Dear Cooper Union,

Thank you! As we approach the close of the semester, I want to take a moment to thank every member of The Cooper Union community for the work, care, and commitment you have brought to this institution and shared with each other this year. Thank you, too, for welcoming me in during my first year as president. It has been an extraordinary privilege to immerse myself in all that you do and in all that makes this place so singular in its academic exploration and student experience.

We’re on the cusp of a well-deserved summer respite, with our soon-to-be graduates on the verge of exciting next steps toward practices, careers, and further academic study. But before we go, I wanted to share a few highlights and reflections. 

The Cooper Union punches way above its weight. Just scan the news page on cooper.edu for proof. The assortment and caliber of competitions won, fellowships awarded, honors bestowed, and innovations recognized this year and every year is outsized, in many ways, for a small, private college. It’s extraordinary and a testament to the talent, ambitions, and ingenuity of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni, alike. Congratulations, all!

Shaping foundations for the future was a key part of our progress this year. One of the developments I’m most excited by this year is the reestablishment of the Faculty Student Senate. I believe this will become one of the most important and constructive vehicles for communication and shared governance at Cooper — a place where ideas, concerns, and institutional priorities can be discussed openly and thoughtfully among students, faculty, staff, and administration. Strong institutions depend on strong channels for dialogue, and I am grateful to everyone who contributed to bringing this body back into operation. Special thanks go to the officers of the Faculty Student Senate, Chair Lucy Raven (associate professor, School of Art), Vice Chair Nader Tehrani (professor, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture), and Secretary Stella Banou (assistant professor, electrical engineering, Albert Nerken School of Engineering). Look for more information in the fall for ways to engage in Faculty Student Senate meetings.

I am also excited by work underway in other areas.  First, with thanks to a Teagle Foundation grant, HSS faculty members are reimagining our core curriculum. This is incredibly important work given its central context for all of our students across architecture, art, and engineering.  

Second, a planning team is working to shape a new innovation and incubation initiative at The Cooper Union. Through ongoing conversations with faculty, students, staff, alumni, and donors, we are beginning to build a framework that will help students stand up ideas developed in classrooms, studios, and labs as sustainable projects and ventures with the aim of gaining traction in the world, well beyond Cooper. This work is drawing on so many existing components of our academic and student experiences, including the Vertically Integrated Projects program and the Benjamin Menschel Civic Projects Lab.  Again, special thanks go to those who are charting this path forward. If you are interested in learning more, watch for updates – we’re building in opportunities for community engagement here, too. There’s more to come this summer and fall.

The best way to address our challenges is together. We did that this year in processing the outcome of the settlement with student plaintiffs in the Gartenberg case. When I joined Cooper, I knew this would be an immediate area of focus as it was important to bring this matter and the related costly litigation to a productive conclusion for the community. Working in close concert with the Board of Trustees and our legal counsel, we reaffirmed our commitment to being a place that is welcoming to all, with zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment, and where the protection of free expression and academic freedom is also central. Since reaching the settlement in January, we have systematically been working through policies to ensure their alignment with Title VI (anti-discrimination) requirements, including training programs and the establishment of a new Title VI coordinator. These elements will be in place for the start of the next academic year.

Giving back is systemic and contagious here. It’s a fair statement that Cooper Union is a leader in addressing the affordability crisis in higher education. It’s also more than fair to state that we’re doing that thanks to the spirit of philanthropy that is endemic here. Just last month, I asked the community to rally around a $1 million Giving Day goal, and, together, you did it, contributing $1.1 million. In the fall, you did the same, raising $2.2 million as part of our Giving Tuesday campaign, supporting scholarships and student resources. Our ability to restore full-tuition scholarships in the coming years will continue to rely on these levels of generosity from within and beyond our community. The shared commitment to giving back that is evident at Cooper gives me great confidence that we will get there!

Traditions are everything … and several of Cooper’s most anticipated traditions are upon us. On Tuesday, May 26, we’ll host the Presidential Service Awards to celebrate our longest serving faculty and staff along with our newly tenured faculty – all of whom are the heart and soul of Cooper. The End of Year Show opens Wednesday, May 27 and runs through Sunday, June 14. I look forward to experiencing this signature Cooper event with you and exploring the imagination and ambition of Cooper students on full display. And, of course, we will soon be celebrating our graduating seniors. Commencement Day is Thursday, May 28. It will be my great privilege to welcome family, friends, and colleagues to honor the extraordinary Class of 2026 and to welcome our commencement speaker, PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff.

You did it! As of this week, you’ve put in all the work, completed the projects, mounted the shows, overcome challenges, found creative solutions, taken the finals, given the grades, and, along the way, inspired inquiry and discovery. I suspect you learned more about yourselves than you might have thought possible, and that’s true for students, faculty, staff, and me. 

At my inauguration in March, I spoke of my desire to pursue our work together with an awareness of what we will leave behind and with a desire to be good ancestors for those who will come after us. I feel confident that we are moving in the right direction, and I thank you again for everything you have contributed to this academic year. 

Wishing you a wonderful summer.

With gratitude,

Steve McLaughlin
President