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As some students continued to occupy the president's office at Cooper Union Wednesday, others took their protest to commencement, The New York Times reported. Students and alumni are angry at President Jamshed Bharucha over the decision to start charging tuition. Many graduates rose and turned their backs on the president when he spoke. The outside speaker was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In his remarks, Bloomberg did not take a stand on the decision of the university to deviate from the tuition-free system set up by the institution's founder Peter Cooper. But Bloomberg, citing his own history of giving to his alma mater (Johns Hopkins University), urged the new graduates to donate. "As frustrated and as angry as you may be about the school’s present situation, its future really is yours to determine," Bloomberg said. "When you walk out these doors today, do not leave the passion you have shown for this institution and its past and its future behind. Stay involved. Stay committed. And do what Peter Cooper did: Donate what you can."
