Free Cooper Union

Free Cooper Union, founded in Fall 2012, is a group of students and alumni working towards free education to all.

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New York Attorney General Crafts Deal to End Litigation at Cooper Union

Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, is expected to announce a settlement Wednesday that would create an independent monitor of the college’s management and finances.

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In the year since the court case surrounding Cooper Union began, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has stepped in to investigate, Jamshed Bharucha and much of his administration have been ousted, and five pro-tuition Trustees have resigned.

Bharucha left a disastrous legacy. The amount of time, money, and energy he spent coercively implementing tuition could have gone towards bringing the community together to make better decisions. Instead, Bharucha created a toxic environment that stifled any sort of cooperative movement. The feeling that there is nothing to be done and no room for involvement is a creation of his administration. In spite of that, people have come together over-and-over to take the actions they feel are necessary, demonstrating the ability of the Cooper community to work against the odds.

The Court and the Attorney General have the authority to rule on Cooper’s situation, but litigation sets the community up for a binary of victory or failure. We must accustom ourselves to working with the multiple nonlinear threads of a campaign such as Cooper’s. It’s all too easy to flatten the experience by remembering only the standout moments. Instead, hold the times of despair, anxiety, and hopelessness. The challenge is to emphatically remember where we were, how we felt, and what we wanted.

Interim President Bill Mea has stepped up, but no one person will ever deliver the visions of Cooper which the community has been striving for.

Whatever the ruling may be, the important thing is to become stewards of Cooper Union in the years to come. What’s happening here is one small part of a larger defense of the public good in the face of limitless financialization, a battle that often seems lost. What does it look like to work durationally, cooperatively, compassionately, and earnestly? The community came together in a crisis, working across groups, disciplines, generations, and ideologies. To prevent the same thing from happening again, this work has to continue.

Cooper does not have to be an institution merely producing professionals in art, architecture, and engineering. It could be a school that alters lives, shapes systems, and flips paradigms. This is what is at stake. Waking up from this nightmare, our community is in a more workable position than ever before. Making the school may well be better than saving it.

NONSTOP COOPER

COMMUNITY RESIDENCY @ 31 Third Ave.

nonstopcooper is a community residency at 31 Third Avenue. It will serve as a workspace for community engagement and a platform for public outreach. Opening on September 7th, Nonstop will feature a wide variety of programming, and drop-in hours from noon to midnight. Community members are welcome to host and attend happenings.

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Free Cooper Union expresses solidarity with the USC Roski community and joins the call for Dean Erica Muhl’s resignation

MFA programs across America are compromised by their high cost of attendance. There is an implicit expectation that students can simultaneously take on massive debts, hold down jobs, learn, advance their practices, and reemerge intact. USC Roski is known for holding out against this paradoxical mentality, foregrounding the intrinsic value of education. The program’s focus on time, space, and proximity exists in opposition to a surplus of diploma­mill style programs that churn out credentialed art professionals into a saturated market. We see the Roski community as having taken on the work of standing against a broad financialization of culture and dispelling the notion that the model of education we share is anachronistic.

Under the auspices of cost reduction, USC’s administration initiated a reinvention of the Roski program, drastically eroding its unique character. Crucial information was withheld from the community as the administration drove stakes for austerity and expansion. Students were treated as collateral in a bait­and­switch, privileging a corporate restructuring over the sacrifices of students and faculty to be there.

When an entire Roski MFA class withdrew in May of 2015, Dean Erica Muhl undermined the potency of their action by recasting it to the media as a “voluntary leave” that she had granted. The students’ absence may be minimized by damage control consultants, but their actions inspire and speak louder than the business­as­usual mentality of MFA programs that pretend they’re not founded on the precarity of those they ostensibly serve.

Any institution, program, or community in resistance to financialization will be cannibalized to maintain the dominance of market forces. In this, we’re together: the Cooper community continues to fight for the reinstatement and perpetual improvement of a culture that advances free education. Education without barriers is grounded in an intersectional understanding of the imperative to learn. It’s not just Cooper. It’s not just undergraduate. It’s not just higher education. We must continually evaluate how all institutions shape society and work to re­center them. Deep connections between our communities will be the foundation of this effort.

To quote the Roski 2016 class, “Our collective and interdependent force is energizing as we progress toward supportive and malleable spaces conducive to criticality and encouragement. These sites are more important than ever in the current state of economic precarity​that reaches far beyond the fates of seven art students. We invite everyone to reach out to us with proposals, invitations and strategies of their own, dreams not of creating a ‘better’ institution, but devising new spaces for collective weirdness and joy.”

