Baruch Classes Rescheduled Over Tuition Fight Fears

Administrators fear a repeat of the chaos that broke out in the tuition protests last week

Baruch College has canceled Monday afternoon classes over concerns of another round of chaos in the tuition fight that led to 15 arrests at a demonstration last week.

All classes in the Newman Vertical Campus that begin after 3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, are being re-scheduled for Friday, Dec. 2, the school said. Existing Friday afternoon classes will be rescheduled.

The re-scheduling comes after a protest last Monday when about 150 students appeared outside an auditorium at Baruch, where the CUNY Board of Trustees were meeting.

The board was discussing how to implement a tuition hike of $300 a year for the next five years.

The students, who appeared as part of the Students United for a Free CUNY organization, clashed with campus police, and 15 CUNY students were arrested. None were from Baruch, according to Baruch president Mitchel Wallerstein.

In a notice on the college website, Baruch president Mitchel Wallerstein said "these actions are being taken to ensure the safety of all students, faculty and staff during the period surrounding the meeting of the CUNY Board of Trustees in the Newman Vertical Campus on Monday afternoon."

"We are determined to avoid any repetition of the regrettable events that occurred in the narrow confines of the NVC lobby during the CUNY Board's public hearing last Monday," Wallerstein added.

Wallerstein said he was committed to the right of free expression on the Baruch campus and was working to identify public spaces where community members could gather to express their views in a "peaceful and orderly fashion."

Contact Us