Statement on Emergency Climate Measures at the New School
AAUP-TNS and NSLC
The reality of climate change has ushered the New School into a new chapter. Hurricanes Henri and Ida bluntly underscored how underprepared our city is for climate change and shined a light on the urgent need for the New School to update its emergency policy. This comes at a moment when the University is rightly seeking to be a leader in climate change discussion and policymaking.
The night of September 1, 2021, when historic rains pummeled the area, the New School did not cancel classes or urge the community to seek shelter. Classes continued into the late evening hours, by which time streets were flooded and the subway and streets had closed. The University’s lack of planning left the members of at least one late-night course at NSSR stranded, students and faculty describing long treks home by foot in the rain, some getting hotel rooms. Security staff was not authorized to allow them into any of the University’s buildings for emergency shelter.
By 12:52 am on September 2, New York City had issued a travel ban. Shocking videos of the devastation circulated online, while many members of the New School community also experienced flooding and property damage. Despite the city-wide travel ban that was in effect, the New School's leadership sent a vague and confusing email that requested faculty "flexibility" in emergency planning. By not clearly aligning with city guidelines and by waiting until after morning classes had already begun on September 2, the New School Leadership put many of its students and faculty at unnecessary risk. The administration's failure to set clear guidance affected a broad range of workers, but had a disproportionately negative impact on part-time faculty, on-site staff, and contingent workers. Three weeks later, New York City once again found itself in a severe weather situation. While there was an improved administrative response, including an all-community travel advisory based on the latest information from MTA, the response nonetheless lacked clear guidelines and an eye for differential impacts.
In light of the likelihood of more frequent extreme weather events as a result of climate change in the future, we call on the University to perform a full, comprehensive review of its emergency policies and to share the review with the community. It should include an examination of the University-command structure for decision-making, which was deficient during the crisis of September 2, when Leadership made a vague reference to “flexibility.” Such appeals to flexibility cannot take the place of leadership in a crisis and can deflect responsibility from the institution onto individual faculty, students, and staff, who are looking to the University for timely, emergency guidance. We encourage Leadership to develop a proactive emergency policy that places community safety, clarity of communication, and the New School Labor Coalition’s Five Principles of Care at the center. The AAUP-TNS calls for financial recompense to those students, faculty, and staff who had to get hotel rooms the night of September 1 because the University remained open well after it was safe to do so. Such compensation is one example of the consequences of misplaced flexibility, which can be averted in the future by the comprehensive review and a supplementation of resources for adequate response, such as shelter, power, emergency supplies, medical attention, hazard pay for staff, and communications. Such a review would be one positive step towards redefining the meaning and future of the New School as an institution in the time of climate crisis.
The Leadership Council of AAUP-TNS
The New School Labor Coalition