For as long we continue to receive them, Free Cooper Union will be publishing letters from applicants, accepted students, and families who have said “No” to Cooper Union as a direct result of the board’s decision to destroy the college’s mission of providing free education to all admitted students. If you’ve got a story to share, email us at: cooperuniosos@gmail.com

Today’s letter comes from Alumnus Bhaskar Krishnamachari, in the form of a note posted to the facebook group Save Cooper Union. Bhaskar describes the impossibility of encouraging an accepted student to say yes to a Cooper Union with tuition:

For as long we continue to receive them, Free Cooper Union will be publishing letters from applicants, accepted students, and families who have said “No” to Cooper Union as a direct result of the board’s decision to destroy the college’s mission of providing free education to all admitted students. If you’ve got a story to share, email us at: cooperuniosos@gmail.com

Today’s letter comes from Izzy Pezzulo:

This is the first half of Izzy’s letter, with the second on its way tomorrow:

————— Forwarded message —————
From: Izzy Pezzulo
Date: Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:16 PM PM
Subject: Letter proposal from Izzy
To: CooperUnion SOS

Dear Free Cooper Union,

My name is Isabella “Izzy” Pezzulo. I am a high school student who attends A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in South Florida. I am an only child and I’ve been living with my Mom ever since my parents divorced last year. I am getting ready to graduate and spend the summer as a trail crew leader with the Appalachian Mountain Club in Gorham, NH. Most of all, I am in this stage of transition as I have approached a crux in my life that I could never have anticipated.

Like most other college-bound high school students, I’m facing a huge decision. It’s one that I have thought and dreamed about for years now: where to go to school. Where I want to go is kind of the easy part. I have been so fortunate to be accepted to a number of my top schools. The part of this decision I never anticipated is how do I actually go to any of these schools?

This is how my former dream school, Cooper Union, made that decision for me.

For the longest time I have dreamed of going to Cooper Union. My high school provided me with the opportunity and motivation to become a devoted art nerd. From the time I was in 7th grade, my teachers have nourished me with exposure to art practices and dialogue. They have taught me so much about what it means to be an artist, and how to navigate the art world, alongside technical skills of making. One of those teachers is a Cooper Union alumni, as well as one of my biggest influences and greatest mentors. Over the course of hundreds of figure drawing classes, I learned about the Cooper Union — this mystifying institution where only the most talented artists went to study.

Still, I was never exactly sure what students experienced there, probably because Cooper never sent recruiters to pitch one program or another, like other art schools frequently did (I always figured Cooper was so good that it didn’t have to do that). When I encountered people who had graduated from Cooper I came to know that only the best minds enter there, and even they came out completely transformed. I didn’t know much about the curriculum or even the focus of the school, but even that was part of Cooper’s allure for me. I wanted to see if I had the strength for it.

I had a life-altering experience at the Oxbow school in Napa, CA my junior year of high school, which I was able to attend with the help of some inheritance my grandmother left me and fundraising through my homemade granola sales. My experience at Oxbow left me wanting more from my education — to engage with numerous interests, to be politically active, as well as having a strong art practice. I still wanted to attend Cooper, and also saw myself pursuing many things outside of art. Those interests brought me to apply to 12 schools come senior year — mostly small liberal arts colleges that were largely unaffordable for me without the help of substantial merit scholarships. Still, I was incredibly hopeful that I could attend one of those schools, especially Cooper. My experience in high school has been that when you are earnest to learn and act with sincerity, you will always find yourself in the place you need to be.

I visited Cooper for the first time during winter break of last year. I made the trip with the sole intention of receiving a portfolio review inside the building at Astor Place. The emotions I felt while at Cooper were palpable — some of the strangest I have ever experienced. Though the students giving tours were friendly, I couldn’t help but sense the place was extremely charged. I knew about the struggle over tuition well before coming to Cooper since some of my friends that attended my high school had sat inside the President’s office themselves. There was a table during the open house that distributed information about the Cooper Union and its current situation. I read the small booklet voraciously while sitting in the auditorium, waiting to be called for my portfolio review. The information I learned in that handout made me experience apprehension like I almost never do (I’m a pretty calm person).

