This audiovisual recording is of a virtual, university-wide, town hall meeting hosted on Zoom by The New School on April 2, 2020, to address the university’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. The university had closed its New York City campus buildings as of March 22, 2020, moving all activities online, often using the Zoom platform, until reopening for in-person classes in fall 2021.

Moderated by Xarissa Holdaway of The New School Department of Digital Engagement, with speakers including New School Board of Trustees Chair Linda E. Rappaport, New School President David E. Van Zandt, and New School Provost Tim Marshall. The town hall was described on the university website in a Message to the Community posted on April 1, 2020:

The global COVID-19 crisis has demanded that The New School put into action the core principles of a New School education–to creatively and collaboratively work toward solutions to complex problems. Meeting the present challenge draws on the energy, flexibility, creativity, commitment, and ultimately the optimism of us all. We are humbled and grateful to be part of this community.

Even with the increasingly stringent restrictions on movement and activity, we have been steadfast in our commitment to provide education at the highest level possible. With the partnership of the faculty, we have worked to find ways to allow every student to continue their academic progress and advance toward graduation. We do understand, however, that remote learning is not the type of experience any of us envisioned at the start of the academic year, or even a month ago.

We also recognize that the unplanned and rapid adjustments in our university life have been exacerbated by the significant personal, economic, and emotional stressors many in our community are facing. In light of these considerable challenges, we have heard from students who have asked that the university refund their tuition.

We want to address that issue and other concerns directly and openly in an online town hall meeting tomorrow from 5:00-6:00pm. You can attend by clicking here. We will follow-up from that meeting with a message on Friday to outline additional steps the university is taking.

As helpful context, we want to offer a few words here about why tuition refunds are not a feasible option. Like many institutions, The New School derives nearly its entire operating budget from tuition. You can see more about the university’s budget here.

The university operates on a break-even basis from year to year, and the greatest portion of our budget goes to our faculty, staff and student workers, all of whom are continuing to be paid during this time. Refunding tuition would result in an interruption of every student’s academic progress, because it would significantly compromise our ability to ensure the delivery of our education and the continuity of our mission.

We want to be as responsive as possible to address the very real, immediate, and personal financial challenges being felt by individuals in our community. The opportunity to listen tomorrow will help shape some of the steps we can take.

We invite you to listen and share questions and ideas in our virtual forum tomorrow at 5pm.