1.) After reading the text, ”Realizing the Dream of a Liberation University” by Conor Tomas Reed, Reed makes several connections between the retrenchment period and the current day. The definition of retrenchment is the dismissal of e, employees due to downsizing in a company, this can be for many reasons such as the company not reaching a certain quota or profit. Due to the pandemic, many people lost their jobs. At CUNY due to a policy called financial exigency, many CUNY employees were let go of their jobs. In general, tuition stayed the same even though classes were online, and in some schools, it increased. The retrenchment period is very similar to the pandemic in CUNY.
2.) Death cult means that human life can be a means to some other end and not solely an end to itself. Reed uses this term to talk about the events that occurred during the retrenchment period. In addition, Reed mentions how the rise of neoliberalism ruined CUNY in the grand scheme of things. Economically New York City is a death cult. The policies regarding CUNY today were created due to greed while in the retrenchment period, it was largely due to poverty. A free school system should be the norm, but there are a lot of factors against it today. Having access to free education in one of the best city’s in the world should not by any means be political.
3.) Minorities in America have either always been pushed to the side or ignored. This can be due to race, gender, sexual orientation, and or religion. The reason for the LatinX student alliance group to demand more diversity is due to the lack of inclusivity. When talking about the history of this group, there should be more diverse teachers and just in general more representation.
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