.pdf of the Diso Guide, here

My portfolio review that day was one of the best I’ve ever received, and I was granted the opportunity to apply early decision with a faculty recommendation. The faculty member who reviewed my work was utterly brilliant — asking me questions about my body of work and myself that engaged me in a totally new kind of conversation. We met for only a few short minutes but by the time the review was over I was considering new questions and thoughts about my work that had never occurred to me before. The mixed emotions I felt for Cooper, along with the tension I felt within the place did make me second guess my commitment to apply early decision — something that in the past I wouldn’t have thought twice about at all. Yet physically being at Cooper also gave me hope — the students were still active, and reaching out to prospective students like me, who showed up dazed and starstruck by the activity, energy, and tension at the school. Every current Cooper student I spoke with that weekend encouraged me to apply. They also told me how much Cooper means to them, and how much the full-tuition scholarship is a part of that meaning.

In the meantime, I was awarded the National YoungArts award in the visual arts category. It was a great honor for me to be chosen to receive the award alongside some of the greatest young artists I have ever known. Like Cooper, it was a distant dream to show my work in Miami at the YoungArts exhibition with that group of talented individuals from across the world. That moment was a dream come true, and it seemed like the unattainable was slowly becoming possible — maybe even attending Cooper Union.

Being at YoungArts also connected me with other young artists who were applying or planning to apply to Cooper. At that time, the final decision about whether tuition would definitely be charged had not been made, so the small group of us applying waited with every appendage crossed — hoping that Cooper would remain the same place we had all dreamed and yearned for. After YoungArts, we all got the news that we wouldn’t be so lucky: tuition would be charged to incoming students at Cooper. Still, many of us went ahead with our applications. I did so mostly to put the question to the test: Have I worked hard enough to go to Cooper Union? If the answer was yes, well, I would cross the bridge of how to pay tuition when and if I got to it.

I told myself that I “didn’t care” if I got in to Cooper or not. I had applied to so many other colleges, and at the time I was not 100% convinced that art was my future despite my persistent dedication to making and thinking about it. Reflecting back on that indifference, I no longer think it was the truth. The truth was that I really did want to go to Cooper Union, I wanted to go there more than just about anything.

It took me a while to get started on Cooper’s application, the fabled ‘hometest’, perhaps due to some kind of analysis paralysis. Once I began, however, I couldn’t repress this urge inside me to give it everything I had. Despite “not caring”, I skipped a weeks worth of classes just to finish on time and at a level I felt was the best I could ever hope to do. Throughout the test, I slept a lot less and ate less food than I probably should have. In my usual day-to day, I love sleeping and cooking and going for runs on the beach; but all of that took a back seat to proving, if only to myself, that I was good enough to get into Cooper Union. With that application, I would answer a question that had been in the back of my mind for well over 4 years. Through these crowning efforts of the home test, I was going to find out if I could go to Cooper Union.

My home test included a painting, a multi-layer drawing, a series of 4 conjoined drawings, a series of prints from a collagraph plate, and a sculpture that made pickling brine. My emotions during the home test went from feeling absolutely confident in my abilities to utterly falling all over myself just to get it done. I wrote words across the papered wall in my bedroom/studio that were along the lines of “KEEP GOING KEEP GOING KEEP GOING KEEP GOING.” The Cooper hometest introduced me to a level of insanity I thought I should probably get familiar with if I was serious about attending.

I mailed in my hometest and after months of waiting and agonizing, I received an email. It was my acceptance to Cooper Union. I did it. Of the nine total college acceptances I received, Cooper’s was the only one that brought tears to my eyes.

I knew where those tears came from. They were built up from years of wondering whether I was capable of getting to this point, and here I was. How everyone else viewed my acceptance mattered little to me — the most value came from what it did for me internally, as well opening up a Pandora’s Box of personal introspection and questions that I would wrestle with up to May 1st, the day I had to tell Cooper yes or no. At the time, I didn’t realize this decision would be even harder to face than all those long hours spent on the hometest. The question of whether or not I could go to Cooper turned out to be much harder to answer than the question of whether or not I could get in…

To be continued in Part 2

For as long we continue to receive them, Free Cooper Union will be publishing letters from applicants, accepted students, and families who have said “No” to Cooper Union as a direct result of the board’s decision to destroy the college’s mission of providing free education to all admitted students. If you’ve got a story to share, email us at: cooperuniosos@gmail.com

Today’s letter comes from Izzy Pezzulo:

We published the first part of Izzy’s letter yesterday, in which she describes how studying art at Cooper was a lifelong dream,and one that seemed like it was beginning to come true after she was accepted to the incoming Class of 2018. This second part of the letter tells how she decided to say ‘no’ and rejected Cooper’s offer of a “half-tuition scholarship”.

