End of Year Message 2021

Dear Cooper Union,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is my pleasure to write this end-of-year message with so much positive news to share, especially given all that we’ve experienced in the last few years.  The institution and the community have demonstrated tremendous resilience as we’ve faced the challenges of the pandemic.  We’re finishing the Fall 2021 semester with minimal disruption due to the planning and cooperation of the administration, staff, faculty, and students.  But we’ve done much more than just endure COVID-19—our sense of purpose and unity has also driven us to continue progress on our Institutional Goals & Strategic Priorities, including our return to full-tuition scholarships, evolution of the curriculum, and further advancement of the Great Hall as a platform for civic discourse.

Cooper’s progress this semester was the centerpiece of the Board’s Annual Meeting on Dec. 8.  I am happy to report that Trustees were buoyed by the positive trends and thoughtful approaches to our collective work. We also appreciated understanding the challenges the community experienced and the tremendous amount of energy and investment that went into working through them.  Here are several of the highlights from our recent Board discussions:

  • Financial Outlook:  For both the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021 and our current fiscal year (which ends June 30, 2022), Cooper’s financial results are in a healthy position.  We ended FY21 on Plan targets, despite the impact of COVID-19, and the forecast for FY22 indicates the same.  This is a result of several factors, including continued, positive fundraising momentum, an ongoing commitment to financial discipline, and strong investment performance over the past several years.  We are very aware of the market’s volatility and are very intentional to ensure that our results are not reliant on investment returns but can also be supported by the structural operating results that we can control.  
     
  • $1 Million Raised on Giving Tuesday:  Just a week prior to the Dec. 8 Board meeting, the Cooper community again demonstrated the depth of its support for this institution by giving more than $1 million to Cooper during our Giving Tuesday campaign.  For context, four years ago, Giving Tuesday contributions totaled $250,000.  This year’s campaign was energized by another remarkable Cooper story – a $4 million unrestricted gift from alumnus George Reeves ME’64 and his wife, Ross Wisnewski, that launched a matching gift challenge on Giving Tuesday; the challenge will match the $1 million raised on that day and continue into the new year. My thanks to George and Ross and all who made the Giving Tuesday milestone possible. 

    The importance of your gifts to The Cooper Union cannot be overstated.  Along with the prudent financial management of the institution, they are what drive the school’s progress on our Plan to Return to Full-Tuition Scholarships and so many other areas, including critical investment in inventive academic programs and partnerships, new interdisciplinary spaces such as the AACE Lab and Civic Projects Lab, and Great Hall public programming, including the recent event with Congressman Adam Schiff and national commentator and podcaster Preet Bharara.  The matching challenge made possible by George Reeves and Ross Wisnewski continues and I ask you to consider a year-end gift to move that effort forward for the benefit of our students. 
     
  • 0% Increase in Tuition: The Board voted unanimously to hold tuition flat for the coming academic year, which means 2022-23 will mark the fourth consecutive year of doing so.  This is a remarkable statement not only in terms of pursuing our 10-year plan to return to full-tuition scholarships, but also in the context of higher education trends at large.  Every student continues to receive a scholarship of at least 50% of tuition, and, on average, 78% of tuition costs are covered for undergraduates. Approximately 40% of undergraduates receive full scholarships. 
     
  • Trustee News:  The Board elected two new Trustees last week – Maurice Cox who is an alumnus of the School of Architecture ’83 and the Director of City Planning in Chicago, and Tim Ingrassia, Co-Chairman of Global Mergers & Acquisitions at Goldman Sachs and former director of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation at University of Virginia.  Additionally, the Board voted to renew the terms of Trustees Anne Chao, Wanda Felton, and Joe Dobronyi.  Anne, Wanda, and Joe have all been instrumental to Cooper’s progress as stewards of this institution, and we are grateful for their service. 
     
  • The Board also voted on elected officers for 2022, which include me as Chair of the Board; Aftab Hussain ME’97, Vice Chair; Laura Sparks, President; John Ruth, Treasurer; and Charlotte Wessell, Secretary.
     
  • We have colleagues whose board service is coming to a close in 2021, and I’d like to acknowledge them as well. Both Eric Hirschhorn ME’89 and Kevin Slavin A’95 have served as Trustees for the past eight years and have been major contributors to the institution’s progress over that time.  I’ll miss having them as board colleagues, but we can look forward to them continuing to support the community in different ways.
     
  • Similarly, we were pleased to recognize the contributions of School of Art faculty members Yuri Masnyj A’98 and Walid Raad as well as School of Engineering professor Melody Baglione whose terms as Representatives to the Board are also ending. All have brought vital faculty insights and perspectives to Board discussions over the years, and we look forward to adding three new Representatives in 2022.  

It is my great honor and privilege to serve this Cooper community which has been so meaningful to my own personal and professional journey and to champion all that Cooper students, faculty, staff, and alumni give to their disciplines and the world at large.

On behalf of my colleagues on the Board of Trustees, I wish all of you a very happy holiday season and a happy and healthy new year.

Sincerely,

Malcolm King EE’97 

  • 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.