5 million in 2015 as well as $800,000 annually in