Izzy appealed to Cooper Union admissions for additional scholarship assistance so that affording the high costs of tuition and living in New York City might be possible after all. After giving her the administrative runaround, admissions refused to award adequate financial assistance. Instead, Cooper’s Dean of Admissions claimed that the offer was already “generous” while bating Izzy to make an enormous financial gamble for her and her family: “…if you decide to enroll, we may be able to offer you a little bit more.”

Izzy and her mother weighed the exorbitant costs of a Cooper Union with tuition against another school which offered Izzy a full-tuition scholarship, however Izzy’s decision wasn’t only about financial costs. It was also about the school’s founding mission of providing free education, for that defined and upheld the Cooper Union that Izzy had dreamed of and worked towards for years:

"At first I said no to Cooper because I had to, but now I say “no” to help fight for what Peter Cooper saw when he first envisioned the school. Going forward I will take that fight with me: seeking an education that satisfies my craving to learn and make, free of debt."

The loss of Izzy and so many other students like her is an incredible blow the future of the Cooper Union community. It is a loss that could be avoided, however we have a President, administration, and Board of Trustees who are unwilling to make that possible. They prefer students who can pay their asking price over qualified students who can’t afford to do so. Izzy is not a part of their vision for the future of Cooper Union.

We would like to thank Izzy for sharing her letter. It is our hope that her story helps to make the voices of students who have been shut-out of Cooper Union heard by the entire community. We continue to fight against tuition on behalf of all future students of Cooper Union and at universities everywhere.

————— Forwarded message —————
From: Izzy Pezzulo
Date: Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:16 PM PM
Subject: Letter proposal from Izzy
To: CooperUnion SOS

Dear Free Cooper Union,

After I was accepted to Cooper my life, and the problem of where and how to go to school weighed on me heavily. I tried weighing pros and cons for each of the schools I was accepted to, but doing that felt incredibly futile, especially with regards to Cooper. I knew that choosing Cooper would be a difficult path to take — on which I would struggle financially and artistically, all on top of living in a daunting city. Despite all the barriers, I was determined to carve my own place out of the school’s Foundation Building. My eyes were fixed on Cooper, but my vision wavered after a series of interactions with Cooper school admissions who made me rethink my next step.

From there, all my communications with the administration at Cooper were simply discouraging. I spent so much time on the phone, put on hold Cooper’s admissions office, pacing the hallways at my high school, waiting for my files to be rustled up from wherever they were stored or lost or whatever. Most of the time the admissions rep on the other end of the line told me to go back into my FAFSA, and call back in to repeat the procedure. Each time that happened I would re-assure myself — these are just a few more hoops I have to jump through. I contacted financial aid 4-5 times before even being allowed to write an appeal for more financial aid, which I did immediately.

Days later, I received a response that I would be considered for an increased scholarship. I had spent many hours deliberating with my parents about whether or not Cooper was affordable, dissecting and parsing the costs on a year-by-year basis. At first, the financials and my parents’ worries didn’t make sense to me, but as numbers were drilled into my head, I began to listen, and realized how much the cost of Cooper would determine my future as a student.

I knew I would have to give up on some opportunity and freedom if I did decide to go. In addition to my summer job, I would have to take any work opportunity I could find. My Mom would have to withdraw money from her retirement saving just to support me in meeting the cost of tuition and living in the city. I began to consider what my quality of life would look like with the financial burden I would incur by accepting Cooper’s offer. It didn’t look good for me, or for anyone else in my family.

