Photos, Videos, and Reflections on the Free Cooper Union Rally, Dec. 8th 2012
Originally published in Cooper Union Student Action to Save Our School
“It’s exciting to see students having a much wider scope in the struggle,” said Conor Tomas Reed, a CUNY student with his own student debt, “that it’s not just one flashpoint, that it’s not just a sprint — it’s a marathon.”
Around 200 people, mostly students, gathered at Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Saturday to participate in a citywide rally supporting the 11 Cooper Union undergrads who’ve been in the eighth floor of the school’s Foundation Building for the past five days. In the park, and after a march to the Foundation Building, speakers shared why they came: A World War II veteran said he met his wife when she was at Cooper, several students said they wouldn’t be able to go to college without Cooper’s scholarships, and CUNY students were hoping this may spark a citywide strike among college students.
Photo © Stacey Lanyon
Former professor and Cooper alumni Ben Degen writes:
The Free Cooper Union rally yesterday was a great success. The event was a completely peaceful gathering where people from many different groups were able to come together to express their strong support for continuing free education at The Cooper Union.
The success of this event was the product of hard work, very disciplined organizing and the cooperation of many different groups:
The Students: The Free Cooper Union movement has been led by the students. These are not anarchic rabble-rousers. The group of students that are currently occupying the Peter Cooper Suite and the students who organized and attended this rally represent some of the best and brightest at Cooper. These young people are Cooper Union’s student council representatives and top academic achievers. These are Cooper Union’s leaders. These students are the embodiment of Peter Cooper’s vision of education as a means to facilitate continuing generations of politically active, smart and socially conscious LEADERS for our democratic society.
Alumni: The rally was attended by alumni young and old. There were representatives from the class of 2012 through the class of 1946. Representatives of the CUAA were also present for the rally. My dear friends (and upstairs neighbors) Sheryl London A’46 and her husband Mel were in attendance. They used the human megaphone to amplify their voices to make an inspiring statement about the need for tuition free education at Cooper and their solidarity with the student protests at Cooper Union. Mel and Sheryl do not do email or internet, so if there is any information that people would like me to relay to them please let me know!
Cooper Staff and Faculty: There were many members of Cooper Union’s Faculty and Staff in attendance, both current and retired. It was great to see this support and student/faculty unity.
Cooper Union Administration: Vice President Westcott and Dean of Students Lemiesz were in attendance. They have been instrumental in ensuring the safety of the students and their presence was important in conveying a message of peaceful cooperation which was appreciated by everyone I spoke to.
There are two non-Cooper groups that, though on opposite ends of the protest spectrum, were both indispensible in the success of this event and both deserve great thanks.
The Community: This includes the East Village community, the citywide/nationwide/worldwide student organization movements, and the Occupy movement who were all present and very active at this rally. These groups voiced calls of solidarity with our struggle to preserve Cooper’s mission of free education. These groups connected our local struggle to a powerful global movement.
The New York Police Department: As a life long New Yorker I have attended events from the Thanksgiving Day Parade to Anti Iraq War Rallies and I have never seen a more professional and respectful police presence than the one we had yesterday. The police accompanied the marchers from Washington Square Park and facilitated their movement through the streets- stopping traffic to allow the marchers to cross intersections. When the rally arrived at Cooper Union the officers drew back to a respectful distance. As far as I know there were no negative interactions between the police and the event attendees. On the contrary, I heard that there were many positive conversations!
This rally was an example of what happens when well trained, smart, principled and disciplined individuals work cooperatively. I hope that it will serve as an example of what we can achieve together. Thank you everyone for doing your part and helping us to, collectively, do our best.
Atiq Zabinski of Occupy Public Access TV took video of the march and some of the speakers:
Rally arrives at Cooper Union:
Cooper student Sebastian Quijada reads the mission statement and Students for a Free Cooper Union’s Demands:
Cooper student Pete Halupka tells his story:
