Dean Barry Shoop on Continuing Our Journey Together ...

Dear Cooper Engineering Students,
 
These past several weeks have been some of the most challenging and transformative that any of us could have imagined.  Only several weeks ago, you were attending classes and socializing with classmates and friends.  Today, we are distributed across the globe in various states of mandatory or self-imposed confinement to limit the spread of this COVID-19 pandemic to ensure our own health and safety and that of family, friends and society as a whole.  We should all take solace in the fact that we are part of an extraordinary community.  Cooper Union is extraordinary not just because of our rigorous curriculum or rich heritage and legacy but because of each and every one of you.  You bring incredible knowledge, passion, compassion, empathy and a sense of social engagement and justice not found elsewhere.
 
As we begin our online educational delivery for the remainder of the semester, I want to share a few thoughts.  We are all in this together; faculty, staff and students.  I ask that you work together with your classmates, faculty and staff and embrace this new educational paradigm to get the most that you can from the courses you are completing.  Education is a full-contact, personal journey - embrace it!  I would also ask that you take every possible opportunity to remain connected.  As we isolate ourselves to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we each need to take care of our mental health by deliberately finding ways to remain connected with friends, family, peers and your Cooper community.   Finally, stay safe and healthy. Look for ways to develop routines in this new normal.  Eat healthy.  Try to engage in some form of physical activity - exercise in your apartment or walk or run while maintaining social distancing protocols.  Take advantage of online resources to learn yoga or even a new language.  There are a whole host of ways to cope with the increased stress we are all experiencing during these exceptional times.
 
Your faculty have been working hard these past several weeks to transition to online learning and they are absolutely dedicated to your learning and success.  If you need anything at all, reach-out to your individual faculty members, your Department Chairs or me.
 
I am confident that together we will meet the challenges of these extraordinary times.
 
Dean Shoop

  • 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.