ASSÉ expresses solidarity for Cooper Union students

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The Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ) expresses its full support and solidarity for students at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City currently occupying Jamshed Bharucha’s office, the current school president.

Since May 8th, students at Cooper Union have sustained a brave and necessary sit-in on the seventh floor at Cooper, protesting a recent, unilateral decision by the school’s Administration and the Board of Trustees to end more than a century of free tuition for undergraduates.

Students at Cooper Union take action against an unaccountable administrative decision that clearly clashes with Cooper’s historic ideals and social vision to spark creativity, and to “develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action”.

Free university education, accessible across social classes is clearly a cornerstone to any society rooted in ideals of social justice.

Students at Cooper Union are an inspiring example of the growing fight for accessible post-secondary education in the U.S., where students now face crushing debt levels.

Cooper Union stands and remains a clear example of the possibility for free, universally accessible post-secondary education in the U.S. and thus stands today as central key point for current student struggles in the U.S.

In the context of ASSÉ’s ongoing campaign to abolish tuition fees in Quebec, with the aim to create a fully accessible public post-secondary education system, today we understand that the struggle of students at Cooper Union is interconnected with our own struggle in Quebec.

Cooper Union students now proudly pin the carré rouge (red square) to their shirts and most recently displayed the symbol en masse at graduation ceremonies in New York City.

As was seen in Quebec, students at Cooper Union have undertaken direct action, in their sit-in at the president’s office, underlining the importance of utilizing creative tactics to draw attention to the urgency of our common struggle. Students at Cooper are also challenging the inaccessible and authoritarian models of governance imposed by both government and university powers.

For us in Quebec, the student struggle at Cooper Union that has taken place over the last year, for the same ideals of free education and social justice that drove our historic strike in 2012, is an inspiring example of the international nature of our collective struggle.

ASSÉ expresses its full support and solidarity for the students at Cooper Union in their just fight for free and universally accessible education and we express our full support for your ongoing occupation of the seventh floor that continues to light up red in the Manhattan sky on each summer evening.

In struggle and solidarity,

Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ)
Montreal, Quebec, June 3, 2013

Many thanks to Stefan Christoff, Émilie Joly and Ludvic-Moquin Beaudry. For more information and to get involved, visit Free Cooper Union's Facebook page. If you want to support the communal dinners alumni are coordinating, you can donate online here.