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Cooper Union

Free Cooper Union To Take Board To Court

July 16, 2014 IndieGoGo, www.indiegogo.com , , , ,
The Committee to Save Cooper Union is pursuing legal action as a last resort after Cooper Union’s Board of Trustees and administration proceeded with their plans to abolish a 150 year tradition of free tuition enshrined in the Charter of the school, refusing alternatives that would preserve free tuition. A Working Group of faculty, students and alumni elected by their respective constituencies had developed a sustainable plan for preserving free tuition that was supported by the Faculty Union, the alumni association and students. The President and Board refused to accept this plan and chose to press on with their plan to charge tuition. After carefully evaluating all of the legal options for both legal and cost-effectiveness, the Committee to Save Cooper Union decided that the best approach is to seek an injunction against charging tuition in New York Supreme Court. This option also allows us to petition the court for formation of “The Associates of Cooper Union” as required by the Cooper Union charter. The Associates would serve as a check on the Board of Trustees since the Associates' elected Council can remove Trustees by majority vote. This route also allows us to petition the court for an audit, as provided for in the charter, to help provide more detail on the fiscal mismanagement happening at Cooper Union.

Lawsuit Filed To Keep Cooper Union Free

June 1, 2014 Staff, www.insidehighered.com ,
A graduate, two professors and two students are suing Cooper Union to try to keep it tuition-free. The petitioners, members of the Committee to Save Cooper Union, accuse the New York City college’s administrators and trustees of squandering money and missing opportunities to avoid charging tuition. The lawsuit, filed in state court, asks the court to prevent the college from charging tuition and to appoint a special master to investigate the institution’s finances. A college spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that Cooper Union administrators were disappointed the activists chose a costly lawsuit over "constructive conversation."

What Happens When A Student Refuses To Shake Jamshed Bharucha’s Hand?

May 3, 2014 Free Cooper Union, www.cusos.org
During the opening reception of the Saturday Program’s year-end exhibition on April 5, Jamshed Bharucha approached Vincent Hui, a student-teacher of the Saturday Program. Bharucha asked Hui to shake his hand. Hui responded “I can’t” and stepped back. Bharucha then stepped forward again, touching Hui’s arm and repeatedly demanding a hand-shake. In the words of Jemuel Joseph, a fellow student who witnessed the interaction: It was at this moment that Vincent responded to Jamshed’s physical confrontation by saying ‘Don’t touch me’ - at which point I decided that it would be best to remove ourselves from the situation by walking away. A couple of minutes later, Jamshed again approaches us by himself while at the same time saying “shake my hand Vincent, you’ll shake my hand right now.” Jamshed forced himself upon Vincent, pushed him aggressively with his body and continued to demand a handshake. It was at the request of the Marina [Gutierrez, supervisor of the Saturday Program] that Vincent then shook his hand. THE FOLLOW-UP The next day, Jamshed wrote a two-page email to Gutierrez as well as several of the college’s deans, allegedly accusing Hui of having behavioral problems. Gutierrez and Stephen Baker, newly promoted Vice President of Student Affairs, asked Hui to apologize for the incident, while refusing to share Bharucha’s letter or even outline the charges.

Old Cooper Union Dead: Trustees Approve $20K Tuition

January 14, 2014 Rebecca Fishbein, www.gothamist.com ,
...at yesterday's vote, the Board rejected the Working Group's proposal, upholding a plan from April 2013 to charge half-price admission and adding need-based aid—a plan that sparked outrage and protest from alumni and students alike. "The Working Group plan puts forward a number of recommendations that are worth pursuing under any financial model," the statement read. "However, we believe that the contingencies and risks inherent in the proposals are too great to supplant the need for new revenue sources. Regrettably, tuitionremains the only realistic source of new revenue in the near future."

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