May 17, 2013
By Stephanie West
New York, NY – Cooper Union has now eliminated education at no cost and students are angry. On Wednesday May 8, about 100 students occupied President Bharucha’s office demanding he resign. Student sit-ins at the college began last month following the Cooper Union Board of Trustees decision to put an end to free tuition for undergraduates. This policy has existed at the Cooper Union for more than a century. The decision was announced by Board of Trustees chairman Mark Epstein on April 23.
The money for supporting the school comes from rent from the land under and around the Chrysler Building, investments and alumni donations. As investment income decreased since 2008, concerns regarding financing of programs increased. The decision was made to charge tuition rather than reach out to alumni or cut programs.
Peter Cooper founded The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1859 in lower Manhattan. A year later Abraham Lincoln made his famous speech in the Great Hall, an event that brought him national attention and was soon followed by his nomination for president by the Republican Party on an anti-slavery platform.