All the while I was thinking that this couldn’t be the kind of thing that Peter Cooper had in mind when he started the Cooper Union. I doubted he wanted students to have to struggle like this for education, to attend his school or any other, whether it’s the best institution in the world or not. I felt alienated by the entire process — dealing with faceless administrators over the phone or by email, discouraged by every correspondence. It seemed like those people had nothing to do with what Cooper Union was supposed to be, or the place I always thought it was: a school that was really difficult to get into, and a place that was free.

I received another offer from the Dean of Art a day later offering $3,000 more in merit scholarship.

As I read the letter I knew that amount still didn’t even scratch the surface of what it would take for me and my parents to pay for Cooper. By this time, I was more resolved in my own convictions about college and I knew I was not sustaining my own values by going into debt for Cooper Union.

I had to say no to my acceptance to Cooper Union.

I wasn’t simply turning away because I was not receiving enough money, I felt that I needed to stand my ground and be resolute about something that I felt was deeply wrong with this situation. I was inspired to do so by following the work of current students at Cooper and groups like Free Cooper Union. I see students there fighting for what they believe in and for a school that matters to them. In some ways I feel that I’m taking part in that struggle by making this decision and writing this letter. I know that the Cooper Union administration has ignored them, and similarly I have also been ignored. Another part of my determination to refuse taking on debt to attend Cooper came from the feeling that it was so difficult to communicate with the administration. I had managed to communicate who I was and what I could do with my home test, but I couldn’t get through to the financial aid people. I don’t think it was me that has a problem with communicating, I think they have a problem with listening, and remembering why Cooper Union exists in the first place. Up until now I had ignored those feelings throughout the application process because I was too busy jumping through hoops. I can’t afford to do that anymore, and neither can my Mom or Dad.

So instead of Cooper Union, I’ve chosen a completely different path in a place I would have never expected until I heard the news from Cooper. I’ve chosen a liberal arts college in Virginia that offered me a full-tuition scholarship. With the exception of how much it will cost me, comparing the University of Richmond to Cooper is like comparing apples to zucchini squash. Still I know that an abundance of untapped potential is there for me to find without the increasing financial load every year. What I plan to pursue there is wildly different from how I saw my life as a student at Cooper Union, but both routes have similar end goals; to become an informed human being who questions the world and persistently makes their place in it through art.

Turning away from something I once thought I wanted more than anything still casts some doubt every now and then, but I am increasingly comforted and excited by my decision. There are people who have tried to make me feel like I made the wrong decision, telling me that I gave up something huge, but I see my life in a new context, in a new world of opportunities at a school that wants to give me an education rather than have me pay for it. Even though I won’t be able to go to his school, I guess I learned some things from Peter Cooper anyways. At first I said no to Cooper because I had to, but now I say “no” to help fight for what Peter Cooper saw when he first envisioned the school. Going forward I will take that fight with me: seeking an education that satisfies my craving to learn and make, free of debt.

To the supporters of the Committee to Save Cooper Union: THANK YOU!

We are now 24 hours into our fundraising campaign and have raised over $22,000 toward our $150,000 goal. Our deepest gratitude goes out to all who have contributed. Please continue to share the news with friends, family, and defenders of free education everywhere.

Immediately following the Class of 2014’s commencement ceremony we rallied together to show support for The Cooper Union’s strong and unique identity as a tuition free institution for the study of architecture, art and engineering; and to call attention to the fiscal mismanagement and lack of accountability on the part of The Cooper Union Trustees, leading to the erosion of a 150-year old tradition of free tuition made possible by philanthropist Peter Cooper.

Attorney Richard Emery speaking at the rally

At the press conference held outside the Foundation Building, we heard testimonials from Professor Mike Essl, alumni Adrian Burton Jovanovic & Devin Kenny, and incoming student Claire Kleinman. Attorney Richard Emery of the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady announced our petition seeking to preserve the longstanding policy of free tuition in light of the Trustees’ decision to impose tuition starting in 2014.

Since the announcement, our campaign has received a great amount of coverage and attention from media far and wide. From the Wall Street Journal article that first broke the story, the New York Post’s colorful commentary, ABC 7 television coverage, NY Daily News video, Hyperallergic, Art in America, and much more.

