Dive Brief:
- Alumni of Cooper Union are suing the New York City school over its decision to start charging tuition this fall.
- Besides seeking to block the school from charging tuition, the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court also criticizes school officials for squandering funds on extravagant expenses.
- Cooper Union, which was founded in 1859 and went tuition-free in the early 1900s, is scheduled to begin charging tuition of $19,500 in the fall.
Dive Insight:
Administrators are criticized in the lawsuit for constructing an extravagant engineering building, making risky investments in hedge funds, paying a former president a $1.3 million salary, spending $10,000 on blinds and $8,000 for a custom buffet for president President Jamshed Bharucha, paying for his personal bodyguards, and spending $350,000 on his inaugural celebration. Two of the six alumni plaintiffs are professors: Michael Essl and Toby Cumberbatch. Last year, students had staged a sit-in at the president’s office to protest the tuition decision.
