Bharucha and Banksy

Here's more about the additions from the weekend to the Banksy installation on East Seventh Street and Cooper Square ... via the EVG inbox...

Free Cooper Union is pleased to present the repentance of Jamshed Bharucha.

“Cooper Confessional” depicts Cooper Union’s overpaid and visionless President, Jamshed Bharucha, as he confesses his transgression from a historically merit-based full scholarship model, to an expansionist tuition agenda. Hearing Bharucha’s lament is Peter Cooper, who founded the Cooper Union in 1859 and established the mission of the institution as necessarily providing free education to all admitted students while educating against the evils of debt.

This collaborative work is flanked by an image of the infamous Jamshed the Giant, who insists that must students PAY for years of financial mismanagement and administrative bloat at the Cooper Union, along with the title of the Free Cooper Union Player’s latest drama, Free Cooper: The Musical, which is the sequel to the group's debut hit The Politics of Destruction.

As Banksy notes, “there's nothing more dangerous than someone who wants to make the world a better place,” and with that in mind, and with many more plans for direct action, we continue to fight against tuition at Cooper Union and the rising tide of student debt.

After 65 days, Cooper Union students end occupation of president's office

[May 10]

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Joint Statement by Former Occupiers of the President’s Office, the Administration, and Board of Trustees of The Cooper Union, July 15th, 2013

The administration, Board of Trustees of The Cooper Union and those members of the Cooper Union community who have been occupying the Office of the President since early May have reached an agreement that ended the occupation on Friday.

A working group will be established promptly to undertake a good faith effort to seek an alternative to tuition that will sustain the institution’s long-term financial viability and strengthen its academic excellence.

The working group will consist of Board, faculty, alumni, students and administration representatives and will report to the administration and Board of Trustees for consideration at the December Board of Trustees Meeting.

The Board also confirmed, in accordance with the motion approved at the June Board meeting, that procedures for student representation on the Board will be established at the September meeting.

An interim room has been identified as a Community Commons that can serve as a student center or a community center for all members of the Cooper Community.

All individuals who have violated Cooper Union policies throughout the period of the occupation will be granted amnesty, and in turn, commit to complying with, and cooperating with the enforcement of, all laws and Cooper Union policies.

Here's a look at the start of Day 65 on Friday...

The sun just rose on 65 days of occupation at Cooper Union https://t.co/8lYOs7Mu8h

— Free Cooper Union (@FreeCooperUnion) July 12, 2013

Find more details here.

Previously.

Bloomberg's Cooper Union commencement address includes, oddly enough, jab at the Coal Yard

Mayor Bloomberg delivered the commencement address at the Cooper Union's 154th Graduation Ceremony yesterday.

During the 18-minute speech, Bloomberg showed that his staff did some research, localizing several references, including: "But it is true also that all of you survived thousands and thousands of slices of Two Bros pizza. I will make a point to stop and have a piece of pizza at Two Bros. I hope it’s really thin. That's the way I like it."

Uh-huh.

Also!

Later, at the 10-minute mark, the Mayor discussed the importance of giving back... and he referenced one of our favorite bars around – the Coal Yard on First Avenue.

"I started working on Wall Street. My first job was working in the cage counting securities in my underwear because it was not air-conditioned in the summer. My first year's bonus was forgiveness of the loan they gave me so that I could afford to go to work there, because they paid a lot less than other firms that had offered me a job.

"But you can always give something. And so I gave $5. That $5 would be about $37, which I'm guessing is probably less than what you’d spend in a night at The Coal Yard.

"Actually, if you spend more than $37 at The Coal Yard, the next morning you'll probably wish you had donated the money."

The joke received some chuckles from the crowd. Points for trying?

As for the big issue at hand with Cooper Union ... students have been occupying President Jamshed Bharucha's office since May 8 to protest the school's plan to charge tuition starting next fall. The New York Times has a recap of the address, and notes that some students were disappointed (but not surprised) "with what they saw as Mr. Bloomberg's evasion of the free education issue."

And you can find the entire address here.

[Updated] At the 'Save Our Community Center MARCH AND RALLY'

‏[Photo by @tenementcity]

We'll have more photos on the "Save Our Community Center MARCH AND RALLY" later this evening ... the rally started around 6 at Cooper Union...