You can read more from the Roski community at mfanomfa

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Get the lowdown on these art world disruptors—curators and artists who have helped create the art world as it is, and may be shaping tomorrow's scene.

#16: "Who says that a bunch of paint-stained 20-year-olds can't turn the tables on the suits?"

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Hoylman Statement on Cooper Union's Decision to Seek New Leadership

NEW YORK — State Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) said: “As the Senator representing Cooper Union, I'm very pleased the college has purged its leadership ranks of those responsible for the college's financial mismanagement and subsequent decision to charge undergraduate tuition, which directly contradicts Peter Cooper's original intention of providing a higher education 'open and free to all.' I'm pleased that the college will soon have new leadership and I hope that new leadership will ensure this historic institution remains tuition-free. I commend Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman for his investigation into the cause of Cooper Union's financial troubles and I will continue to work with all parties to ensure students don't pay the price for the administration's fiscal irresponsibility."

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New demands issued June 10th, 2015 by Free Cooper Union

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Day 919: Bharucha Steps Down

Free Cooper Union Wednesday, June 10th, 2015

On December 3rd, 2012, Free Cooper Union initiated a lock-in within the college’s clocktower, publicly issuing a set of demands and principles towards preserving the Cooper Union’s mission. Among the demands were a statement to the administration in support of free education, board reform, and President Jamshed Bharucha’s resignation. 919 days after the demands were first issued, Bharucha has finally stepped down, following the early termination of his contract and an ongoing Attorney General investigation.

Today, we celebrate the additional resignations of:

Mark Epstein, Trustee and Former Chairman of the Board

Francois DeMenil, Trustee and Vice Chairman of the Board

Catharine Bond Hill, Trustee

Daniel Libeskind, Trustee

Monica Vachher, Trustee

Teresa Dahlberg, Dean of Engineering and Chief Academic Officer

These departures mark a sea change, calling for the realization of a true Cooper Union: an institution worthy of the radical mission on which it was founded. This future will depend on the tenacity of the community and continued public engagement, through cooperative oversight, committed participation, and honest critique of our own shortcomings. We must rebuild Cooper, not towards a nostalgic notion of what it once was, but towards a fervent vision that shines in all directions.

Getting rid of key players will not be enough. Implementing rigid structures, best practices, and good leaders will not be enough. Adjusting the variables within an existing model of higher education will not be enough. Moving forward will require acknowledging years of bitter conflict, comprehensively assessing our present state, envisioning painfully distant ideals, and working cooperatively.

Direct action works. We know it to be true so deeply that no newspaper, no court, no president, no board, and no administrator could undo this conviction. Collectively, our community has scratched the surface of what it means to gleefully, painfully, patiently dismantle the societal conditioning which implores us to never step out of line. We stand to lose everything if we allow ourselves to regress to the type of thinking that allowed this crisis to ferment over a period of decades.

Envisioning the students who would occupy his school, Peter Cooper once said, “I trust that they will rally around and protect it, and make it like a city set on a hill, that cannot be hid.” As our administration disappears into hiding with petulant resignations, we affirm that now is always the time for principled action.

Demands

Board votes to affirm Cooper Union’s commitment to free education, stop pursuing new tuition-based educational programs, and work to eliminate all ways in which students are charged for education.

Reimbursement for all tuition payments collected to date.

Offer to reinstate former Dean of Students Linda Lemiesz and former Security Supervisor Owen Solomon, who served the Cooper community for over two decades before being arbitrarily fired by Jamshed Bharucha.

Re-establish official Working Group of elected constituents, who are provided unrestricted access to financial information, to continue investigating tuition-free financial models.

Authorize an independent forensic accounting of the college’s finances, starting with the past three decades, to be presented to the community.

Monthly community forums with interim president Bill Mea to review decisions, assess progress, and give feedback with an agreed upon stakeholder process.

Structural changes to board operations with the goal of creating open flows of information and democratic decision-making structures:

Record board meetings and make minutes publicly available.

Create additional voting seats on the board, elected directly by their constituencies, for: students from art, architecture, and engineering; faculty from art, architecture, engineering, and humanities; and staff

Implement a process by which board members may be removed through a vote of no confidence from the Cooper Union community, comprised of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and administrators.

