laleph Posted March 31, 2020 Posted March 31, 2020 Hello all, Wondering what sorts of responses to the COVID crisis you've been seeing out there. In the Northeast, wealthy universities continue to treat their workers and students like trash. Below you'll find some of the petitions circulating to try to remedy this. Lmk if you'd like to get involved in any of these campaigns and I'll happily connect you. Compilation: Coronavirus and Campus Activism NB: This is an ongoing resource for compiling links and resources related to university policies and organizer responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone is free to add to, re-organize, and share this document. Table of Contents Petitions by Campus Petitions by Topic Summary of Key Demands News Coverage Mutual Aid and Collective Action Petitions by Campus Harvard Petition Resources Mutual aid Columbia Coronavirus Demands from Columbia AffiliatesOr http://tiny.cc/columbiapetition Housing Mutual Aid Extend PhD funding by one year NYU We Demand a Just Response to the COVID-19 Crisis Full version The New School Petition to Pause Student Billing & Fees UPenn Petition to Protect Students and Workers at Penn Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic Princeton PGSU response petition to administration regarding COVID-1 University of Chicago Labor Council UCLC SARS-CoV-2 Demand Letter Full letter Yale Yale GSAS Open letter to Dean Cooley - Extend our funding Johns Hopkins Hopkins Community Demands University Pay Workers During COVID-19 Shutdown WashU WashU COVID-19 Resource Provide Form EVC HENRY WEBBER EMAIL (3/24/20)’s response to ^^ Petitions by Topic Refund Tuition Please give us a partial refund for classes (SVA) MICA, Refund Students! NYU Tisch Partial Tuition Refund Effort Yale MFA (letter - no link) RISD Petition for the Partial Refund of Tuition and Fees Penn State: Give Students a Partial Tuition and Housing Refund Partial Tuition Reimbursement (Columbia University) New School Petition https://www.change.org/p/george-washington-university-gw-needs-to-refund-half-of-the-tuition-for-all-gw-students Andrew M. Cuomo: Reimburse a discount for SUNY and CUNY Tuition Stipend/Hiring related NYU Letter: Stop the Clock (Additional Year of Graduate Funding) Schools Announcing a Hiring Freeze (Blog Post, not all sources confirmed) Housing Petitions NYU Students' Response to COVID-19 Housing Closure (Change.org) Keep Vassar Open Wesleyan Petition Columbia University Rent Survey Workers Rights We demand an immediate shift in RISD's priorities. (Esp. for staff to work from home) Hopkins Community Demands University Pay Workers During COVID-19 Shutdown Under Worker and Student Pressure, Harvard Reverses Course and Agrees to Pay Dining, Custodial, and Other Workers During the COVID-19 Crisis Brown: pay student workers https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuog578brzx2Oh7r9HXxelqTUNdjbQDq4i9C2iKmRavtEOCQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3unXfg4FSHtXD_rRsS-m6VokbBqRJbMhZGedeQRsKALuO1zxtgc7pdywM Northeastern: http://chng.it/RXbgZzdRYw?fbclid=IwAR3txqd31HtUZuEjLhDqVrD8pgVwT8FkQtY1ccNk41l5DF0-JfXHrxbPAos General Petition to Protect Students and Workers at Penn Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic SENS. Important: Information, Resources, and Petitions for Student Workers During COVID-19 pandemic A Just Response to the COVID-19 Crisis (NYU Covid Coalition) Columbia Covid Petition: http://tiny.cc/columbiacovidpetition Princeton PGSU Petition (updated regularly) Teaching Resources for online instruction for art schools Surveys BU International Students affected by summer funding survey Summary of Key Demands health & safety on-demand testing and treatment essential staff provided with protective equipment sick pay / economic justice Non-essential staff receives unlimited full pay; sick leave guarantees the same. Indefinite family leave housing Guarantee housing for all affected: extend housing contracts without rent, guarantee housing in fall 2020, reimbursement for on-campus room and board tuition & funding full tuition remission for spring 2020 (ug) doctoral students receive summer funding consistent with fall and spring semesters Extension of funding for one year(?) academics option to make classes pass/fail while counting towards requirements withdraw from classes without impact to academic standing International Student-workers support and protect international students Extension of end of program date through summer NYU: NYU must ensure that all international students are allowed to stay in campus housing if they so choose, or guarantee access to alternate housing and cover any costs of housing over the costs of their present accommodations. (See the student petition here.) This is not enough. NYU must ensure that, if international students end up staying outside of the country for more than 5 months and need to renew visas, visa renewal fees will be reimbursed. NYU must ensure that international students know how their immigration status and OPT applications may be affected if they choose to leave the country. NYU must actively lobby the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that international students are protected in all respects in these exceptional times and that no one is subject to deportation. Petition from International and Immigrant Student Workers Alliance News Coverage Articles (Art Schools) AS CURRICULA MOVE ONLINE, YALE ART STUDENTS DEMAND TUITION REFUND (Artforum, March 23) Art Students at Yale and Other Universities Are Demanding Tuition Refunds After Their Classes Were Moved Online (Artnet, March 24, 2020) Art Students Demand University Accountability and Reimbursements During Pandemic (Hyperallergic, March 27, 2020) Closure of San Francisco Art Institute (March 23, 2020) Articles (General) Coronavirus Closures Pose Refund Quandary (March 13, Inside Higher Ed) To Fight Coronavirus, Colleges Sent Students Home. Now Will They Refund Tuition? (March 19, Wall Street Journal (Paywall)) Nearly 20,000 students at five San Diego universities move out of campus housing due to coronavirus (San Diego Union Tribune, March 23) Yale changes its mind on beds for police and firefighters https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Yale-changes-its-mind-Beds-for-public-safety-15164015.php Resource for info/stats about Columbia spending: http://tiny.cc/takethemoneyfrom Articles (NYC) An International House resident has died from COVID-19. Columbia evacuated hundreds of students days prior. (March 22, Columbia Spectator) CUNY STUDENTS PUSHED OUT OF DORMS FOR MEDICAL SPACE (March 24, The City) CUNY boots students from dorms to make space for coronavirus hospitals (March 25, New York Post) CUNY moves booted dorm kids to Queens College (Queens Daily Eagle, March 27) With College Dorms Closing Over Coronavirus Worries, Students Scramble to Move Out (Gothamist, March 26) Mutual Aid and Collective Action Emergency Funds (Crowdsourced) Wesleyan FGLI (First Generation Low Income) Fund RISD Shutdown Funds for Low Income Students Mutual Aid Peoples Coronavirus Response (Facebook Group, USA) Mutual Aid Resources (NYC, compiled by Urban Demos) Chinese volunteer experience takeaways Collective Actions/Strike Rent Strike Toolkit
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