Occupy CUNY, Tuition Raised

City University of New York’s (CUNY) board of trustees approved a much-protested tuition hike on Monday, according to the Occupy CUNY blog, run by the CUNY Graduate Center publication the Advocate. The board could not be reached for comment as of press deadline.

The tuition hike ranges from $150 a semester for full-time undergraduate students to $315 a semester for some full-time doctoral students. Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Baruch College on 25th Street and Lexington Avenue Monday afternoon as the board of trustees met inside and helicopters circled above.

Classes were canceled, to the chagrin of the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY, who were not consulted.

“What creates unsafe conditions is not the presence of peaceful protesters on a college campus, but rather the college’s approach to policing: confining student protesters to an inadequate area and limiting access to public space at this public college.” Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY, wrote to the chancellor of CUNY Dr. Matthew Goldstein.