We later learned that president + executive = prexie

We are so encouraged by the momentum and support to preserve tuition-free education at Cooper Union. Please help us to continue toward our fundraising goals, and please help us Save Cooper Union!

Did we mention that the Committee to Save Cooper Unionis suing Jamshed Bharucha and the Board of Trustees? Even the Wall Street Journal thinks it’s a good idea.

Find out more: http://savecooperunion.org/

We’re going all in against tuition at Cooper Union and student debt everywhere.

Tuition folds.

Find out more and support the lawsuit to preserve over 150 years of free education to all at http://savecooperunion.org/

Wow.

It has been a week since we launched our campaign which is already well over a third of the way funded toward our goal of $150,000. These donations large and small, and numerous offers of support we have received over the past week are testaments to the value of Cooper Union’s mission of providing free education to all students.

When he founded Cooper Union is 1859 Peter Cooper, was a renowned inventor and an industrialist, but above all a philanthropist. Cooper once said, “great wealth is a public trust” and he used his wealth to create and secure his vision that education should be “as free as air and water”

Peter Cooper fights back!

With your generous support, the Committee to Save Cooper Union is well on its way to defending Peter Cooper’s vision. We are committed to pursuing legal action against Cooper Union’s Board of Trustees and administration plans to abolish a 150 year tradition of free tuition.

Like Peter Cooper, we know that Cooper Union’s wealth comes from its community. That wealth may not be accountable in dollars and cents, but best understood and valued in the thousands of students who have marched freely through the doors of Cooper Union and emerged as great artists, architects, engineers, and contributors to society.

On May 28 we rallied and outside of the Cooper Union Foundation Building. Press and community members heard testimonials from Prof. Mike Essl, alumni Adrian Burton Jovanovic & Devin Kenny, and incoming student Claire Kleinman. Attorney Richard Emery announced our lawsuit.

Our gratitude goes out to those alumni of Cooper Union, friends, family, and acquaintances who continue to show their dedication to free education by contributing some of their own wealth (the dollars and cents kind) to our campaign. We encourage you all to continue reaching out to your fellow community members and networks to spread the news of Cooper Union and our fight to keep the school free. You can follow along on twitter, share updates on facebook, email, send letters, phone calls, or even transatlantic telegram— just like donations large and small, anything and everything helps.

“In the course of a century there will, of course be a great number of graduates of the Cooper Union and the day will surely come when they, these graduates, will rally round this institution, and if the plans I have formed can be executed in no other way they will see they are carried out” — Peter Cooper

Thank you for rallying around and protecting Cooper Union.

Our dear friend Victoria Sobel will be joining Andrew Rossi, director of Ivory Tower today on the Katie Show to talk about the documentary, student debt, The Cooper Union, Committee to Save Cooper Union, generally bring down the house, and ask the question: is college worth it?

Free education is most certainly worth it. We’re #soproud of Victoria, Ivory Tower, and everyone who contributes to making it that way.

Even Katie Couric’s on board now.

On the Katie Show, director of the documentary Ivory Tower, Andrew Rossi, discusses the cost — and value — of higher education in the United States today alongside writer Anya Kamenetz and Professor Andrew Deblanco. Couric also highlights the fight against tuition at Cooper Union with Free Cooper Union organizer and recent Cooper Union alumna, Victoria Sobel. Victoria plugs the Committee to Save Cooper Union's lawsuit and legal fund to preserve free education for all students at Cooper Union.

At 16:20 Andrew Rossi notes how the students of Cooper Union have held several direct actions and occupations to fight back against tuition at Cooper Union. Katie describes the crisis at Cooper Union as “emblematic of how universities are operating now. I know they built this big, big student center that cost millions and millions of dollars and the cost of that was passed down to students, and that’s another example of what’s happening all across the country”

Andrew Rossi at 16:58 “[Cooper Union] is the ultimate symbol for the corporatization of the university. here’s a school with a thousand students, totally free, and they decide to take out a $175 million dollar loan in order to build a building at more than one thousand dollars per square foot. That’s more than a luxury hotel.”

Katie and Victoria Sobel then go on to describe the administration’s response to these issues as “hollow words”

Our campaign to save Cooper Union is off to an excellent start, and we gratefully acknowledge the over 420 supporters of a tuition-free Cooper Union who have raised over $76,000 in the initial days of this effort. We’re over half-way to our goal of $150,000! Let’s keep the momentum going forward.

