On March 10th, 2020, because of the ongoing global spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, including New York City, Baruch College announced their decision to move all classes to Zoom, online video communication and conferencing platform. While we all empathize with the position that the Coronavirus has put Baruch College in, this shift to virtual instruction has presented itself as a notable reduction in educational and instructional quality. Students have experienced inadequate learning environment and fear it will negatively affect our educational and professional careers moving forward. The quality of education we will be receiving over the remaining semesters will not be commensurate with costly tuition payments.

In addition to a reduction in educational quality, there are various unintended consequences of the Coronavirus outbreak. This includes loss of access to campus facilities, canceled events, networking opportunities, and heavily reduced face-to-face time with professors, colleagues, and guest lecturers. All of this threatens to negatively impact both our short and long-term professional outcomes. This is particularly worrisome for the class of 2021 as they will likely find themselves graduating into a recession (which, as the 2008 economic crisis demonstrated, can have a lifelong negative impact on earnings).

With this in mind, it is imperative the College address the reduction of educational quality. The shift to virtual instruction as well as the other aforementioned negative impacts must be addressed through tuition reduction. We note that Baruch College has a sizable endowment at their disposal and could use a portion of these funds to help protect their student body (who themselves present as future donors) during these difficult times. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Adapted from Michelangelo Rodriguez.