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Students at Manhattan’s New School have entered their second week of protests and occupation of a campus building, issuing a 16-point list of demands, which includes tuition refunds, better quality cafeteria food, and “A” grades for every student.
The protest, which began Dec. 8 was originally in support of adjunct faculty members who went on strike demanding improved health care and higher wages.
Although the 25-day strike ended Dec. 10, the occupying students are now demanding that the New School compensate them for disruptions to their education caused by the part-time professors’ walkout.
Among the demands are changes to the grading policy.
“We demand that every student receives a final course grade of A as well as the removal of I/Z grades for the Fall 2022 semester.” The letter also went on to demand that “Attendance shall have no bearing on course grade.” (According to the New School’s website, an “I” grade is a “temporary incomplete” and a “Z” grade is an “unofficial withdrawal.”)
The students are also demanding the resignation of New School president Dwight McBride as well as the provost and vice president. They want the West Village townhouse occupied by the president to “be treated as a communal property of The New School and used for purposes determined by the non-administrative TNS community,” the demand letter says.
Other demands include a tuition fee freeze and the refund of tuition.
“We demand all students be refunded for the loss of instructional time due to the strike,” the letter states. “This tuition refund will be proportional to the duration of the semester during which the strike is in effect.”
Tuition and fees at the elite college is more than $52,000 a year, according to the school’s website.
“The university supports peaceful free expression by our students, and we are listening closely to all of our students’ concerns,” a spokeswoman for The New School told The Post Saturday. “Faculty retain autonomy about how to conduct and grade their courses.”
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