[Photo by @tenementcity]

Updated 8:30

Here are a few more photos from the starting point of the march on East Ninth Street our the former PS 64... which included members of Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Tiny Band and others.


[Bobby Williams]


[BW]


[Dave on 7th]


[Do7]

... all under the watchful eye of the NYPD...


[BW]


[BW]

...later at Cooper Union...


[BW]

Updated

Serena Solomon filed a story on the march and rally at DNAinfo. Read that here.

From the article:

March organizer Susan Howard said the eviction, followed by years of watching the building deteriorate, has been a “devastating blow."

"I don't think the owner knows how much damage he has done and how deep the hurt is," said Howard, who is also part of the group Save Our Community Center CHARAS-64 (SOCCC-64).

"It was a cross-pollination of so many people — activists and artists," Howard said of when the building operated as a community center. "You had [singing practice] in the plaza. You had AA meetings in the gallery, computer classes, English classes."

The Villager also has an article today on the march/rally. Find that here.

Per that article:

"There is no room, and no desire, and no way we will live with a dorm in our backyard," declared Councilmember Rosie Mendez, shouting to the crowd from a bullhorn. "Cooper Union needs to rescind whatever deal I believe it doesn't have so Singer can give us back our building," Mendez added.

Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh was equally strident.

"As a community, we have to at some point draw the line and say this is a battle we are not going to lose, and this is a fight we're not going to quit," Kavanagh said.

Cooper Union students mark 1-week anniversary of occupation of president's office

As of 11am EST, the Presidents office of the Cooper Union has been occupied for 1 week.

— Free Cooper Union (@FreeCooperUnion) May 15, 2013

On Monday night, Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha went up to the seventh floor to speak with the students who are protesting the school's decision to end its 111-year practice of providing a full-tuition scholarship.

Runnin' Scared has details on the meeting between the two sides here. Here's more background from Business Insider.

Previously.

Tonight at 6: 'NYC Art Action' to keep Cooper Union Free

From the EV Grieve inbox... via Student Bloc NYC

*NYC ART ACTION to keep Cooper Union Free*
Tonight at 6, we're creating an "art-in" outside Cooper Union. Bring poetry, chalk, puppets, paints, pencils, easels, songs, tap dance routines.

Statement from Students at Cooper Union:

For Immediate Release:

50+ students, faculty, and staff are maintaining a ‘sit-in’ inside Jamshed Bharucha’s office on the 7th floor of the Foundation Building of the Cooper Union. As students we have reclaimed the President’s office in response to the Administration and the Board of Trustees announcing the implementation of tuition for the incoming class of 2014- desecrating a 154 year old tradition of meritocracy and free education. We stand together with the extended Cooper community in opposition to this decision; we reaffirm all of the previous and future actions of our fellow students and allies.

WEAR red squares
BRING pots and pans
Let's make our solidarity seen & heard around the world!

Live updates here:
Twitter

Facebook

Ustream

Previously.

Here's video of Cooper Union students entering the president's office this morning

As you may have heard, some 50 students, faculty and staff at Cooper Union started a sit-in inside the office of school president Jamshed Bharucha this morning.

While the video isn't exactly action-packed, you get the idea of their commitment to the cause at hand ...

Live updates here:
Twitter

Facebook

Ustream

Developing: Students take the president's office at Cooper Union

From the EV Grieve inbox...

For Immediate Release:

50+ students, faculty, and staff are maintaining a ‘sit-in’ inside Jamshed Bharucha’s office on the 7th floor of the Foundation Building of the Cooper Union. As students we have reclaimed the President’s office in response to the Administration and the Board of Trustees announcing the implementation of tuition for the incoming class of 2014 — desecrating a 154 year old tradition of meritocracy and free education. We stand together with the extended Cooper community in opposition to this decision; we reaffirm all of the previous and future actions of our fellow students and allies.

Safety Statement/Statement of Purpose:

“This is a non-violent direct action, you are not being held in this room, you are free to exit when you please. Jamshed Bharucha, we are here today to deliver you a statement of No Confidence from the School of Art, we no longer recognize your presidency at Cooper as legitimate and in so doing we commit to re-claim this office in the interim until a suitable administrative alternative is secured.

