A Form Letter: "You are Devastating the City University of New York"
Item
Date
Dear Governor Cuomo,
You are devastating the City University of New York with the cuts to this states
Higher Education system proposed in this years fiscal budget.
The $400.00 per award reduction in the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) as well
as the elimination and deferral of the Regents, Empire State and Liberty Scholarships will
place higher education out of the reach of not just this states neediest, but also of the
children of blue collar and middle class families.
These budget cuts, in addition to the cuts in services that they will mandate, will more
than compromise the quality of higher education at New York State institutions.
Considering your publicly stated commitment to higher education and to working
families in New York state, I consider your current position to be a total reversal and a
rudely awakening slap in the face.
It is in times of fiscal and economic crises that the state government must call upon
all of its citizens to share equally in the solutions to its problems. Corporations and
individuals in higher income brackets must contribute to these solutions along with the poor
and middle class of this state.
I strongly urge you to reconsider your proposed educational budgets cuts and tuition
increase as well as its effect on the residents of this state. The future of New York public
higher education depends on it.
Sincerely,
NAME AND ADDRESS
Dear Governor Cuomo,
You are devastating the City University of New York with the cuts to this states
Higher Education system proposed in this years fiscal budget.
The $400.00 per award reduction in the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) as well
as the elimination and deferral of the Regents, Empire State and Liberty Scholarships will
place higher education out of the reach of not just this states neediest, but also of the
children of blue collar and middle class families.
These budget cuts, in addition to the cuts in services that they will mandate, will more
than compromise the quality of higher education at New York State institutions.
Considering your publicly stated commitment to higher education and to working
families in New York state, I consider your current position to be a total reversal and a
rudely awakening slap in the face.
It is in times of fiscal and economic crises that the state government must call upon
all of its citizens to share equally in the solutions to its problems. Corporations and
individuals in higher income brackets must contribute to these solutions along with the poor
and middle class of this state.
I strongly urge you to reconsider your proposed educational budgets cuts and tuition
increase as well as its effect on the residents of this state. The future of New York public
higher education depends on it.
Sincerely,
NAME AND ADDRESS
Title
A Form Letter: "You are Devastating the City University of New York"
Description
Addressed to Governor Mario Cuomo, this form letter drafted expressly for a letter-writing campaign urged the governor to reconsider his proposed education budget cuts and tuition increases. It specifically drew attention to the reduction of funds offered by the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and the elimination of the three scholarship programs--Regents, Empire State, and Liberty scholarships--and claimed that these cuts would place higher education out of reach for NYC blue-collar and middle-class families.
The 1991 CUNY strikes were part of the larger story of austerity measures imposed on New York City and the community efforts to resist those measures. On April 16th, students mainly from the Graduate Center Anthropology PhD program occupied the Graduate Center in solidarity with a broader 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 austerity problems being faced, and debated actions for change. Students often drew on CUNY’s history as the premier 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 Yorkers' ability to receive an education.
Contributor
McCaffrey, Katherine
Creator
Graduate Center Students
Date
1991 (Circa)
Language
English
Rights
Copyrighted
Source
McCaffrey, Katherine
Graduate Center Students. Letter. 1991. “A Form Letter: ‘You Are Devastating the City University of New York’”, 1991, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/1715