Message from President McLaughlin

Dear Students, 

The news that a Columbia University student was detained yesterday by federal immigration agents is incredibly disturbing. Reports that agents misrepresented themselves to gain entry into the student’s Columbia residential building only exacerbates the alarm. Thankfully, the student was released that afternoon; however, this event, and too many others like it, raise concerns and fear for many of us. 

I want to emphasize that our full security team is on alert. Before any law enforcement agents could enter our buildings, including our academic buildings and Residence Hall, they must present to our security staff either a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena. They would not be permitted entry with anything lesser, including an administrative warrant. 

If you are concerned or see anything that feels questionable or problematic, please call the security desks in any of our buildings. Consider adding these numbers to your contacts in your phone: 

•    Foundation Building – 212-353-4180 
•    41 Cooper – 212-353-4270 
•    Residence Hall – 212-353-4050 

I also want to encourage you to access the resources that are available through Cooper 24/7. Information and links to crisis care, counseling services, and mental health supports are all available on our Student Care and Support page. You can also email Student Care at studentcare@cooper.edu. Please be in touch with your academic deans or with Dean of Students Grace Kendall (212-353-4053), Assistant Dean of Students Alex Fischer (212-353-4114), or me if you’re feeling unsure of what to do or if you’d simply like to connect, human to human. Our international students can also be in touch with Hala Alkasm, Director of the International Students and Scholars Office (212-353-4192), and our faculty and staff members are also here to support you as well. Seeking out and drawing on these supports and each other are acts of strength, even when you might not be feeling strong. 

I’ve spoken with so many of you over the course of the semester, and this impression keeps surfacing: There is heaviness in the news of so many days, whether here or around the world, and that is hard to process, hard to carry, and for some, overwhelming. Naming that matters. Not as pessimism, but as honesty. 

I was reminded of this a short while ago while visiting a Hindu temple, where an inscription caught my eye: we act not only for ourselves, but because our actions shape the world others must live in. It suggests that meaning can be found by choosing how we show up for one another, especially in challenging times. 

That idea resonates deeply in our community. It’s part of the fabric of The Cooper Union. Hope here comes from connections with one another; it comes from learning, questioning, and making together; from working through things together; from small, steady acts of care. 

I am grateful for you, and, I speak on behalf of our entire academic and administrative teams when I say, we are all here for you. 

Standing together, 

Steve

  • 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.