The ultra-progressive New School University is facing a projected $85.5 million budget deficit — and things are so bad that students and faculty are being asked to come up with proposed budget cuts.
Unsurprisingly for a school that produced Marxists such as Jacques Derrida and Erich Fromm, the ideas included cutting executive pay and even selling the school’s Greenwich Village townhouse currently occupied by former Clinton cabinet member Donna Shalala, who now serves as the New School’s interim . the president.
The New School woke up to a harsh reality during the pandemic: running a private university in lower Manhattan was quite expensive.
After enrollment declined by 15%, the college dipped into its endowment to make up for the $130 million revenue shortfall.
The New School administration is struggling to close the lingering deficit after the pandemic.Getty Images
At a recent University Budget Committee meeting, New School staff revealed grim future deficit projections. New School
Chief Financial Officer Josh Burgher warned in the March budget meeting that the projected 5-year deficit could “easily” swell to $240 million.
But the austerity experiment has met with fierce opposition from the ultra-progressive community.
In 2020 the school cut top leadership salaries by 12 to 15%, reduced library subscriptions, extended a voluntary severance package to employees and laid off 122 mostly junior staff.
Campus protesters have revolted against university cost-cutting measures.@AAUPTNS/Twitter
“This is not about securing a future for The New School, but a power struggle and what kind of university The New School will be in the future,” the American Association of New School University Professors said in a statement.
Protests continue. In April, a Rally Against Austerity movement, organized by students and faculty, declared: “No tuition increase. No salary deductions. No layoffs.”
The school was also rocked by a 25-day strike last year by part-time professors – the longest in American history – demanding higher pay. Students united in solidarity, occupying the school building for days.
Student protesters occupied school property last year in solidarity with a part-time staff strike for higher wages.@kxngzaire/ TikTok
An agreement was reached in December, plunging the school into deficit.
“Students and teachers go on strike almost every semester,” an anonymous Master’s student told The Post. “[The administration is] actually quite submissive when students demand anything. I don’t know where the money is coming from to pay all the claims.”
Srishti Yadav, a professor at Azim Premji University who holds a PhD in economics from the New School, denounced her alma mater’s budget cuts in the Marxist magazine Jacobin.
Last year New School part-time staff were involved in a history-making strike that lasted 25 days. Corbis via Getty Images
“At the New School, two visions collide: one the student body and its faculty … and the other the Board of Trustees and presidential leadership,” he wrote.
Yadav told the Post that he chose the New School to study economics through a Marxist lens but was deeply disappointed by the administration’s decidedly capitalistic efforts.
“The New School was founded by individuals who were able to create an institution that adheres to progressive values, but that has changed,” he said. “The whole vision for the university is changing, which makes it very difficult to practice the progressive values it was founded on.”
The New School’s interim president Donna Shalala currently resides in the President’s Greenwich Village townhouse, which has come under fire amid austerity measures. The New School
Located in the heart of Greenwich Village, the president’s townhouse is estimated to be worth $15 million. Google Maps
Economics professor and chair Sanjay Reddy has suggested alternative cost-cutting measures, such as emergency fund raising and further pay cuts to the highest-paid workers.
As he points out, the New School president’s salary is higher in proportion to his endowment than Harvard’s president, and the president’s townhouse is worth an estimated $15 million
The New School told The Post that the first wave of community proposals is being implemented — including optimizing the school’s real estate portfolio, leasing space, managing its trademark and reimagining the campus bookstore. Another round related to academic changes is coming.
Economist Srishti Yadav says the New School is losing touch with its progressive roots.
“We are grateful for the community’s support and participation and are confident that this effort and other initiatives will help keep the New School strong, stable and thriving for years to come,” Assistant Vice President of Communications Amy Malsin told The Post.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
