Photo by Alexia Arthurs

Hunter Students and Faculty Say No to Budget Cuts and Tuition Hikes

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Posted: 11/26/08

Jonathan Jordan
Staff Writer

Over 150 Hunter College students and faculty held a rally outside the Hunter West Building on Wednesday Nov. 12 to protest proposed budget cuts and tuition hikes to the CUNY system. Hunter Professors Jennifer Gaboury and Rupal Oza and co-organizer and CUNY Grad Center Advocate Editor James Hoff all spoke at the rally.

"I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout," Hoff commented. "There was little advance planning and much of this was spontaneous. We wanted to send a message to President [Jennifer] Raab that we didn't want these budget cuts to affect adjunct employment and college attendance. It is really important that students be involved with and aware of issues that affect them on their campuses and to get such a large group was really encouraging."

During the 90-minute rally, largely organized by CUNY Contingents Unite, both adjunct professors as well as about two-dozen students spoke out against the budget changes.

"The most exciting part of the rally was the student speeches," said Jennifer Gaboury, Professor in the Political Science and Women and Gender Studies Department. "They spoke out about the cuts to their [Peter] Vallone Scholarships, retention rates, and the extra $600 tuition burden that they don't know if they will be able to bear."

The Peter Vallone Scholarship, which awards financial assistance to gifted college students, has also been recently cut to the tune of approximately $200.

Hoff was also pleased with the student involvement.

"I was amazed to see how many students stood up and defended adjunct jobs. One student even said that an adjunct professor of theirs was one of the best professors they had while at Hunter. They weren't only self-interested. For them it was also an issue of justice and fairness."

Hunter Senior Sasha Ahuja was glad to see the student turnout, but still stressed that more needs to be done. "Many people are aware of these issues, but are struggling to mobilize. It's the proverbial case too many chiefs, but not enough Indians," she said. "There is a lot of leadership there, but until we as students and faculty truly unite we will continue to be assaulted by the powers that be."

Much of the discussion focused on monetary issues. There were numerous references made to the $600 tuition increase, the $51 million budget cut made by Gov. Paterson to the CUNY system, the $700 billion bailout plan approved by Congress and the $55,000 salary raise to Chancellor Goldstein approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees.

"These figures are used rhetorically to describe the trend in society to reward those who already have and to take from those who don't have," Hoff explained. "These tuition hikes and cuts are not fairly distributed and they tend to have a disproportionate effect on minority, low- and middle-income students."

Hunter Senior Kristen Glaude echoed this sentiment.

"My main question is where is our money, this extra $600, going?" she asked. "But the Chancellor's salary goes up! I mean, now he makes more than the President [of the United States]! If we're in such dire straits then he should take his bonus and put it towards us!"

Chancellor Goldstein will now make an annual salary of $450,000 compared to $400,000 for President-elect Barack Obama.

Hoff, together with CUNY Contingents Unite and the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) seek to alert the Governor, the Chancellor, and other CUNY top-level administrators to the impact of these policies. "They need to realize just how important education is during an economic crisis, when CUNY is the place where people go back to school to get retrained and retooled. Funding education is more important now than ever.

The organizers did receive some help in getting the word out as many press were in attendance, most notably CBS News, which did a segment on the rally for their local edition.

"We were glad to see local press at the rally and we hope that future events will draw a similar amount of attention," Hoff emphasized. "It's very important that the public know about what's happening at CUNY. When politicians see the public upset that's when they act."

Both the Chancellor's Office and the Hunter Office of the President declined to comment as of this edition's printing.