{"id":2470,"date":"2020-03-31T16:10:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T16:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/?p=2470"},"modified":"2020-04-17T15:15:10","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T15:15:10","slug":"free-cuny-demands-tuition-refund-free-resources-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/2020\/03\/free-cuny-demands-tuition-refund-free-resources-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Free CUNY Demands Tuition Refund, Free Resources for Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professors and adjuncts restructured their curriculum. Essential workers reported to campus. And students grappled with distance-learning while completing assignments<\/a>. While the effects of the coronavirus outbreak unfolded throughout the college community, Free CUNY drafted a list of demands.<\/p>\n

Its petition<\/a>, released on the first day of online classes, calls for emergency funding, free food, healthcare, housing and childcare for students, staff and faculty.<\/p>\n

The organization says on-campus childcare providers and other essential workers should receive double pay and have protective equipment. The petition urges the college to give personnel on campus the option to stay home with full pay.<\/p>\n

During a virtual town hall meeting on Friday, about 50 participants discussed these demands and shared ways to pressure CUNY and state leaders.<\/p>\n

\"Meeting\"
About 50 participants joined a Free CUNY meeting via Zoom.<\/figcaption> Photo by Free CUNY<\/span><\/figure>\n

One of Free CUNY\u2019s most outspoken activists<\/a> suggested withholding tuition for the upcoming summer or fall semester. The group is calling for a tuition reimbursement and dorm refunds for those who were displaced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have a critical mass of students to flex that power, we could delay the financial funds of the school and have a #TuitionStrike2020\u2014we\u2019re not paying because you didn\u2019t refund this,\u201d said Briana Calder\u00f3n Navarro from Hunter College.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the CUNY Board of Trustees approved refunds<\/a> for student residents.<\/p>\n

The group directed their demands to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill De Blasio and Chancellor F\u00e9lix V. Matos Rodr\u00edguez in a petition with over 300 signatures.<\/p>\n

Free CUNY also shared a \u201cmutual aid network<\/a>,\u201d a spreadsheet for members of the CUNY community to request assistance or offer support. Current listings offer resources such as groceries and childcare along with contact information.<\/p>\n

\u201cMutual aid networks are community networks that form, from the ground-up, to meet people\u2019s needs without any conditions. It\u2019s about mobilizing resources to meet the material needs of folks who need support,\u201d the organization wrote in a presentation.<\/p>\n

Throughout the meeting, participants were encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences. Between conversations in the call and in the chat box, many personal accounts were shared.<\/p>\n

A student at Brooklyn College said professors are not making an effort to have lecture-style classes. As an international student, Danna Johnson said she struggles to understand readings and Powerpoints.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t learn by reading; I learn by listening,\u201d she said. \u201cI don’t know if anyone has this problem, but I don\u2019t think pushing everything online is the right response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students with health problems and IEPs that required assistance also mentioned the toll of the online transition in the chat box. Another student, Saaif Alam, later thanked her for bringing up different learning styles. He continued by sharing ways to pressure Governor Cuomo for funding, by sending letters and tweets.<\/p>\n

The meeting ended with more suggestions on how to take action, despite not being able to gather and protest in person. Free CUNY member and Brooklyn College adjunct professor Conor Tom\u00e1s Reed ended the two-hour meeting by telling participants to share the petition and the mutual aid spreadsheet by using social media, and asking professors and classmates to share as well.<\/p>\n

The group could also organize by continuing to gather virtually\u2014 \u201cI\u2019m glad for a space to reconnect,\u201d Theresa Vu, a junior at Hunter College, had said at the start of the meeting.<\/p>\n

The group invited everyone on the call to participate in upcoming Free CUNY meetings that take place on Friday afternoons. \u201cWe have a university to transform,\u201d he said, \u201cunder difficult but powerful circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 300 members of the CUNY community signed a petition supporting Free CUNY\u2019s demands amid the coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":2471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2470"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2477,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions\/2477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}