Cooper Union Responds to Occupation During Supporters' Day of Action
96 hours into the student occupation of the Cooper Union's historic clock tower, Jolene Travis, Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Media Relations at Cooper Union released a statement to the press and on Cooper's website today regarding the situation. The press release may have been timed to coin
96 hours into the student occupation of the Cooper Union’s historic clock tower, Jolene Travis, assistant director of Public Affairs, Media Relations at Cooper Union released a statement to the press and on Cooper’s website today regarding the situation. In addition to expressing concern regarding the students’ safety and mentioning that “protesters disrupted a meeting of the Board of Trustees” the release states:
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.
The press release may have been timed to coincide with a second Day of Action planned by students, faculty, and alumni in support of the protesters taking place today. Students for a Free Cooper Union distributed the following press release this morning via email:
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