Resignations tendered by the following administrators, who failed to publicly stand up for the college’s mission in a time of crisis:

Mitchell Lipton, Vice President of Enrollment Services

Stephen “Dean” Baker, Vice President of Student Affairs

Justin Harmon, Vice President of Communications

Lawrence Cacciatore, Board Secretary and Chief of Staff

Abby Davis, Assistant Director of Admissions

William Germano, Dean of Humanities

Bonnie John, Director of Computation and Innovation

Anita Raja, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs

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JAMSHED BHARUCHA STEPS DOWN.

Coverage:

Wall Street Journal: Cooper Union President Resigns

Associated Press: Cooper Union President Resigning Amid Probe of Its Finances

Chronicle of Higher Education: After Trustees Resign, Cooper Union President Says He Will Step Down

artnet: Five Cooper Union Trustees, Including Daniel Libeskind, Abruptly Resign

ARTnews: Five Members of Cooper Union's Board of Trustees Resign

Hyperallergic: Five Cooper Union Trustees Call It Quits

Artforum: Daniel Libeskind and Four Other Trustees Resign from Cooper Union’s Board

ArtInfo: After Trustees Resign, Cooper Union President Says He Will Step Down

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Jamshed Goes To Harvard

Subject: Presidential Transition From: The Cooper Union <[email protected]> To: All community and alumni Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 7:09 PM

Dear Members of the Cooper Union Community:

I am writing to let you know that I will be leaving my post as President of The Cooper Union at the end of June, 2015. Starting in the fall, I will serve as Visiting Scholar at Harvard University in the Graduate School of Education.

It has been an honor to serve as the 12th President of Cooper Union these past four years. The focus of my presidency has been to secure Cooper’s finances for generations of deserving students in the future, while preserving excellence and increasing socio-economic access.

The class completing its freshman year was the first to be admitted under the 2013 Financial Sustainability Plan, and the class just admitted will be the second. These two classes uphold Cooper’s unparalleled standard of excellence. With need-based financial aid, we have also been able to increase access to those who can least afford it, as shown by an increase in the proportion of students eligible for Federal Pell Grants.

Jessie and I want to thank all the students, faculty, alumni, donors, friends, and neighbors whom we have been privileged to meet during our stay at Cooper, and we wish you all the very best.

Jamshed Bharucha President

On June 10, 2015, the Cooper Union Board of Trustees released the following statement:

The Board of Trustees is grateful to Jamshed Bharucha for his service as the 12th President of Cooper Union. The financial exigencies with which he was confronted upon his arrival were not of his making and he deserves credit for sounding the alarm about the need to take urgent action to ensure Cooper Union’s long-term financial sustainability. We wish President Bharucha all the best in his future endeavors, and have agreed to name him President Emeritus effective July 1, 2015.

The board has asked Cooper’s vice president for finance and administration, William Mea, to assume interim leadership responsibilities on July 1. In the fall, the board will form a presidential search committee that will include representation from the faculty, students and alumni.

Mea, who is currently responsible for financial planning and budgeting, the controller’s office, human resources, information technology, public safety, facilities and legal affairs, joined Cooper in September 2014.

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Cooper Union’s Board ALREADY approved a tuition hike, two weeks ago. Announcement forthcoming.

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Committee to Save Cooper Union releases 15 page rebuttal on The Real State of Cooper Union

Amidst legal chaos, President Jamshed Bharucha emailed a 13 page manifesto to the entire Cooper community, rife with inaccuracies. His rosy report goes so far as to completely omit the ongoing supreme court lawsuit. The Committee to Save Cooper Union has refuted each and every one of Bharucha's misleading claims in an impressive new report.

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N.Y. State Attorney General launches independent investigation into Cooper’s Board of Trustees

“The announcement of the investigation is a really large step for the community because we’ve been combatting the administration’s propaganda for years. We were always told it was not possible for the attorney general to investigate, that the administration wasn’t doing anything wrong." —Victoria Sobel, alumnus and member of Free Cooper Union

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Check out this fun new game, Cooper Union Buzzword Bingo™! Ages 2+, its fun for the whole family! Play Cooper Union Buzzword Bingo™ in meetings, when listening to speeches, reading Board Reports, Campus Notices, and more! For similar products, see Corporate Bullshit Buzzword Bingo™ and Higher Education Buzzword Bingo™!

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"This was the only four year degree school that offered free tuition, with no military service or any other catch involved. Peter Cooper started the school in 1859, saying that he believed education should be open and ‘free for all.’ Cooper Union’s mission statement explicitly stated that the school should always be free. But for the first time in its history, the school is charging tuition. The administration has spun it as reducing the scholarship from a ‘full scholarship’ to a ‘half scholarship,’ but in reality they’ve raised the cost from $0 to $20,000." "What is the administration’s argument for enacting tuition?" "The school has been running at a deficit since the 1990’s, and they say it’s the only way to maintain a quality education and avoid bankruptcy. But at a time when so many students in America are being drowned in student debt, we say that we’d rather make drastic budget cuts than throw out the dream of free education that the school was built on."

