Niki Gollan spent endless hours searching for the right school. She eventually decided Cooper Union was the perfect match, and applied as an early decision applicant. In February, however, the Dean of Admissions informed her and other early decision art applicants that their admission had been deferred.
“As requested by our Board of Trustees, all early decision art applicants after being reviewed by our Art Admissions Committee were either deferred to be reviewed along with the rest of the regular decision pool or denied admission. This letter is to inform you that your application has been deferred,” the e-mail read.
The decision to defer early applicants comes as many students and faculty members continue to fight the administration’s proposal to begin charging tuition at the historically tuition-free institution. Students and faculty have pushed back against the idea, saying it goes against the school’s mission of providing a wholly merit-based education.
President Jamshed Bharucha issued a letter to the Cooper Union Community stating that the delay in early admissions is based on fiscal concerns and a meeting will be held in March to discuss solutions. The decision to defer early enrollment will allow the school to make a final decision before accepting new students.
Cooper Union students gathered on February 20 in front of the Cooper Union’s Foundation Building to express their disappointment with the school’s decision.
Niki Gollan, 17, told the Free Press that Cooper Union was the only school she wanted to apply to. However, she could sympathize with the frustration of students who would have otherwise applied elsewhere for early admission.
“I can imagine [the frustration] for a lot of other students, if there were some schools that they wanted to apply to early and they put it off because this is free, and now to find that they are being considered with regular applicants and find out that they could have applied to somewhere else,” Gollan said. “It’s like we were pretty much just lied to and it’s not okay. I feel betrayed.”
Other applicants expressed similar sentiments.
“The irresponsible actions by the Board of Trustees are alienating the institution from both its founding ideals and from a future that values two-way dialogue, transparency, and responsibility,” explained Owen Law, another early decision applicant, in his address at the February 20 meeting. “This is a crucially formative year to Cooper Union’s future and to a generation of students. It shouldn’t be marked by brinksmanship.”
In order to discuss the future of the institution, there will be a Board of Trustees Community Forum on March 1 at 6 p.m. in the Great Hall. In the meantime, students fear what will become of the institution’s founding principle to provide a solely merit-based institution, free of charge.
Francia is currently a Culture & Media major student about to graduate. She hopes to write for a cheesy sitcom or television series one day. Her hobbies include binge watching shows on Netflix and drinking wine.
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