1) Reed connects the “retrenchment period” at CUNY and the Covid-19 pandemic by relating a number of socio-economic factors. The retrenchment period led to a massive rise in tuition and exploited adjunct professors. Similarly, because of Covid-19, 3000 CUNY adjuncts have been laid off, as well as many campus workers, leaving them without health care. The exploitation of adjuncts has manifested in a more modern form. CUNY is also hoarding federal CARES Act money that could have been used to rehire these workers. Additionally, “1 in 2 CUNY students already food-and housing-insecure now suffer increased unemployment and danger of eviction” (Reed). During both the “entrenchment period” and the Covid-19 pandemic, CUNY dealt with its financial trouble by taking it out on its students and faculty.
2) Members of
the Latinx Student Alliance organization at Lehman College sent a letter to the Dean of the English Department demanding more diversity in the curriculum. The students stated that kids at Lehman needed to see themselves reflected in the curriculum, for positive reinforcement, and also to help them believe that they can also become authors. They also asked that minority groups not be categorized into curriculum sections. The Latinx Student Alliance (LSA) essentially asked that Lehman treat Latinx students the same as the rest of the student body instead of only teaching British-focused literature courses and treating marginalized identity as a subtopic. Representation is very important, when students of color see members of their community as respected and scholarly, they are undoubtedly inclined to believe that they can also be regarded as such.
3) Reed suggests that anti-racist and anti-austerity groups at CUNY use a diverse range of tactics to bring in broader layers of participation.
People can decide at which level they no longer wish to engage. The CUNY administration and political elite must be persuaded to address CUNY-related issues on multiple fronts, which means that a diversity of tactics makes sense. That being said, this does mean that white teachers should force a discussion on and engagement with race because it can undermine genuine political discourse and anti-racist accomplishments. The labor movement has recently implemented “Bargaining for the Common Good,” in which the Chicago teachers union made multiple demands. This might be an effective strategy. CUNY has not embraced this bargaining sense and still fails to represent anti-racist goals.
