Testimony from the CUNY Board of Trustees Hearing – December 9, 2025

Kevin Adams, Higher Education Officer, Medgar Evers College: “The library should be a safe haven for learning and intellectual growth. Conversely, it has become a source of illness, fear, and resentment. Students study in subpar conditions, staff members continue to risk their health to serve the college community, and valuable resources are being damaged.” (Read Kevin Adams’ full testimony.) (Watch Kevin Adams’ testimony here.)

Lynne Turner, Adjunct Lecturer, LaGuardia Community College: “As a union across titles, we do not accept and will continue to resist anti-democratic, authoritarian assaults on academic freedom, free speech and assembly. We do not accept and will continue to resist systemic contingency, the devaluation of our work, and the resulting devaluation of our students.” (Read Lynne Turner’s full testimony.) (Watch Lynne Turner’s testimony here.)

Walter Lucken, Assistant Professor, Queens College: “Delany Hall must be fully cleaned and prepared to host the human beings that work there before we return… Queens College must allow PSC to work with an independent outside agency to fully inspect the building for health and safety before we return. These steps will demonstrate a good faith commitment to making things right.” (Read Walter Lucken’s full testimony.) (Watch Walter Lucken’s testimony here.)

Sofya Aptekar, Associate Professor, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies: “CUNY management refuses to tell us what the charges against us are (re: four fired Brooklyn College professors), a gross violation of due process and free speech rights. It is right out of the McCarthyism playbook, the Donald Trump playbook to fire people without letting them defend themselves or even telling them what they are accused of.” (Read Sofya Aptekar’s full testimony.) (Watch Sofya Aptekar’s testimony here.)

Penny Lewis, Professor, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies: “We need, and deserve, leadership that acknowledges the dangers we face, and that transparently and collaboratively undertakes to face them head on. But we are seeing the opposite. For years, problems at City Tech were denied, and fixes delayed. Problems today at Queens were denied, despite illness and injury in our community. And from the Brooklyn and central administrations, we see even worse—active complicity with the very forces that are threatening our schools and our students.” (Read Penny Lewis’s full testimony.)

Natalie Milbrodt, CUNY’s inaugural University Archivist: “My colleagues and I collected samples of mold found on archival collection materials at City Tech and Medgar Evers. The samples were analyzed by EMSL Analytical, Inc., the same lab used by DASNY for their mold analyses. The results indicate substantial evidence of mold growth, many types of mold, and evidence that the current environmental conditions support their growth. Both campuses have experienced multiple flooding incidents due to construction and HVAC issues.” (Read Natalie Milbrodt’s full testimony.) (Watch Natalie Milbrodt’s testimony here.)

Statement by Faculty from the School of Education read by Beth Ferholt, Associate Professor, CUNY Graduate Center: “By firing four adjuncts without following faculty governance, the administration has created a climate of distrust and insecurity in our campus community. The administration’s continued failure to communicate transparently or acknowledge the damage done to our BC and SOE community shows a profound disregard for our faculty roles, expertise, perspectives, and well-being.” (Read the full statement here.) (Watch Beth Ferholt’s read the statement here.)

Jean Grassman, Associate Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health: “The problem isn’t the litany of examples I could provide. It’s that the fixes aren’t fixes; they are bandaids that endanger our members…our buildings are literally falling down around and on top of us. CUNY needs to take the danger posed by our dilapidated buildings seriously. We repeatedly bring these problems to labor management meetings, and here to the Trustees. We’re told there’s no problem, there’s no money, it takes time. Instead of a plan, we see denial.” (Read Jean Grassman’s full testimony.) (Watch Jean Grassman’s testimony here.)

Corinna Mullin, previously Adjunct Professor, Brooklyn College and John Jay College: “I was one of four adjunct faculty members who were fired without due process after years of dedicated teaching, despite unanimous departmental support and excellent teaching evaluations. These dismissals were political. CUNY weaponized our precarity as adjuncts to purge faculty whose only “offense” was opposing genocide and standing with our students. As we have stated repeatedly: Our dismissals represent not only a grave violation of academic freedom, but also a dangerous encroachment on faculty governance.” (Read Corinna Mullin’s full testimony.) (Watch Corinna Mullin’s testimony here.)