"Jeopardizing the Life of Institution" – Letter to the Students from President Cahn
Item
The Graduate School and University Center
of the City University of New York
April 18, 1991
Dear Students:
I call on you to allow your colleagues to enter the
building and resume their research and classes. As
long-planned conferences are cancelled, publication
deadlines are missed, admission applications go
unanswered, and dissertations cannot be completed in
time for Commencement, you are jeopardizing the life of
the institution you are seeking to defend.
I ask you to open our School and, if you wish, continue
any peaceful demonstration in the Mall. Doing so would
demonstrate to Governor Cuomo and the Legislature not
only your rightful concerns about the budget but also
your commitment to the invaluable process of
unrestricted teaching and learning.
Sh ae
Steven M. Cahn
Acting President
of the City University of New York
April 18, 1991
Dear Students:
I call on you to allow your colleagues to enter the
building and resume their research and classes. As
long-planned conferences are cancelled, publication
deadlines are missed, admission applications go
unanswered, and dissertations cannot be completed in
time for Commencement, you are jeopardizing the life of
the institution you are seeking to defend.
I ask you to open our School and, if you wish, continue
any peaceful demonstration in the Mall. Doing so would
demonstrate to Governor Cuomo and the Legislature not
only your rightful concerns about the budget but also
your commitment to the invaluable process of
unrestricted teaching and learning.
Sh ae
Steven M. Cahn
Acting President
Title
"Jeopardizing the Life of Institution" – Letter to the Students from President Cahn
Description
Addressed to the students on April 18, 1991, and signed by Steven M. Cahn, the acting Graduate Center president, this letter stated that the student strikers who had occupied the Graduate Center were "jeopardizing the life of the institution" they were "trying to defend." Cahn insisted that allowing students, faculty, and staff to freely enter the building would demonstrate the strikers' "commitment to the invaluable process of unrestricted teaching and learning."
The 1991 CUNY strikes were part of a larger story of austerity imposed on New York City and the community efforts to resist it. At the intersection of political activism and anthropology, on April 16th, students mainly from the Graduate Center Anthropology department occupied the Graduate Center in solidarity with undergraduate mobilization across CUNY against the threat of steep tuition hikes, massive budget cuts, and faculty layoffs. What began as a one-day strike turned into a ten-day take-over in which students and faculty practiced forms of participatory democracy, discussed the root causes of the problems being faced, and debated actions for change. Students often drew on CUNY’s history as the first urban, public institution of higher education in the United States to argue that education was a right and that the proposed measures threatened working-class New Yorker’s ability to receive an education.
Contributor
McCaffrey, Katherine
Creator
Cahn, Steven M.
Date
April 18, 1991
Language
English
Rights
Copyrighted
Source
McCaffrey, Katherine
Original Format
Correspondence
Cahn, Steven M. Letter. “‘Jeopardizing the Life of Institution’ – Letter to the Students from President Cahn.”, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/1695