Independence

To Our Cooper Union Community,

Every Independence Day is an opportunity to reflect on the founding vision for our country. This July 4th is certainly no exception, as the Supreme Court of the United States concluded its 2022–23 session last week with a series of decisions that continued to erode basic rights, long-standing judicial precedent, and an inherent commitment to an inclusive society, apparently in the name of other Constitutional rights. On this Independence Day, I want to reiterate our commitment at The Cooper Union to all people's rights to be who they are and to pursue their dreams and aspirations, equally, proudly, and out in the open. 

The Court’s decisions purport to promote individual rights, but we must ask ourselves what it means to assert freedoms for some at the proven risk of undermining opportunities and autonomy for others. Over the years, future and sitting Supreme Court Justices have addressed Great Hall audiences on these and related topics, among them Louis Brandeis, Harlan Stone, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer. In 1954, 13 years prior to becoming the first Black person to serve as a Supreme Court Justice and in a foreshadowing of our ongoing quest for equality as he spoke about segregation, Thurgood Marshall declared, “As long as any group of people in this country are held down, all other groups are in turn held down with them.”

From our country’s founding, we have wrestled as a society to fully realize the principles that all are created equal with certain unalienable rights. As an institution and community, The Cooper Union since its inception has been a place that has sought to embrace and support the autonomy and fundamental rights of all people. Discussions and debates among people from all walks of life on how best to provide for and protect those rights have been at the center of this institution’s role as a place of public gathering, civic organizing, scholarship, and practice for generations. It seems at every turn there are systems upending the progress we have made as a society in advancing these rights, and in the face of this, it is critical that we redouble our efforts to protect and celebrate the beauty and richness that come from a society that embraces and serves everyone. It requires that we demonstrate the immeasurable contributions that come from giving all people a chance to develop their full potential. Who we are, the work we do, and the legacy we steward together as The Cooper Union are as essential as ever.

I want to express my gratitude for this institution and for each of you who makes it what it is. Our historical and present commitment to embracing and celebrating our differences, nurturing our shared humanity, and creating access to opportunity for all—especially those who have been historically marginalized—endures. 

I wish you all enjoyment, rest, and peace as we reflect on what it means to have fought for the independence of this country in the face of all we see going on around us.

Laura

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.