Large Protest Against Significant Budget Cuts at New School
**Hundreds Rally Against New School’s Faculty and Program Cuts During Board Meeting**
On December 10, amidst ongoing financial turmoil, approximately 300 students, faculty, and supporters gathered outside the New School in Greenwich Village to protest significant faculty and program cutbacks. These measures, the administration claims, are necessary to tackle a $48 million budget deficit brought on by escalating costs, reduced federal funding, and declining enrollment. This fall recorded only 8,900 enrollments, marking a decade-low for the renowned institution that includes the Parsons School of Design and the College of Performing Arts.
Protesters, expressing distrust toward university leadership, particularly President Joel Towers and Provost Richard Kessler, chanted slogans underscoring their dissent. With allegations of financial mismanagement as the deficit’s root cause, critics argue that the administration disproportionately burdens faculty with these fiscal challenges.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) reports that around 169 full-time faculty, constituting 40% of the staff, along with non-unionized staff with over four years of service, have been offered buyouts or early retirements. Towers, facing a need for layoffs, initiated a series of cost-saving strategies, including a PhD admissions freeze, salary cuts, and pausing retirement contributions, among other austerity measures. Critics argue these cuts are contrary to the school’s founding mission as a haven for progressive social research and debate.
Reactions from faculty like Heather Davis, Associate Professor of Culture and Media, highlight concerns that these measures will dismantle the unique interdisciplinary approach that enriches the New School’s learning environment. Although the administration outlined plans to consolidate five colleges into two academic units, they have not provided specific details on program reductions, intensifying the community’s apprehension.
In a turbulent academic landscape, other private institutions face similar financial struggles. Comparable staff cutbacks have occurred at the California Institute of the Arts and the School of Visual Arts due to substantial budget deficits. As the New School approaches semester’s end, faculty and students remain anxious, hoping for relief and reassessment of the administration’s decisions to safeguard the institution’s legacy and vision.