Live updates here:
Twitter

Facebook

Ustream

Cooper Union photohunt

EVG reader Brian Barkovitz, a Cooper Union alum, shared the above photos... "Took these as a prospective high school senior in 2004 and as an alum on Tuesday. It's a damn shame."

Cooper Union students protest school's decision to start charging tuition

Earlier today, Cooper Union officials announced that, for the first time, the school would start charging tuition, effective the fall of 2014.

As a result, several hundred students and faculty members staged a walk-out this afternoon.

Per The Nation:

Using similar theatrical tools that activists have employed in previous demonstrations, Cooper art and architecture students ran around the building hugging the walls in a human chain while chanting “Free as air and water...Save Cooper Union.”

The students also held an “Irish wake,” setting a hat ablaze on the pavement and singing satirically in front of the same building students occupied some months ago. While some students seem disillusioned by the school’s decision, many more are angered that the Board of Trustees met secretly in the morning while students were in class to avoid any disruption of their meeting.

Large numbers of the NYPD were also on-hand...





Photos by Bobby Williams.

Cooper Union will start charging undergraduate tuition in the fall of 2014

Facing a strained economic future, Cooper Union officials announced today that it will charge undergraduates to attend classes starting in the fall of 2014.

Here are details via a statement that the school just released:

The following statement from the Board of Trustees of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art was presented by Chairman of the Board Mark Epstein to the student body, faculty and staff of the institution at a meeting today in the Cooper Union Great Hall.

“After eighteen months of intense analysis and vigorous debate about the future of Cooper Union, the time has come for us to set our institution on a path that will enable it to survive and thrive well into the future. Consequently, the Board of Trustees voted last week to reduce the full-tuition scholarship to 50% for all undergraduates admitted to The Cooper Union beginning with the class entering in the fall of 2014.

“Under the new policy, The Cooper Union will continue to adhere to the vision of Peter Cooper, who founded the institution specifically to provide a quality education to those who might otherwise not be able to afford it. Consequently, we will provide additional scholarship funding for those with need, including full-tuition scholarships to all Pell Grant-eligible students. We intend to keep admissions need-blind. Current undergraduates, as well as those undergraduates entering in the fall of 2013 will continue to receive the full-tuition scholarship for the duration of their undergraduate education.

“Our priorities have been and will continue to be quality and access, so that we will remain a true meritocracy of outstanding students from all socio-economic backgrounds.

Read the full statement here.

Read more on this story at The New York Times here.

Previously.

Noted

From the EV Grieve inbox...

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG WILL DELIVER COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT THE COOPER UNION’S 154th GRADUATION CEREMONY

New York – We are proud and delighted that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has agreed to deliver the commencement address at The Cooper Union’s 154th graduation ceremony in May, said Jamshed Bharucha, President of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. At commencement, Mayor Bloomberg will receive the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary).

Commencement 2013 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 29th in The Great Hall of The Cooper Union, East 7th Street at Third and Fourth Avenues, New York.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s transformational leadership to improve education, the cityscape and the built environment, as well as public health, while encouraging smart and sustainable economic growth distinguishes his administration. His persuasive advocacy for gun control and immigration reform resonates across the country. His determination for New York to thrive as a world class applied science center will draw the best and the brightest for decades to come. His record and vision provide an example for our graduates who want to contribute their talents to New York and beyond. We are honored to have him deliver the keynote address at this year’s commencement,” said President Bharucha.

[Updated] Cooper Union debuts new outdoor seating

Ah. Nice!

At the site of the former skateboard ramp.

Updated 2-3

This morning on the other side of East Sixth Street. Oh well.

Report: Cooper Union students end week-long occupation of 8th-floor suite

Per the Free Cooper Union Facebook page:

After seven days in the Peter Cooper Suite, the Students for a Free Cooper Union have left on their own accord, holding a press conference outside the Foundation Building and dancing while Reverend Billy And The Stop Shopping Gospel Choir blesses FREE EDUCATION TO ALL!

The Huffington Post has more on story here. DNAinfo covered the Citywide Student/Faculty Rally on Saturday here. DNAinfo has a report here.

The 11 students also distributed a holiday card...

Previously.

Cooper Union rally today; administration responds

From the EV Grieve inbox...