In the meantime, we encourage everyone to see the movie “Ivory Tower.” It is a compelling exposé of how runaway increases in administrative costs are being funded by unsustainable levels of student debt. It includes a section focused on the situation at Cooper Union, including a revealing interview of President Bharucha. The opening weekend begins with showings this Friday, June 13th, in New York City at the Angelika theater. Director Andrew Rossi will be present and speaking at the Friday 7:45pm performance. Committee to Save Cooper Union will also be at the theater all day spreading the word about our legal effort to preserve free education at Cooper Union. Plenty of pamphlets, "Save Cooper Union" t-shirts, and buttons will be in the mix. Please tell your friends and family to come out!

On the June 5 episode of the On the Katie Show with Katie Couric, director of the documentary Ivory Tower, Andrew Rossi, discusses the cost — and value — of higher education in the United States today alongside recent Cooper Union alumna, Victoria Sobel. Victoria speaks to the challenges facing Cooper and even got a chance to plug the Committee to Save Cooper Union’s lawsuit and legal fund to preserve free education for all students at the school.

For those who didn’t catch the show, check out the complete segment below and please share it around — this is important stuff.

At 16:20 Andrew Rossi describes how the students of Cooper Union have held several direct actions and occupations to fight back against tuition at Cooper Union. Katie Couric then notes the crisis at Cooper Union is “emblematic of how universities are operating now. I know they built this big, big student center that cost millions and millions of dollars and the cost of that was passed down to students, and that’s another example of what’s happening all across the country”

Our sincere thanks go out to the new donors to our campaign and the many more who contributed to the initial funding and ongoing efforts to save Cooper Union. Let’s see if we can close out this round of funding for the lawsuit in record time! Please contribute to the Committee to Save Cooper Union Legal Fund today.

New Perk: Art grab bag

Art alumni M’Liz Keefe, Bill Wolf and Carol Wolf wanted to find a creative way to encourage people to donate to the lawsuit fund to save Cooper Union—one that would draw upon the artistic energies of their fellow alumni. So they contacted some classmates from their Cooper days back in the 1980’s and gathered donations of original artworks on paper, paintings, drawings, prints, photography etc., (keeping the size no larger than 8” x 10”).

Within days they collected pledges and donations of over 100 pieces of original art for The Committee to Save Cooper Union!

Now you can acquire original artworks from highly accomplished Cooper Union artists—for a song—while you support the effort to save Cooper Union.

How does this work?

We’ve established new art perks on our Indiegogo page, so all you have to do is make a donation at the appropriate level and specify which perk you want. Your artwork will be delivered to you within four weeks after the conclusion of this Indiegogo campaign.

We will select a piece or mini-collection for you as follows:

$200 = one original work of art
$400 = three original works of art
$600 = five original works of art

The artwork will look great on your walls or make fantastic one-of-a-kind gifts.

A painting by M’Liz Keefe to be included in a grab bag

BTW, if you are an artist, architect, engineer or physicist that has an artwork or a service you’d like to donate as a fundraising “perk,” please let us know.

Our sincere thanks go out to these talented & generous artist donors:

Rick Angeloni, Art ‘84
Lisa DiPetto, A’85
Claudia Giordano Lasky, A’76
Timothy Horn, A’84
Candace Hsiao Young, A’85
Sandra Kelch, A’86
Kathleen Kucka, A’84
Sue Laurita, A’85
Lori Loebelsohn, A’82
Yvette Lucas, A’83
M’Liz Keefe, A’85
Kelly Occhiuzzo Zack, A’90
Lotte Petricone, A’85
Adam Shanosky, A’85
Suzy Sureck, A’84
Kevin Testa, A’84
Bill Wolf, A’84
Carol Wolf, A’84

Please donate to receive beautiful original art and help us Save Cooper Union!

hard-work:

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

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

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.

humansofnewyork:

"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."

OH YEAH WE GOT #HONY’ed

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™!

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

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.

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

Subject: Presidential Transition
From: The Cooper Union <alumni@cooper.edu>
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.