# Aesthetic Crisis ![[Pasted image 20201025154137.png]] *Architects dressed up for the 1931 Beaux Arts Ball; photo from the collection of Christopher Gray.* # What is the nature of the crisis? It is hard to pin when the "Crisis" began or when it will end. Did it start with the first mention of tuition? In 2012? Or 1979? Did it start with real estate assets being sold off? The parking garage? Green camp? More evasive than the timeline is the nature of the crisis. In part because there is a disagreement. - **Financial** - How can education be free? - Where is the money going to come from? - Who *really* pays for it? - What happened to the endowment? - Where are we going to get the money? - How much does it cost to educate a student? - **Cultural** - What is The Cooper Union? - Is Cooper still "Cooper"? - Who does Cooper attract? - Who does Cooper recruit? - What does Cooper do? - What does Cooper reproduce? - **Legal** - Is charging tuition allowed? - Who should be held responsible? - Whose job is it to fix things and how soon? - Who gets to decide? - Who gets to challenge decisions? - **Aesthetic** - Can Cooper be imagined? - Is Cooper possible? - By who? Yes there are ruptures. But The decay happens on a continuum. So slow it’s hard to experience. ## From Financial to Cultural In the beginning it was announced that Cooper had a structural deficit of tens of millions, meaning the college wasn't only in the hole for a big chunk of money, but it was so over-leveraged that it would we tens of millions of dollars every year far into the future. Community groups insisted, "This is not a financial scandal, it’s a cultural crisis." ## From Cultural to Legal Tapping into nostalgia ## From Legal to Aesthetic The lawsuit hardened the rules The new administration is legally compelled to address the finances, and has co-opted the cultural. "return to free" is not a vision Laura is a banker