From The Students for a Free Cooper Union:

Over the past five days, we have received amazing displays of solidarity from Cooper Union students, faculty, alumni, and supporters around the world. Meanwhile, the college’s deadlocked administration has been shaken by community action and presence. Cooper Union has received positive attention as an institution, and the community’s numerous creative responses to tuition-based, expansionist models have stressed the necessity and preservation of free education.

To move forward with the support of the Cooper Union community and an assembly of New York City high schools, colleges, and universities, The Students for a Free Cooper Union have published 2,000 copies of our original communique and list of demands to be distributed at the Citywide Student/Faculty Rally on Saturday, December 8. The rally will begin at 11:00 AM in Washington Square Park with student and faculty speak-outs, followed by a march to Cooper Union at 3:00 PM. This celebration of free education and the student reclamation of higher education will conclude with a dance party.

Previously.

Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, Cooper Union officials issued their first response to the events of the past week.

Via the EV Grieve inbox...

On midday Monday, December 3, 11 art students locked themselves in on the eighth floor of The Cooper Union’s Foundation Building. The administration has asked them to leave on several occasions and they have not.

Our primary concern is for the safety of all students and to ensure that the actions of a few do not disrupt classes and final exams. We remain in contact with the students’ designated representative who said the locked-in group has access to food, water and sanitary facilities. The Cooper Union has expressed concerns about their safety, and they responded that they have taken precautions. Our concerns also extend to actions and conditions that could affect the safety of the public.

On Dec 5, protesters disrupted a meeting of the Board of Trustees, preventing some faculty members from presenting their academic plans to the Board.

It is important that despite the understandable passions involved, we remain engaged in a civil process as we attempt to resolve critical issues relating to the institution’s future and survival.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Dec 5 to support President Jamshed Bharucha and the planning process he is leading.

We are in the midst of a deliberative process designed to position The Cooper Union for a future characterized by true distinction, THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF MERIT-BASED ACCESS AND SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT, academic excellence and financial sustainability. We must explore and evaluate a range of options—without prejudging any. In order to retain the prospects for full tuition scholarships, you must retain The Cooper Union. A Revenue Task Force consisting of faculty, elected students, staff and alumni has recommended launching master’s programs and summer programs that are fee-based, while seeking as far as possible to maintain the full scholarships for students in our three flagship undergraduate programs. The deans and the faculty of each of the three schools have been working to develop academic plans along these lines. The Board of Trustees will study reports as they come in, and will make key decisions early in the spring semester.

President Bharucha and Vice President of Finance Westcott have held more than 80 informational meetings with the Cooper Union community—students, faculty, alumni and staff. Earlier this week during a spontaneous discussion between the protesters and the President in the lobby of 41 Cooper Square, protesters asked the President to meet with them immediately. He agreed and invited them to the Rose Auditorium. However, most of the protesters declined and left the building.

Jolene Travis
Assistant Director Public Affairs, Media Relations

Inside the Peter Cooper Suite with the CU 11

The 11 Cooper Union students remain barricaded in a room at the top of the Cooper Union Foundation Building ... where they are protesting the possibility of school officials charging tuition to undergraduates... And now there's a video (in MTV Cribs fashion!) showing the inside of the Peter Cooper Suite where the students have been holding forth since noon Monday...

A little background, via the Huffington Post:

Throughout the school's 110 year history as a college, since 1902, it has not charged tuition. That changed in April, when the administration announced that it will begin charging graduate students, and a document leaked to the occupiers shows undergraduate tuition for certain programs is under consideration.

And a scene from earlier today via Bobby Williams...

Previously.

[Updated] Today at Cooper Union: tuition protests continue

The Cooper Union tuition protests continues... there's a rally outside the Foundation Building...

And 11 students are still barricaded in an office suite on the 8th floor... students are sending them notes of support via these red balloons...

[Via @ChangeThruArt]

NOT JUST 11 STUDENTS. A wall full of solidarity notes sent up to the Peter Cooper Suite by balloon. #Solidarity twitter.com/FreeCooperUnio…

— Free Cooper Union (@FreeCooperUnion) December 5, 2012

And here's an update on what's happening via The Huffington Post.

Previously.

[Photos via Marjorie Ingall]

Updated 5:15 p.m.

Here are a few more photos from today via EVG regular peter radley ...

Cooper Union update

Students for a Free Cooper Union have been in the Peter Cooper Suite for >28 hours. Candlelight vigil on the ground: twitter.com/FreeCooperUnio…

— Free Cooper Union (@FreeCooperUnion) December 5, 2012

Here's an update on this situation this evening via WNYC.


