CCSC hosts university tuition strike representatives, puts support of the strike and petition to the virtual vote!

This week in CCSC, Eboard continued their efforts to make spring semester as pleasurable for students as possible, careful not to forget the difficult beforehand and its potential obstacles for students remaining on campus. VP Policy Rads Mehta (CC ‘22) is in the midst of meeting with administrative leaders of the university libraries and dining halls, including the University VP of Campus Services Scott Wright to advocate for as many resources as possible to be open and available to students on or near campus next semester.

VP of Communications Krishna Menon (CC ‘22), VP Finance Sophia Adeghe (CC ‘22), and CCSC’s Inclusion and Diversity Task Force continued their teamwork to ensure that low income students remaining on campus for the winter break are provided access to food and meals given that dining services will be halted. While the use of flex points will remain possible, the dining halls will not be open for students so CCSC is looking into pre packaged goods, water, and juice donations in addition to a possible collaboration with the food pantry. Are you a student concerned about food insecurity during the holiday break? Fill out this survey to help CCSC aid you in the best way possible! 

Special guests Rebecca Roskill (SEAS ‘22) and Willem Morris (GS ‘21), representatives from the tuition strike, were invited to attend CCSC this week where they presented their demands and engaged in an open discussion with general body members. They had requested to attend CCSC in order to seek the student government’s public support for their Tuition Strike Demands letter. Barnard’s SGA has signed on in support of the petition and has agreed to publish the demands on their social media accounts. Before putting CCSC’s support of the strike to a vote, an open Q&A took place during which many important points were brought up.

According to Willem Morris, the goal for this tuition strike is greater than the demanded 10% tuition reduction and 10% financial aid increase. Rather, it is for the university administration to take student demands more seriously than they have in the past by respecting students’ democratic voices regarding university decisions. VP Mehta (CC ‘22) inquired what this coalition’s plans were once the semester begins on the 21st of January to which they replied that they acknowledge that signing this petition and committing to withholding tuition is a personal risk. Late fees would be the immediate penalty however, they feel that it is unlikely that the university would enforce this financial disciplinary action on the thousands of students who have signed the petition. To elaborate on the gravity of the choice to strike, the tuition strike itself was not endorsed for Barnard students because Barnard’s tuition deadline was December 14th, and many students were concerned about the repercussions with the deadline so soon while the petition is still gathering support. However, Barnard’s SGA and many Barnard students remain in full support of the petition and its demands which emphasizes the validity of the petition and its demands. After some rich discussion, CCSC’s support of the strike was put to the virtual vote, so stay tuned to CCSC’s social media and Bwog for the results!

Campus via Bwog Archives