By Emmet O’Boy

College students have seen their worlds change drastically throughout the COVID-19 crisis with dorms shut down, classrooms closed, and social lives screeching to a halt. This has prompted them to question the new academic order they find themselves in. “I think it is unfair of Lehman to charge their students the same price for arguably less engaging and effective online classes,” said Leah Benitez, a junior in the Lehman Scholars Program. “We pay the current rate of tuition for on-campus instruction, readily-accessible student services along with social and extracurricular opportunities. Not to sit behind our computers.”

Dr. Daniel Lemons, the interim president of Lehman College, acknowledged this complaint. However, when asked if tuition would decrease, he told the Meridian, “No, I don’t think it will… I think it is really hard to see how any reduction in tuition would work. I think it would hurt students.” He added, “Truth is we aren’t able to provide our students nearly what I wish we could provide. Our students deserve that but we can’t offer that.”

Students also raised objections to distance, or online learning, which has been the only viable option for CUNY’s almost 300,000 students during the fall semester. Asked whether this might change by spring Lemons said, “I don’t think I would even say possibly. We are looking to be fully online in the spring. There is nothing to suggest that we will have a different situation by January.”

The pandemic has also hurt CUNY’s finances. While the federal CARES Act allocated $118 million in funding solely for the students of CUNY, a 5.1 percent decrease in enrollment will cost $52 million, a loss that will add pressure to cut costs. This means that students are not the only group deeply impacted by COVID-19 on college campuses. Queens College’s, The Knight News stated that CUNY has laid off approximately 3,000 adjunct professors in response to the pandemic. When questioned about layoffs, Lemons redirected the conversation towards union issues Lehman has faced. “We also needed to get the agreement with the union to extend the amount of time during which employees could take their vacation,” he said. “The initial deadline was Aug. 31, and fortunately there was an agreement to extend that until December.”

Robert Farrell, the chair of PSC CUNY’s Lehman Chapter, told the Meridian that this fight was not so black and white. “In May, the PSC demanded that CUNY extend the deadline. It wasn't until August that management was willing to bargain on the issue and that after a major campaign from workers in July,” he explained. “The PSC wanted to extend the deadline into 2021, but management put forward Dec. 2020 again, after waiting several months and keeping staff in a state of suspense.”

COVID-19 has changed the shape of higher education, possibly forever. As the pandemic continues, Lehman students, faculty, and administration continue to redefine and debate what the best course of action is for universities to take. Until it is safe enough to go back to the classroom, there will be no more “normal” college experiences at Lehman for any community members.