Previously.

Students for a Free Cooper Union call for press conference this afternoon

From the EV Grieve inbox...

We, the Students for a Free Cooper Union, who reclaimed The Peter Cooper Suite from the current Cooper Union administration yesterday at noon, have established base overnight. We will continue holding this space until our demands are met or we are otherwise removed: we will not negotiate.

To this point we have publicly presented our terms and principles and reached out to the broader community and press, but we have yet to be contacted in any capacity by the president. Faced with ideological opposition to the expansionist model, Jamshed Bharucha has withdrawn from public view and shirked his responsibilities overseeing the college.

We denounce our president’s repeated absence in the face of community organizing. Last year, while the New York City Police Department arrested our students, our administration was nowhere to be seen; and chants of “Where is our president?” still echo today. We need transparency, not invisibility. In contrast, the public has come together in support of our principles and demands. Displays of solidarity — from tweets all around the world to a candlelit vigil eight floors below — resonate our rejection of the global system of student debt and articulate aggravations that are felt worldwide.

Yesterday, an anonymous source shared a report with us detailing the results of a committee convened to analyze the feasibility of implementing undergraduate tuition in the School of Engineering. The research concluded that within 10 years, students could face between $40,000 and $80,000 in tuition fees.

Since we received and shared this document, other members of the community have stepped forward to clarify the nature of the report. It is our understanding now that this committee was one of many tasked to research revenue generation for the school. We struggle with the fact that all of this information has come to light solely from a leaked document, and not the from our expectations of transparency and candor.

In response to the undervaluing of student voices and the continuous dismissal of community organizing, Students for a Free Cooper Union are holding a press conference on Tuesday, December 4, 2012 to address the aforementioned points. We are organizing our fellow students as public intermediaries to speak on our behalf while we retain the Peter Cooper Suite.

We invite everyone to this press conference in front of Cooper Union at 7 East 7th Street at 2:30 PM

The New York Times had more on the story here yesterday.

Previously.

[Updated] Day of Action: Cooper Union students lock themselves inside foundation building

[Via Facebook]

Students at Cooper Union NYC have locked themselves into the top floor of the uni's main bldg.
— Elizabeth Coss (@ChangeThruArt) December 3, 2012

Occupy Cooper Union! - 12 students have seized the eighth floor to oppose tuition/fee hikes. fb.me/1MF23khHW

— OccupyColleges (@OccupyColleges) December 3, 2012

This letter explains the students' demands...

[Via @ChangeThruArt]

And via the EVG inbox...

One year ago, our current administration put tuition on the table for the first time in over 110 years. Students, alumni, and community members came together to organize, protest, and offer creative, viable, sustainable, solutions that avoided the implementation of tuition at our school.

One year later, undergraduate tuition is still on the table and the voting date is fast approaching. In response we are making a call to action! At 12 pm on Dec 3, 2012 join us at Cooper Union to let our administration know education is a right! We believe and are committed to the idea of free and sustainable education, not just for our institution but for all institutions!

12pm-6 pm: Join us outside the foundation building for a day of outdoors classes. Occupy Peter Cooper Park! ... We'll be picketing, handing out literature about student movements (including our own), making art, and making noise!

6-10 pm: Free and Open to the Public! Join us in Cooper's historic Great Hall for a public Community Summit on the state of higher education in NYC! Presentation on the current debt/tuition crisis, international student movements, and sustainable solutions. After presentations, speakers will sit on a panel for open question/answer segment.

Updated 3:54 p.m.:

The New York Times has more on the story here. Per Victoria Sobel, one of the students taking part in the lock-in, which started at noon in the Clocktower:

Soon afterward, she said, maintenance workers arrived and tried to force their way into the room.

“They were drilling and ramming the door,” she said. “It was very scary.”

The students pushed back, Ms. Sobel said, and yelled to the workers that their bodies were against the doors. After about 20 minutes, she said, the entry attempts ended.

Ms. Sobel said that the students had brought with them sleeping bags, blankets and food, including oatmeal and ramen noodles, and were planning to stay “as long as necessary” to get their message across to the administration.

Cooper Union officials said they were still formulating a response to the occupation of the Clocktower.