Since I was a teenager piddling away my spare hours in my public high school's art studio classes, I have looked at Cooper Union as a beacon of light in a sea of ever-darkening waves. For more than a century, the school has stood as an example of the ideal of free education for any who are qualified, regardless of class, race, status, birth or belief. But now, through a mixture of poor management, bad luck, ill-timing and the general malaise of our times, Cooper Union is considering reinstating a tuition fee. Not for everyone, and not in certainty. But for an institution which weathered the Great Depression and two world wars without fees, to come to this point is a sad reminder of how far we have strayed from the dreams of the past: of an enlightened, educated population without the barriers of class or commerce holding back those who showed promise and desire. Of a literate and dynamic civic population, steeped in the wells of critical thinking, creativity, and applied intellect.
In a way, Cooper Union has stood as an educational antithesis of the fallacies of libertarian theories; of proof of the value of a social contract which demands balance against the open markets and self-interest.
We need more places like this, not fewer.
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