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OH YEAH WE GOT #HONY'ed

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Committee to Save Cooper Union Legal Fund: Update 6

With only 4 days left to our initial fundraising goal of $150,000 please donate to help Save Cooper Union! Over 780 of us have stepped up to donate over $120,000 to the legal efforts to help save Cooper Union by forcing the Board to preserve the 150-year tradition of free tuition enshrined in the Charter.

There are still a few Art Grab Bag perks left!

Here's the latest update on the legal effort from the Committee to Save Cooper Union: Cooper Union is the recipient of a huge tax benefit since it does not have to pay taxes on its considerable real-estate holdings, including the Chrysler building. This property tax exemption is worth more than $19 million annually to Cooper Union. Historically, when New York challenged Cooper Union's tax exempt status, Cooper was able to defend it by pointing to the free tuition it offers. For example, in the 1936 New York State Court of Appeals, Cooper Union argued that it was “not acting for selfish reasons,” instead acting “for the benefit of the public … performing the functions of the State by furnishing technical education and laboratory and library facilities, [which] places it in a position like that of a governmental body.” The Court of Appeals determined that the State legislature has the power to curtail the tax exemption. If Cooper charges tuition just like any other school, it would be very tempting for the legislature to eliminate the tax exemption entirely. More recently, when Cooper Union wanted a zoning variance, the administration told the City Planning Commission: “the school could not solve its financial problems like other educational institutions and that increasing the student body or charging tuition were not viable options … [because] Cooper Union is committed to providing education to those who may not otherwise be able to afford it at comparable top-ranking institutions.” In the transcript of the September 19, 2012 Cooper Union Board Meeting (available online at the Village Voice - see p. 17 of transcript) President Bharucha stated “When I first arrived I was informed by my predecessor [George Campbell] that tuition would risk the tax equivalency.” Now, instead of taking the steps needed to preserve free tuition as outlined in the Working Group plan, the President and Board reversed their commitment and irresponsibly voted to charge tuition - putting the future of Cooper Union at risk. The loss of the tax exemption and having to pay market rates for property taxes would likely prove fatal to Cooper Union.

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Let's make this happen! So far 575 people have contributed over $106,000 to our legal efforts, but we are still short of our $150,000 goal with only 11 days left in this campaign. Please contribute to the legal fund to help us continue fighting to Save Cooper Union. Please consider sending an ask for donations to the Committee to Save Cooper Union's legal fund to your own contacts and networks. Tell anyone and everyone you know that we're coming down to the wire here and need their help to make sure Cooper Union remains free to all students! Please alert friends, family, and strangers alike to this important cause, and encourage them to get in touch with any and all questions While you're doing that, here's an update on the legal action to share around: Is Cooper Union a Commercial Enterprise or a School? While the correct answer to that question is obvious to virtually every student, teacher, and alum of Cooper Union, it appears that's not the case with the Board of Trustees. Last week, the Board's new law firm, Pepper Hamilton LLP (apparently replacing Winston & Strawn, LLP), requested, on the Board's behalf, that the NY Supreme Court's Civil Branch transfer the Save Cooper Union lawsuit to the Commercial Division. On Friday, Administrative Judge Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler unambiguously denied the Board of Trustees motion, writing: “This matter does not involve ‘business dealings’ … but rather the alleged mismanagement and governance of a not-for-profit educational institution. Thus, it does not fall within the guidelines for assignment to the Commercial Division.”The Committee to Save Cooper Union's opposition to the Board’s transfer motion includes a helpful summary of the case. The Court's full response is also available. The Board’s troubling tactic is symptomatic of the ongoing danger to Cooper Union. Controlling members of the board, including President Jamshed Bharucha, act as if the school is a commercial asset that they can manage and “re-invent” in any way they see fit. The Save Cooper Union lawsuit, holds them responsible to the specific intent of the Trust that formed and governs the school

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FRIENDS, please help #savecooperunion by funding #TheCommitteeToSaveCooperUnion legal fund. Please #repost this, tag friends and family, and spread the word. The fund is currently at 88% with only 4 days left. Please visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/committee-to-save-cooper-union-legal-fund #cooperunion #petercooper