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Cooper Union Tuition Scandal

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Cooper Union Tuition Scandal and Protests
Location
Cooper Union: 30 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003
GoalsPrevent Cooper Union from charging tuition, hold administration accountable for recent financial deficit
StatusOngoing

The Cooper Union Tuition Scandal and Protests has taken place surrounding Cooper Union's administrative announcement that they would begin charging tuition in what has otherwise been a free college since it's founding in 1859. The reactions of students, faculty, and organized protest groups has resulted in widespread media attention and activist groups have staged a series of occupations, protests, and projects demanding that the school president, Jamshed Bharucha resign, and promoting a vote of no confidence, and that the administration address the financial concerns of students and the public.

It has been reported that the Cooper Union Financial crisis was due to a combination of financial woes caused by the economic recession of the late 2000s, and by poor financial decisions, low accountability, selling off its assets, and the recent building of 41 Cooper Square, which cost the school $175 million, and poor economic supervision.[1][2]After the recession, Cooper Union's hedge funds and assets lost 14% in the 2009.[3]

Timeline of Activity

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2011

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  • October: The Cooper Union administration announced to the public, then to the New York Times, then at an evening student forum that it's available funds were vastly depleted.[4] Jamshed Bharucha announced that the school's annual deficit was around $16 million. [5]
  • October 29, 2011: News circulates that the school is in serious financial trouble and the administration indicated that depletion of the school's endowment required additional sources of funding.[6]
  • October 31, 2011: A series of open forums were held with students, faculty, and alumni to address the crisis.In these forums, the administration proposed a possible tuition levy and more pointed solicitation of alumni donations and research grants were being considered to offset recent financial practices such as liquidating assets and spending heavily on a controversial new academic building.[7]
  • November: Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha announces a “Reinvention” plan. Walkouts and various protests begin.[8]
  • December: 11 Students organize as Students For A Free Cooper Union and begin a lock-in at the Peter Cooper Suite in the Foundation Building for one week.

2012

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  • March: Facing threat of closure, Cooper Union Art Faculty submitted a withheld Reinvention proposal.[citation needed]
  • April: The college announced that it would start charging tuition for Graduate Students in the Fall of 2014. [9]
  • May: Students presented a Vote of No Confidence document to Presidents Jamshed Bharucha's Office.[10]
  • June: Students organized a sit-in in the presidential office after presenting the Vote of No Confidence document. The sit-in turned into an occupation, which lasted a week. [11]
  • July: The student occupation ended in a negotiated agreement with trustees Michael Borkowsky and Jeff Gural.[12]
  • August: Cooper Union Vice President of Finance, TC Westcott and Dean of Students Linda Lemiez resign.[13]
  • September: The Free Cooper Union group hosts a "freshmen Disorientation" to educate incoming students about the recent financial crisis.[14]
  • December 2012: As a protest against the possibility of undergraduate tuition being charged, 11 students occupied a suite in the Foundation Building for a week. [15][16]

2013

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  • April 23, 2013: The New York Times reported that the college had announced that it would end its free tuition policy for undergraduates effective Fall 2014 and charge an estimated $20,000 USD each year. [17] The administration maintained that they would continue to offer need-based tuition remission to incoming undergraduates on a "sliding scale".[18]
  • April 24, 2013: Cooper Union announced that its Board of Trustees to attempt to establish a new tuition-based cross-disciplinary graduate program, expand its fee-based continuing education programs, and charge tuition to some students in its existing graduate programs, effective September 2013.[19]
  • May 8, 2013: A group of students and members of the public occupied president Jamshed Bharucha's office in protest over the end of the free tuition policy.[20][21][22][23]
  • July 12, 2013: The administration, Board of Trustees of The Cooper Union and those members of the Cooper Union community who had been occupying the Office of the President since early May reached an agreement that ended the occupation. The occupying group organized a petition vote of no confidence in President Bharucha and Chairman Epstein. Nine full time Cooper Union Faculty members signed the petition in May. [24][25]

Organized Protest Efforts

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Free Cooper Union Red Clock Logo

Free Cooper Union

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Free Cooper Union is the name of an organized effort to protest the 2011 proposed changes in the Cooper Union tuition policy. The group demands a vote of no confidence in the school president, Jamshed Bharucha.[26] Free Cooper Union is responsible for a sit-in at the President's office in June, 2012, and two occupations of the Foundation Building, one in December, 2012, and one in May, 2013. [27]

Symbols

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The red square is worn as a symbol of support for the Free Cooper Movement. It was built from the carré rouge (red square) worn for the 2012 Quebec student protests against tuition hikes. The patch also symbolizes the Cooper Union clock tower, which is red when illuminated.

Red Square

Exhibition: The Free Cooper Union Salon: Step Down!

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In May, 2013, Students for a Free Cooper Union held an exhibition in congruence with the occupation of President Jamshed Bharucha's called, The Free Cooper Union Salon: Step Down! which included work from students, alumni, faculty and the community.[28][29]

Other Groups

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  • Friends of Cooper Union (FOCU)[30]
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References

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  1. ^ "How Cooper Union's Endowment Failed It's Vision". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Cooper Union Students Fight for Freedom From Tuition". NPR.org. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/business/how-cooper-unions-endowment-failed-in-its-mission.html
  4. ^ "Cooper Union Looks at Charging Tuition". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Save Cooper Union". N+1 Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Cooper Union May Charge Tuition". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Cooper Union Looks at Charging Tuition". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Nov. 2, 2011 Dear members of the Cooper Union Community". Cooper.edu. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 13 (help)
  9. ^ "Cooper Union Will Charge Tuition for Graduate Students ". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "You can't Just End an Era". N+1 Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Cooper Union Students End Occupation of Suite After a Week". New York Times Blogs. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Protestors Agree to Vacate Top Office at Cooper Union". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "Upheaval Continues at Cooper Union". Art in America. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "From Tallahassee to Mexico City the Youth Uprising Continues". The Nation. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Cooper Union Lock-In". Creative Time Reports. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Cooper Union Tuition Protest Grows With Support From Faculty, Silence From Administration ". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "You can't Just End an Era". N+1 Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "The Tragedy of Cooper Union". Reuters.com. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "College Ends Free Tuition, and an Era". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "Tuition Protesters Still in Top Office at Cooper Union". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Bloomberg Urges Cooper Union Graduates to Donate". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Occupying Cooper Union to Keep it Free". Vice.com. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "A Dozen Occupiers Still Hold Cooper President's Office". The Villager. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ "Occupy Offshoots Return, Highlight Student Tuition Hides, Food Sovereignty". The Nation. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/nyregion/cooper-union-protesters-living-high-life-out-of-presidents-office.html
  26. ^ "VIDEO: Cooper Union Students Take Over President's Office, Hold Vote of No Confidence (Update)". Village Voice. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ "Free Cooper Union". Dis Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ http://dismagazine.com/blog/45682/step-down-the-free-cooper-union-salon/
  29. ^ "At Cooper Union Renegade ARt Show the Protest Spirit Endures". Blouin Art Info. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Save Cooper Union". N+1 Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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